CODEWITHSUNDEEP
flutterdartuilocalnotificationandroid-workmanagerflutter-local-notification
sidali boumaraf
sidali boumaraf

Reputation: 1

How to schedule irregular local notifications (even if after the app gets killed)

so am building an app that sends about 5 local notifications to the user, at an irregular interval (the timings are internally calculated).

First i tried using Scheduled notifications from the package flutter_local_notification and it works quite smoothly, but from what i found there is no direct way that allows me to schedule all 5 notifications at once on the same channel or maybe like trigger a method when the notification is showed so i can reschedule the next notification.

Then i decided to try and use the WorkManager package and mix it with normal notifications from the flutter_local_notification package so i can call a logic that triggers the next notification time and so on, but am facing couple of problems, first the notification that i schedule using workmanager arent so consistent when i close the app, some times they work as intended, and other times it takes much longer than what it was scheduled, or simply only show when i reopen the app, which can be a bit problematic since i need the notifications to pop up on time.

ideally i would love to find a way to only use the flutter_local_notification package because it works quite smoothly and as intended, but it doesnt seem possible for now.

i think i found a somewhat decent solution, suggested by u/autognome in this post Schedule irregular Notifications combining scheduled notifications by the flutter_local_notification and background_fetch that uses headless function implementation that basically will awaken my app in the background about every 15 minutes, providing a short period of background running-time. which will execute the provided callback fun to reschedule the next notification.

finally if you have dealt with irregularly scheduled local notifications or just have a better solution or advice or would like to point our a mistake that i mentioned please go ahead, as i struggled to find a decent guide to do so and i want this to help people after me (and me) to basically not go through the maze i went through.

Ps: if anyone is having the same problem in the future and want some help, hit me up.

Upvotes: 0

Views: 659

Answers (1)

Syed Israr Ahmad
Syed Israr Ahmad

Reputation: 109

Irregular Notifications in Flutter (Simple Way):

  1. Use flutter_local_notifications.
  2. Schedule silent "check-in" notifications every 15 minutes (wakes the app).
  3. When awake, calculate the next notification time and schedule it using flutter_local_notifications.

This avoids complex background services and offers a good balance for irregular notifications.

In your Flutter code, use the flutter_local_notifications package to schedule a silent notification with a specific ID (e.g., check_in_notification_id). Set the notification's payload to a value that signals it's a check-in (e.g., "payload": "check_in").

Code Example:

// Assuming you have a function to calculate the next notification time
DateTime nextNotificationTime = calculateNextNotificationTime();

// Schedule the silent check-in notification
await FlutterLocalNotificationsPlugin().zonedSchedule(
  check_in_notification_id,
  "Silent Check-In",
  "Waking up the app...",
  // Schedule the notification to repeat every 15 minutes
  const PeriodicNotificationRepeat(interval: RepeatInterval.everyFifteenMinutes),
  AndroidNotificationDetails(...), // Set silent notification details
  IOSNotificationDetails(...), // Set silent notification details
  payload: {"payload": "check_in"}, // Payload to identify the check-in
);

Placement of Logic:

You don't necessarily need a specific page. Consider creating a dedicated class or service to handle background notification logic (e.g., BackgroundNotificationService). This service can be registered in your main.dart or appropriate initialization code.

Upvotes: 0

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