[android][notifications] disabling OTA updates breaks notifications on standalone APK

🐛 Bug Report

Summary of Issue

Remote notifications stop working on android santdalone apk built with "updates": { "enabled": false } app.json config.

Environment

  Expo CLI 3.27.13 environment info:
    System:
      OS: macOS 10.15.6
      Shell: 5.7.1 - /bin/zsh
    Binaries:
      Node: 14.11.0 - ~/.nodenv/versions/14/bin/node
      Yarn: 1.22.5 - /usr/local/bin/yarn
      npm: 6.14.8 - ~/.nodenv/versions/14/bin/npm
    IDEs:
      Android Studio: 4.0 AI-193.6911.18.40.6626763
      Xcode: /undefined - /usr/bin/xcodebuild
    npmPackages:
      expo: ~39.0.2 => 39.0.3 
      react: 16.13.1 => 16.13.1 
      react-dom: 16.13.1 => 16.13.1 
      react-native: https://github.com/expo/react-native/archive/sdk-39.0.3.tar.gz => 0.63.2 
      react-native-web: ~0.13.12 => 0.13.14 
    npmGlobalPackages:
      expo-cli: 3.27.13
    Expo Workflow: managed

Tested on Android 9 and 10

Reproducible Demo

To reproduce you can use this repo: https://github.com/DiegoAndai/notif-debug-1

Quick way:

There are two APKs on the repo, these have a “send remote notification” button so you can easily test if the notifications are being displayed. The only difference between the two is the "updates" app.json field. The one built with "updates": { "fallbackToCacheTimeout": 0 } (lets call it apk A) displays notifications as expected, but the one built with "updates": { "enabled": false } (apk B) doesn’t show anything.

Slower way:

You can build your own apks with the code on the repo. I made two commits, one with each configuration described above. You’ll have to provide the FCM configuration.

The apks also show a local notification button, the Exponent Push Token and the "updates" field content of the manifest.

Steps to Reproduce

Whether you built your own or use the provided apks, install and use the “send remote notification” button, one will show notifications and the other won’t. The app also displays the Exponent Push Token if you want to use the notification tool, which doesn’t show any error messages for the apk B, even though notifications don’t show up.

Expected Behavior vs Actual Behavior

Remote notifications should work with either configuration.

Notes

Both configurations work fine on Expo Client, probably as "updates": { "enabled": ... } is ignored

I don’t think the updates configuration has much to do with notifications, so maybe there is a deeper problem and there are more symptoms that I’m not seeing. I really don’t know much about how to debug this further or search for an explanation in Expo’s source code.

When using the "updates": { "fallbackToCacheTimeout": 0 } (apk A), updates are not disabled, and as I published the "updates": { "enabled": false } (apk B) version after, the apk A displays updates manifest field: { "enabled": false } after a while (as it downloads the update), but the notifications still work. That’s why I describe the bug as “Remote notifications stop working on android santdalone apk built with "updates": { "enabled": false }”.

I hope that helps. Thanks in advance!

[esamelson]

fix is deployed to production! Going to close this now but please let us know if the issue persists.

[esamelson]

Hey @DiegoAndai – no need to wait for the next SDK release, we just need to deploy the fix to our build servers and then once it’s deployed you’ll need to rerun expo build:android. We’re working on this now and I’ll update/close this issue when it’s done.