🔥 Send Push Notifications in Laravel 12 (Android & iOS)

Push Notifications are essential for mobile apps. In this post, we’ll cover how to send push notifications from Laravel 12 to Android and iOS devices using Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM).

🔧 Prerequisites

Laravel 12 Installed
Firebase Project Created
Server Key from Firebase
Device Token (Android/iOS)

📡 Method 1: Send FCM Push Notification using cURL in Laravel

You can send notifications using raw cURL via Laravel's HTTP client or PHP cURL.

Step 1: Use Laravel HTTP Client

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Http;

$response = Http::withHeaders([
    'Authorization' => 'key=YOUR_FCM_SERVER_KEY',
    'Content-Type' => 'application/json',
])->post('https://fcm.googleapis.com/fcm/send', [
    'to' => 'DEVICE_TOKEN',
    'notification' => [
        'title' => 'Hello User',
        'body' => 'This is a Laravel FCM Notification!',
    ],
    'data' => [
        'extra_data' => 'Some custom data',
    ],
]);

dd($response->json());

Step 2: Use PHP cURL (Manual)

$SERVER_API_KEY = "YOUR_FCM_SERVER_KEY";

$data = [
    "to" => "DEVICE_TOKEN",
    "notification" => [
        "title" => "Manual FCM Notification",
        "body" => "Sent using PHP cURL!",
    ],
];

$headers = [
    'Authorization: key=' . $SERVER_API_KEY,
    'Content-Type: application/json',
];

$ch = curl_init();
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, 'https://fcm.googleapis.com/fcm/send');
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POST, true);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, $headers);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, json_encode($data));
$response = curl_exec($ch);
curl_close($ch);

dd($response);

📦 Method 2: Use Laravel FCM Package

Use a Laravel package to simplify sending notifications via FCM.

Step 1: Install Package

composer require brozot/laravel-fcm

Step 2: Add Configuration

Publish and set your FCM keys:

php artisan vendor:publish --provider="LaravelFCM\FCMServiceProvider"

Edit config/fcm.php with your Firebase credentials.

Step 3: Send Notification

use LaravelFCM\Message\OptionsBuilder;
use LaravelFCM\Message\PayloadDataBuilder;
use LaravelFCM\Message\PayloadNotificationBuilder;
use FCM;

$optionBuilder = new OptionsBuilder();
$optionBuilder->setTimeToLive(60*20);

$notificationBuilder = new PayloadNotificationBuilder('Title Here');
$notificationBuilder->setBody('This is the message body')
                    ->setSound('default');

$dataBuilder = new PayloadDataBuilder();
$dataBuilder->addData(['key' => 'value']);

$option = $optionBuilder->build();
$notification = $notificationBuilder->build();
$data = $dataBuilder->build();

$token = "DEVICE_TOKEN";

$downstreamResponse = FCM::sendTo($token, $option, $notification, $data);

dd($downstreamResponse->numberSuccess());

📱 Android & iOS Notes

Android: Make sure the app is in foreground or background to receive notifications.
iOS: Requires APNs setup and APNs Auth Key in Firebase. iOS only displays notifications if sent via notification payload.

✅ Conclusion

With Laravel 12, sending push notifications is very flexible. Whether you use cURL, Laravel's HTTP Client, or a package like brozot/laravel-fcm, you can quickly integrate powerful mobile messaging for your Android and iOS apps.

📁 Full Demo: Create Notification Test File in Laravel 12

Here’s how you can set up a full Laravel test to send a push notification using FCM for Android or iOS.

🚀 Step 1: Firebase Setup

Go to Firebase Console.
Create a new project or open an existing one.
Navigate to Project Settings > Cloud Messaging.
Copy your Server Key.
Add your Android/iOS app in the Firebase project (optional but recommended for device registration).

📦 Step 2: Create Laravel Route and Controller

Create a route to trigger notification manually.

