Leveraging Zend Framework to Sending Push Notifications

Sending push notifications from Zend Framework utilizing Zend_Mobile (a PHP push notification library).

Transcript

1. Leveraging Zend Framework Sending Push Notifications By Mike Willbanks Software Engineering Manager CaringBridge MinneBar April 7, 2012
2. 2 •Talk  Slides will be online later! •Me  Software Engineering Manager at CaringBridge  MNPHP Organizer  Open Source Contributor (Zend Framework and various others)  Where you can find me: • Twitter: mwillbanks G+: Mike Willbanks • IRC (freenode): mwillbanks Blog: http://blog.digitalstruct.com • GitHub: https://github.com/mwillbanks Housekeeping…
3. 3 •Overview of Push Notifications •Overview of Zend_Mobile [_Push] •Android Push Notifications (C2DM) •Apple Push Notifications (APNS) •Microsoft Push Notifications •BlackBerry Push Notifications •Questions  Although you can bring them up at anytime! Agenda
4. Overview What are they? What is the benefit? High level; how do these things work?
5. 5 •Push Notifications…  Are a message pushed to a central location and delivered to you.  Are (often) the same thing at a pub/sub model.  In the Mobile Space… • These messages often contain other technologies such as alerts, tiles, or raw data. What Are They
6. 6 In Pictures…
7. Benefits of Push Notifications The benefits of push notifications are numerous; the question is if you have an app and you are running services to poll; why would you do such a thing!
8. 8 One word… Battery Life
9. 9 Impact of Polling
10. 10 •Push notification services for mobile are highly efficient; it runs in the device background and enables your application to receive the message. •The other part of this; if you implemented it otherwise you would be polling. This not only wastes precious battery but also wastes their bandwidth.  NOTE: This is not always true; if you are sending data to the phone more often than a poll would do in 15 minutes; you are better off implementing polling. Battery Life
11. 11 Can We Deliver?
12. 12 •When you poll; things are generally 15+ minutes out to save on battery. In a push notification these happen almost instantly.  We’ve generally seen within 1-3s between sending a push notification to seeing it arrive on the device. •Additionally; push notifications can be sent to the device even if it is offline or turned off. •However, not all messages are guaranteed for delivery  You may hit quotas  Some notification servers only allow a single message to be in queue at 1 time (some group by collapse key), and others remove duplicates. Delivery
13. How These Things Work The 10,000 foot view.
14. 14 10,000 Foot View of C2DM
15. 15 10,000 Foot View of APNS
16. 16 10,000 Foot View of Windows Push
17. 17 10,000 Foot View of BlackBerry
18. 18 •Created Zend_Mobile component in November because I was irritated with the other libraries that currently existed. •More fluid way of sending push notifications. •Requires Zend Framework 1.x  Committed in the ZF trunk; waiting for 1.12 release. •Handles sending push notifications to 3 systems  APNS, C2DM and MPNS •Library is located in my GitHub account & ZF Trunk  https://github.com/mwillbanks/Zend_Mobile  http://framework.zend.com/svn/framework/standard/trunk/libra ry/Zend/Mobile/ Overview of Zend_Mobile_Push
19. 19 •svn checkout from ZF OR through github •Adjust your include_path (likely set in index.php) •You’re ready to rock! •Once you upgrade to 1.12 after it is released you won’t have anything more to do. Setting up the Library
20. Walking Through Android Understanding C2DM Anatomy of a Message Pushing Messages Displaying Items on the Client
21. 21 •It allows third-party application servers to send lightweight messages to their Android applications. •C2DM makes no guarantees about delivery or the order of messages. •An application on an Android device doesn’t need to be running to receive messages. •It does not provide any built-in user interface or other handling for message data. •It requires devices running Android 2.2 or higher that also have the Market application installed. •It uses an existing connection for Google services (Through the Google Market) Understanding C2DM
22. 22 •First things first – you must sign up to actually utilize C2DM  http://code.google.com/android/c2dm/signup.html  C2DM only works on Android w/ Google Market • Basically excludes: Amazon Kindle Fire. Registering for C2DM
23. 23 Anatomy of the Mobile App
24. 24 •We must update the Manifest file to state additional permissions. •We will then create a broadcast receiver that will handle the messages and registration. How the Application Works
25. 25 Example Manifest
26. 26 Handling the Registration (or Unregistering) •Registration / Registration Updates and Unregistering. •Registration is generally on app start up. •Be nice and allow your users to unregister from the push notification service 
27. 27 Example Receiver More at: http://bit.ly/bxOoMO towards end of article.
28. 28 •Some limitations  200K messages per day by default; use them wisely however you may request more.  1K message payload maximum.  You must implement incremental back off. Implementing a Server
29. 29 How the Server Works
30. 30 Using Zend_Mobile_Push_C2dm
31. Apple Push Notifications A brief walk-through on implementing notifications on the iPhone.
32. 32 • The maximum size allowed for a notification payload is 256 bytes. •It allows third-party application servers to send lightweight messages to their iPhone/iPad applications. •Apple makes no guarantees about delivery or the order of messages. •An application on an iPhone/iPad device doesn’t need to be running to receive messages. •Message adheres to strict JSON but is abstracted away for us in how we will be using it today. •Messages should be sent in batches. •A feedback service must be listened to. Understanding APNS
