what does it mean "if the device is connected to GCM"

Question

I need to implement push notification feature in one of my application. I gone through the android documentation GCM Advance topic here.

In the second paragraph i.e

"In the best-case scenario, if the device is connected to GCM, the screen is on, and there are no throttling restrictions (see Throttling), the message will be delivered right away."

Here what does it mean "if the device is connected to GCM"? is this some thing relates to the internet connectivity.

Please share your views on this for better understanding.

Thank you.

Answer 1

Yes it relates to internet connectivity.

Google Cloud Messaging for Android (GCM) is a service that allows you to send data from your server to your users' Android-powered device. This could be a lightweight message telling your app there is new data to be fetched from the server (for instance, a movie uploaded by a friend), or it could be a message containing up to 4kb of payload data (so apps like instant messaging can consume the message directly).

more here. Basically the above sentence means that it needs internet connectivity. If you go further on GCM related links you will find the permissions list which has internet permission.