🛣️ Add Route in `routes/web.php`

use App\Http\Controllers\PushTestController;

Route::get('/send-test-notification', [PushTestController::class, 'send']);

🧾 Create Controller File

php artisan make:controller PushTestController

📤 Controller Code (`app/Http/Controllers/PushTestController.php`)

namespace App\Http\Controllers;

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Http;

class PushTestController extends Controller
{
    public function send()
    {
        $SERVER_API_KEY = 'YOUR_FCM_SERVER_KEY';
        $DEVICE_TOKEN = 'DEVICE_TOKEN';

        $response = Http::withHeaders([
            'Authorization' => 'key=' . $SERVER_API_KEY,
            'Content-Type' => 'application/json',
        ])->post('https://fcm.googleapis.com/fcm/send', [
            'to' => $DEVICE_TOKEN,
            'notification' => [
                'title' => 'Laravel FCM Test',
                'body' => 'Push notification sent successfully!',
            ],
            'data' => [
                'click_action' => 'FLUTTER_NOTIFICATION_CLICK',
                'id' => '1',
                'status' => 'done'
            ],
        ]);

        return $response->json();
    }
}

🖥️ Step 3: Serve Your Laravel App

Run your Laravel project using the built-in server:

php artisan serve

Open your browser and visit:

http://127.0.0.1:8000/send-test-notification

You should see a JSON response from Firebase, and the push notification should arrive on your Android or iOS device.

💡 Final Tips

Make sure your device token is fresh (from Firebase SDK on Android/iOS).
You can store and manage multiple tokens in a database for sending bulk notifications.
Use Laravel queues for sending notifications asynchronously in production.

🔥 Laravel FCM Push Notifications with Database (Full Setup Demo)

This guide helps you set up Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) in Laravel using the laravel-notification-channels/fcm package, store notifications in the database, and test on Android/iOS.

🧱 Step 1: Install Required Packages

composer require laravel-notification-channels/fcm
php artisan notifications:table
php artisan migrate

🔐 Step 2: Firebase Credentials Setup

FCM_CREDENTIALS=file://{storage_path}/app/fcm-service-account.json

'fcm' => [
    'credentials' => [
        'file' => env('FCM_CREDENTIALS'),
    ],
],

📢 Step 3: Create Notification Class

php artisan make:notification TestPushNotification

use Illuminate\Notifications\Notification;
use NotificationChannels\Fcm\FcmMessage;
use NotificationChannels\Fcm\Resources\Notification as FcmNotification;
use NotificationChannels\Fcm\Resources\AndroidConfig;
use NotificationChannels\Fcm\Resources\ApnsConfig;

class TestPushNotification extends Notification
{
    public function via($notifiable)
    {
        return ['database', 'fcm'];
    }

    public function toFcm($notifiable)
    {
        return FcmMessage::create()
            ->setNotification(FcmNotification::create()
                ->setTitle('Hello from Laravel')
                ->setBody('This is a test push notification.'))
            ->setAndroid(AndroidConfig::create()->setPriority('high'))
            ->setApns(ApnsConfig::create());
    }

    public function toArray($notifiable)
    {
        return [
            'message' => 'This is a test push notification.',
        ];
    }
}

👤 Step 4: Add FCM Token to User Model

public function routeNotificationForFcm()
{
    return $this->fcm_token;
}

🧪 Step 5: Send a Test Notification

use App\Models\User;
use App\Notifications\TestPushNotification;

Route::get('/send-test-notification', function () {
    $user = User::find(1); // Replace with your user ID
    $user->update(['fcm_token' => 'your_device_fcm_token_here']);
    $user->notify(new TestPushNotification());
    return 'Notification sent!';
});

🧾 Step 6: View Stored Notifications

$notifications = auth()->user()->notifications;

📚 Reference: Want to explore or suggest new FCM notification channels for Laravel? Check out the official Laravel Notification Channels guide here: Laravel Notification Channels – Suggest a New Channel

FAQs (with answers)

❓1. How do push notifications work in Laravel 12?

Laravel 12 uses external services like Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) to send push notifications. You store each user's device_token and use Firebase to send messages.

❓2. What is Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM)?

Firebase Cloud Messaging is a free service by Google that allows you to send real-time push notifications to Android, iOS, and web devices.

❓3. How do I save the device token in Laravel?

You create a new column (e.g. device_token) in your users table, then use a controller or middleware to capture and store the token from the frontend.

❓4. Can I send push notifications to web browsers using Laravel?

Yes, Laravel can send web push notifications using Firebase with service workers and the browser’s Notification API.

❓5. Is Firebase free for push notifications?

Yes, Firebase offers a generous free tier for push notifications. You can send millions of notifications per month at no cost.

❓6. What packages do I need to send FCM notifications in Laravel?

You can use direct CURL requests or install packages like brozot/laravel-fcm or laravel-notification-channels/fcm for better integration.

❓7. How do I test push notifications locally?

You can test by registering a device in your browser or mobile app with Firebase and using Postman or your Laravel backend to send test messages.

🔥 Send Push Notifications in Laravel 12 (Android & iOS) – All Methods