Best way to implement push notifications with Firebase

Question

I am an iPhone app coder, and I'm using Firebase as my backend server. Firebase doesn't support Push Notifications, so I've been trying to figure out how to include them in my app. I've read this question: How to send an alert message to a special online user with firebase but it seems like more of a work-around than an actual solution.

Is there an answer on how to do this? Are there third parties or APIs that might seemlessly implement this functionality?

One solution I have tried is to use Zapier to connect Firebase to Pushover.

At this point, I've been able to observe events in the app that I'm coding and then get notifications in a pushover app on my iphone. However, ideally, I'd like to receive the notifications in my app, not in the pushover app, because I don't want users to need to have pushover in order to use my app and because I want users to receive their own distinct notifications, not notifications for everyone.

Does anyone have suggestions on how I should handle this issue?

Thanks for the help!

EDIT This isn't a duplicate of this question: Does firebase handle push notifications? because I know Firebase doesn't directly handle push notifications. I'm looking for the best indirect way of handling push notifications with Firebase.

Answer 1

Now Google rebranded GCM to Firebase Cloud Messaging and it now offers this cross platform service. Firebase also offers notifications.

These are the differences between these two services:

Firebase Cloud Messaging provides a complete set of messaging capabilities through its client SDKs and HTTP and XMPP server protocols. For deployments with more complex messaging requirements, FCM is the right choice.

Firebase Notifications is a lightweight, serverless messaging solution built on Firebase Cloud Messaging. With a user-friendly graphical console and reduced coding requirements, Firebase Notifications lets users easily send messages to reengage and retain users, foster app growth, and support marketing campaigns.

If you want a more detailed comparison. Read this.

Answer 2

If you want device to device push messages and not just server to device, the only solution I found was OneSignal. I was able to add basic device to device push message support for my app in about an hour and it is currently free.

Both Batch and Firebase only support server to device push messages, not what you want for a chat app