GCM to FCM migration. New GCM token past April 11, 2019

[Peter Ho]

https://developers.google.com/cloud-messaging/faq

It was mentioned that Note that client SDKs and GCM tokens will continue to work indefinitely.

It is clear that as long as the server endpoint has been upgraded to FCM, existing Android apps running GCM SDK with existing GCM token will continue to work indefinitely.

However can new installs of existing app still generate new GCM tokens past April 11, 2019?

Thanks

Peter

[Kato Richardson]

Hi Peter,

No, since this would require contacting the old / deprecated GCM endpoints. New app installs should use FCM directly.

☼, Kato

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Kato Richardson |

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775-235-8398

[Peter Ho]

Hi Kato,

Really appreciate your response. The same question was also cross posted in the GCM Group and we are hearing a different response.

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/android-gcm/pnnR8NckVBc

Due to the urgent nature of this, we are keen to get some clarification as soon as possible. Apologies for cross posting. 

It would be appreciated if you can further clarify whether the mechanism of generate GCM token with existing Apps

• Will be turned off immediately past April 11, 2019?

OR 

• Will be turned off some time past April 11, 2019. If so can we get some clarification on how much time we still have?

The reason why this is important for us is that we specialise in creating white labelled apps and we currently have thousands of older apps for our customers that are using GCM for Push Notifications. So previously based on the statement "Note that client SDKs and GCM tokens will continue to work indefinitely", we assumed that new token will also continue to be generated indefinitely for our existing apps on the Google Play store.

We would really appreciate some more clarity so we can plan for this.

Thanks,

Peter

[Kato Richardson]

So let me lay this out plainly. The time you have left is April 11th. We won't be giving any more notices or warnings.

They may continue working for some time frame after that date, purely because nothing has failed. There are no plans to immediately unplug the servers, per se.

But in a nutshell, deprecated means unsupported. Any use of GCM endpoints after April 11th may fail without notice or warning. You should upgrade immediately and not hedge your bets on any leniency here.

Keep in mind the caveat that pre-existing GCM tokens are still compatible with FCM SDKs and those devices will still receive notifications indefinitely. But if the client needs a new token, they will need to contact the new API endpoints.

☼, Kato

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[Shawn Ifill]

Hi Kato,

We still have mobile clients (Android and iOS) that are still built using the old GCM libraries. If an app with the old library tries to get a new token, will that still work? If so, for how long will that old GCM library be able to get new tokens?

[Kato Richardson]

They shouldn't need a new token under normal circumstances. They should work until the app is uninstalled, upgraded, etc. The one exception here would be clearing the app cache data, which would naturally get rid of the existing token.

Getting new tokens will not be supported after April 11th. The GCM endpoints will no longer be supported. That means we won't be offering any extensions or promises beyond that deadline.

☼, Kato

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[Shawn Ifill]

Thanks for the reply. Back in January I opened a case with Google Support and received the following response. But it based on what you're saying, the response is incorrect. Also, can you point me to the documentation that states older libraries will not be able to get new tokens?

Thanks.

Question

----------------

We currently have a version of our app in the Play Store that gets installed on devices running versions of Android less than Android 5. This version uses an older version of the GCM library. 

The GCM library will be deprecated in April. Will devices with this version of the library still be able to:

1) Get GCM tokens.
2) Receive downstream GCM messages.
3) Send upstream GCM messages.

Thanks.

Response

----------------

As pointed in this documentation[1]  it can be seen that Client SDK's and GCM tokens will work indefinitely. However you won't be able to target the latest version of Google Play Services in your Android App unless you migrate to FCM.

[1] https://developers.google.com/cloud-messaging/faq

[Peter Ho]

Hi Kato,

We've received an email from Firebase today titled: Final reminder: Upgrade GCM to Firebase Cloud Messaging by May 29

Quote from this email:

We also recommend that you upgrade your client SDKs from GCM to the latest version of Firebase Cloud Messaging. Although existing app installations that use GCM methods will continue to function, GCM methods will not work when your app targets future Android versions (after Android Q).

Given this email does not specify which GCM methods, and when it says existing app installations, it doesn't clarify whether the app was run at least once and a token was already obtained, or the app was just installed and no existing token exists.  One may assume it implies to all GCM methods including getting new GCM tokens.

With this new information provided in the email, can you confirm if we can now safely assume getting new GCM token with existing apps will continue to work until the app targets Android Q and above.

Thanks,

Peter

On Thursday, March 28, 2019 at 4:38:29 AM UTC+13, Kato Richardson wrote:

So let me lay this out plainly. The time you have left is April 11th. We won't be giving any more notices or warnings.

They may continue working for some time frame after that date, purely because nothing has failed. There are no plans to immediately unplug the servers, per se.

But in a nutshell, deprecated means unsupported. Any use of GCM endpoints after April 11th may fail without notice or warning. You should upgrade immediately and not hedge your bets on any leniency here.

Keep in mind the caveat that pre-existing GCM tokens are still compatible with FCM SDKs and those devices will still receive notifications indefinitely. But if the client needs a new token, they will need to contact the new API endpoints.

☼, Kato

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[Kato Richardson]

Let me get some clarity from the gurus and report back. Hold for a bit.

☼, Kato

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[Kato Richardson]

Hi Peter,

The wording in the MSA email is accurate.  An existing app installation can continue to request and receive valid tokens through GCM methods. However, you should upgrade to the FCM SDK as soon as practical.  GCM will no longer be supported after May 29th (new extended date) and if it breaks we won't provide any recourse; it will be on you to get the user to update to your newer apk that depends on FCM. Any apps targeting future versions of Android (likely R+) will fail outright and must use the FCM SDK.

☼, Kato