React Native Push Notifications: FCM, Expo, and Production-Ready

The text discusses the implementation of push notifications in React Native, emphasizing the benefits of using the platform for mobile notifications due to its single codebase, JavaScript ecosystem compatibility, and faster iteration capabilities. It outlines the setup of Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) for Android and Apple Push Notification service (APNs) for iOS, while also highlighting the advantages of using Expo for a simplified push notification process. The importance of a notification orchestration layer like Courier is detailed, which enhances the basic capabilities of FCM and Expo by managing token lifecycle, multi-channel coordination, user preferences, and delivery observability. The integration of Courier allows developers to create a comprehensive notification system that includes an in-app notification inbox, user preference center, and multi-channel routing. The text compares different approaches to push notifications, recommending Courier for production environments needing multi-channel notifications and user preferences while suggesting FCM and Expo for simpler use cases. Additionally, it provides insights on how Courier can be used alongside Expo or in bare React Native projects for optimized notification handling.