Android Push Alternative

[timber-they]

Describe the bug
Without Google Play services the app doesn't start on Android, but rather is stuck on the initial loading screen. This is a bug because especially for open source applications, they should also work without Google Play services, meaning that they shouldn't solely rely on Firebase Messaging.
Relevant logs seem to be:

06-20 09:53:07.553 28884 28915 E Metadata: Google Play services missing or without correct permission.
06-20 09:53:07.558 28884 28932 E flutter : [ERROR:flutter/runtime/dart_vm_initializer.cc(41)] Unhandled Exception: PlatformException(IllegalStateException, java.lang.IllegalStateException: Fetching FCM registration token failed, but exception was null, Cause: java.io.IOException: java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException: java.io.IOException: MISSING_INSTANCEID_SERVICE, Stacktrace: java.lang.IllegalStateException: Fetching FCM registration token failed, but exception was null
06-20 09:53:07.558 28884 28932 E flutter : 	at uk.orth.push.a.o(Unknown Source:37)
06-20 09:53:07.558 28884 28932 E flutter : 	at uk.orth.push.a.i(Unknown Source:0)
06-20 09:53:07.558 28884 28932 E flutter : 	at u6.b.a(Unknown Source:2)
06-20 09:53:07.558 28884 28932 E flutter : 	at v2.a0.run(Unknown Source:21)
06-20 09:53:07.558 28884 28932 E flutter : 	at android.os.Handler.handleCallback(Handler.java:959)
06-20 09:53:07.558 28884 28932 E flutter : 	at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:100)
06-20 09:53:07.558 28884 28932 E flutter : 	at android.os.Looper.loopOnce(Looper.java:232)
06-20 09:53:07.558 28884 28932 E flutter : 	at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:317)
06-20 09:53:07.558 28884 28932 E flutter : 	at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:8623)
06-20 09:53:07.558 28884 28932 E flutter : 	at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Native Method)
06-20 09:53:07.558 28884 28932 E flutter : 	at com.android.internal.os.RuntimeInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(RuntimeInit.java:580)
06-20 09:53:07.558 28884 28932 E flutter : 	at com.android.internal.os.ExecInit.main(ExecInit.java:50)
06-20 09:53:07.558 28884 28932 E flutter : 	at com.android.internal.os.RuntimeInit.nativeFinishInit(Native Method)
06-20 09:53:07.558 28884 28932 E flutter : 	at com.android.internal.os.RuntimeInit.main(RuntimeInit.java:369)
06-20 09:53:07.558 28884 28932 E flutter : Caused by: java.io.IOException: java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException: java.io.IOException: MISSING_INSTANCEID_SERVICE
06-20 09:53:07.558 28884 28932 E flutter : 	at com.google.firebase.messaging.FirebaseMessaging.c(Unknown Source:66)
06-20 09:53:07.558 28884 28932 E flutter : 	at com.google.firebase.messaging.FirebaseMessaging.q(Unknown Source:0)
06-20 09:53:07.558 28884 28932 E flutter : 	at com.google.firebase.messaging.q.run(Unknown Source:4)
06-20 09:53:07.558 28884 28932 E flutter : 	at java.util.concurrent.Executors$RunnableAdapter.call(Executors.java:487)
06-20 09:53:07.558 28884 28932 E flutter : 	at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(FutureTask.java:264)
06-20 09:53:07.558 28884 28932 E flutter : 	at java.util.concurrent.ScheduledThreadPoolExecutor$ScheduledFutureTask.run(ScheduledThreadPoolExecutor.java:307)
06-20 09:53:07.558 28884 28932 E flutter : 	at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1145)
06-20 09:53:07.558 28884 28932 E flutter : 	at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:644)
06-20 09:53:07.558 28884 28932 E flutter : 	at h2.c.run(Unknown Source:6)
06-20 09:53:07.558 28884 28932 E flutter : 	at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:1012)
06-20 09:53:07.558 28884 28932 E flutter : Caused by: java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException: java.io.IOException: MISSING_INSTANCEID_SERVICE
06-20 09:53:07.558 28884 28932 E flutter : 	at v2.o.g(Unknown Source:31)
06-20 09:53:07.558 28884 28932 E flutter : 	at v2.o.a(Unknown Source:31)
06-20 09:53:07.558 28884 28932 E flutter : 	at com.google.firebase.messaging.FirebaseMessaging.c(Unknown Source:54)
06-20 09:53:07.558 28884 28932 E flutter : 	... 9 more
06-20 09:53:07.558 28884 28932 E flutter : Caused by: java.io.IOException: MISSING_INSTANCEID_SERVICE
06-20 09:53:07.558 28884 28932 E flutter : 	at v1.c.a(Unknown Source:39)
06-20 09:53:07.558 28884 28932 E flutter : 	at com.google.firebase.messaging.b0.i(Unknown Source:5)
06-20 09:53:07.558 28884 28932 E flutter : 	at com.google.firebase.messaging.b0.d(Unknown Source:13)
06-20 09:53:07.558 28884 28932 E flutter : 	at com.google.firebase.messaging.FirebaseMessaging.p(Unknown Source:2)
06-20 09:53:07.558 28884 28932 E flutter : 	at com.google.firebase.messaging.u.start(Unknown Source:6)
06-20 09:53:07.558 28884 28932 E flutter : 	at com.google.firebase.messaging.s0.a(Unknown Source:84)
06-20 09:53:07.558 28884 28932 E flutter : 	at com.google.firebase.messaging.FirebaseMessaging.c(Unknown Source:50)
06-20 09:53:07.558 28884 28932 E flutter : 	... 9 more
06-20 09:53:07.558 28884 28932 E flutter : , null)
06-20 09:53:07.558 28884 28932 E flutter : #0      PushHostApi.getToken (package:push_platform_interface/src/serialization/push_api.dart:309)
06-20 09:53:07.558 28884 28932 E flutter : <asynchronous suspension>
06-20 09:53:07.558 28884 28932 E flutter : #1      Future.timeout.<anonymous closure> (dart:async/future_impl.dart:940)
06-20 09:53:07.558 28884 28932 E flutter : <asynchronous suspension>
06-20 09:53:07.558 28884 28932 E flutter : #2      DebugScreen.build.<anonymous closure> (package:enmeshed/drawer/debug_screen.dart:35)
06-20 09:53:07.558 28884 28932 E flutter : <asynchronous suspension>
06-20 09:53:07.558 28884 28932 E flutter : 

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. Use a phone without Google Play services (e.g. one with LineageOS or GrapheneOS and don't manually install them)
2. Start the app
3. Accept the request for camera usage (or don't, it doesn't matter)
4. See error

Expected behavior
At the very least an error message explaining the situation should appear.
Further than that, I would very much expect the app to also work without Google Play services; e.g. by receiving notifications via polling.
In an ideal world the app would also support UnifiedPush, but I guess that's a feature request and not a bug.

Screenshots

Environment

• Product: App
• Version: 3.0.3
• Device: Pixel 6a
• OS: Android 14 (GrapheneOS)

[jkoenig134]

Hi @timber-they, thanks for the input.

You are right, our application should defenitely not crash when no google services are found, we will look into this.

As many features of the app rely on Push Notifications the App wouldn't be very usable without. We will have this on our roadmap, but cannot give any ETA for an alternative push solution.

[timber-they]

@jkoenig134 I would also be happy to help. However, I don't seem to be getting to the point where the error occurs without the settings for baseUrl, clientId, clientSecret and applicationId.
I need to be able to use the app in order to continue development and integration with "mein Bildungsraum" for Open Educational Badges.
Could you provide me development values for those settings?