Set Up Push Notifications on Flutter Using PHP as Server-Side Script 2025

Push notifications are a great way to engage users by sending timely updates and alerts directly to their devices. In this guide, we will set up push notifications in a Flutter app using Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) and PHP as the server-side script.

Prerequisites

Before we begin, make sure you have the following:

A Flutter project
A Firebase project with FCM enabled
Basic knowledge of PHP
A Firebase server key

Step 1: Setup Firebase in Flutter

Create a Firebase Project
- Go to Firebase Console
- Click on “Add project” and follow the setup instructions
Add Firebase to Your Flutter App
- Register your app (Android and/or iOS) in Firebase
- Download the google-services.json (for Android) or GoogleService-Info.plist (for iOS)
- Place the files in the appropriate directories (android/app and ios/Runner)

Install Firebase Packages Add the following dependencies to your pubspec.yaml file:

dependencies:
  flutter:
    sdk: flutter
  firebase_core: latest_version
  firebase_messaging: latest_version

Initialize Firebase Modify your main.dart file:

import 'package:firebase_core/firebase_core.dart';
import 'package:firebase_messaging/firebase_messaging.dart';
import 'package:flutter/material.dart';

void main() async {
  WidgetsFlutterBinding.ensureInitialized();
  await Firebase.initializeApp();
  runApp(MyApp());
}

Step 2: Configure Firebase Cloud Messaging

Request Notification Permissions (iOS & Android)

FirebaseMessaging messaging = FirebaseMessaging.instance;
NotificationSettings settings = await messaging.requestPermission(
  alert: true,
  badge: true,
  sound: true,
);

Listen for Incoming Messages

FirebaseMessaging.onMessage.listen((RemoteMessage message) {
  print("Message received: ${message.notification?.title}");
});

Get Device Token

FirebaseMessaging.instance.getToken().then((token) {
  print("Device Token: $token");
});

Step 3: Create PHP Script to Send Notifications

Create a file send_notification.php and add the following code:

<?php
function sendPushNotification($deviceToken, $title, $message) {
    $serverKey = 'YOUR_FIREBASE_SERVER_KEY';
    $url = 'https://fcm.googleapis.com/fcm/send';
    
    $notification = [
        'title' => $title,
        'body' => $message,
        'sound' => 'default'
    ];
    
    $payload = [
        'to' => $deviceToken,
        'notification' => $notification,
        'priority' => 'high'
    ];
    
    $headers = [
        'Authorization: key=' . $serverKey,
        'Content-Type: application/json'
    ];
    
    $ch = curl_init();
    curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, $url);
    curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POST, true);
    curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, $headers);
    curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
    curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, json_encode($payload));
    
    $response = curl_exec($ch);
    curl_close($ch);
    return $response;
}

$deviceToken = $_POST['token'];
$title = $_POST['title'];
$message = $_POST['message'];

echo sendPushNotification($deviceToken, $title, $message);
?>

Step 4: Send Notification from Flutter

To trigger the PHP script from Flutter, use the http package:

Add Dependency
```
dependencies:
  http: latest_version
```

Send Notification Request

import 'package:http/http.dart' as http;
import 'dart:convert';

Future<void> sendNotification(String token, String title, String message) async {
  final url = Uri.parse("YOUR_PHP_SCRIPT_URL");
  final response = await http.post(
    url,
    headers: {'Content-Type': 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded'},
    body: {
      'token': token,
      'title': title,
      'message': message,
    },
  );
  print("Response: ${response.body}");
}

Conclusion

By following these steps, you have successfully set up push notifications in Flutter using Firebase Cloud Messaging and PHP as the backend. You can now send notifications from your PHP script to your Flutter app users.

Next Steps

Store device tokens in a database to send notifications to multiple users.
Customize notifications with additional data.
Implement background notification handling.

Let us know if you have any questions in the comments below!

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