33. 33 •You must create a SSL certificate and key from the provisioning portal •After this is completed the provisioning profile will need to be utilized for the application. •Lastly, you will need to install the certificate and key on the server.  In this case; you will be making a pem certificate. Preparing to Implement Apple Push Notifications
34. 34 Anatomy of the Application
35. 35 •Registration  The application calls the registerForRemoteNotificationTypes: method.  The delegate implements the application:didRegisterForRemoteNotificationsWithDeviceToken: method to receive the device token.  It passes the device token to its provider as a non-object, binary value. •Notification  By default this just works based on the payload; for syncing you would implement this on the launch. How the Application Works
36. 36 Example of Handling Registration
37. 37 Example of Handling Remote Notification
38. 38 •Some Limitations  Don’t send too many through at a time; meaning around 100K  • Every once in a while use a usleep  Max payload is 256 bytes Implementing the Server
39. 39 How the Server Works
40. 40 Using Zend_Mobile_Push_Apns
41. 41 Using Zend_Mobile_Push_Apns Feedback
42. Microsoft Push Notifications Well, I am not certain if they will find the market share yet but hey; some people need to build apps for it!
43. 43 •It allows third-party application servers to send lightweight messages to their Windows Mobile applications. •Microsoft makes no guarantees about delivery or the order of messages. (See a pattern yet?) •3 types of messages: Tile, Toast or Raw •Limitations:  One push channel per app, 30 push channels per device, additional adherence in order to send messages  3K Payload, 1K Header •http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff402537.aspx Understanding MPNS
44. 44 •Upload a TLS certificate to Windows Marketplace  The Key-Usage value of the TLS certificate must be set to include client authentication.  The Root Certificate Authority (CA) of the certificate must be one of the CAs listed at: SSL Root Certificates for Windows Phone.  Stays authenticated for 4 months.  Set Service Name to the Common Name (CN) found in the certificate's Subject value.  Install the TLS certificate on your web service and enable HTTP client authentication. Preparing to Implement MPNS
45. 45 Anatomy of MPNS
46. 46 Registering for Push
47. 47 Implementing the Callbacks for Notifications
48. 48 Using Zend_Mobile_Push_Mpns Raw Messages
49. 49 Using Zend_Mobile_Push_Mpns Toast Messages
50. 50 Using Zend_Mobile_Push_Mpns Tile Messages
51. BlackBerry Push Notifications Blackberry push notifications are not currently supported… But we’ll talk about them anyway.
52. 52 •It allows third-party application servers to send lightweight messages to their BlackBerry applications. •Allows a whopping 8K or the payload •Uses WAP PAP 2.2 as the protocol •Mileage may vary… Understanding BlackBerry Push
53. 53 Anatomy of BB Push
54. 54 •They have a “Sample” but it is deep within their Push SDK. Many of which are pre-compiled.  Documentation is hard to follow and the sample isn’t exactly straight forward: • Install the SDK then go to BPSS/pushsdk-low-level/sample-push- enabled-app/ and unzip sample-push-enabled-app-1.1.0.16-sources.jar  Completely uncertain on how to make it all work… Application Code
55. 55 •You need to register with BlackBerry and have all of the application details ready to go:  https://www.blackberry.com/profile/?eventId=8121 •Download the PHP library:  NOTE: I am not certain if any of these actually work…  Updated to be OO; non-tested and a bit sloppy: https://github.com/mwillbanks/BlackBerryPush  Original source: http://bit.ly/nfbHXp Preparing to Implement
56. 56 •Again, never tested nor do I know if it works. •If you do use BlackBerry push messages; please connect with me  I would like to allow us to get these into the component. Implementing BB Push w/ PHP
57. Moving on… The future, resources and the end!
58. 58 •ZF 2  A new version will eventually come that is more inline with where Zend Framework 2 is going. However, there are bigger fish to fry at this point. •BlackBerry  There is a need for a quality implementation in PHP but RIM’s documentation and how they work with developers makes this increasingly difficult. • Register, Forums and bad documentation… all for? Next steps
59. 59 • Main Sites  Apple Push Notifications: http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/#documentation/NetworkingInternet/Con ceptual/RemoteNotificationsPG/Introduction/Introduction.html  Google C2DM (Android): http://code.google.com/android/c2dm/  Microsoft Push Notifications: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en- us/library/ff402558(v=vs.92).aspx  BlackBerry Push Notifications: http://us.blackberry.com/developers/platform/pushapi.jsp • Push Clients:  Zend_Mobile: • https://github.com/mwillbanks/Zend_Mobile • http://framework.zend.com/svn/framework/standard/trunk/library/Zend/Mobile/  BlackBerry: https://github.com/mwillbanks/BlackBerryPush • Might be broken but at least better than what I found anywhere else  Resources
60. Questions? These slides will be posted to SlideShare & SpeakerDeck. Slideshare: http://www.slideshare.net/mwillbanks SpeakerDeck: http://speakerdeck.com/u/mwillbanks Twitter: mwillbanks G+: Mike Willbanks IRC (freenode): mwillbanks Blog: http://blog.digitalstruct.com GitHub: https://github.com/mwillbanks