This plugin is conflicting with Firebase Cloud Messaging

I have an existing application where I would like to use Firebase Cloud Messaging like described on https://angularfirebase.com/lessons/ionic-native-with-firebase-fcm-push-notifications-ios-android/

After following this guide my app can no longer compile - seems to be a problem with mixed version of google-play-services.

Starting from an empty project I have managed to reproduce the error from a blank starter project and following the guide (all works) and then adding the background location plugin and now it fails

Your Environment

    @ionic/cli-utils  : 1.19.2
    ionic (Ionic CLI) : 3.20.0

global packages:

    cordova (Cordova CLI) : 8.0.0

local packages:

    @ionic/app-scripts : 3.1.9
    Cordova Platforms  : android 7.0.0
    Ionic Framework    : ionic-angular 3.9.2

System:

    Android SDK Tools : 26.1.1
    Node              : v8.9.3
    npm               : 5.5.1
    OS                : Windows 10

Environment Variables:

    ANDROID_HOME : D:\Documents\Android\Sdk

Context

Expected Behavior

Expect it to compile

Actual Behavior

Compilation fails with DEX-error

• What went wrong: Execution failed for task ‘:app:transformDexArchiveWithExternalLibsDexMergerForDebug’.

java.lang.RuntimeException: java.lang.RuntimeException: com.android.builder.dexing.DexArchiveMergerException: Unable to merge dex

Possible Fix

None found

Steps to Reproduce

I have now done a lot more testing, and I am able to reproduce the error following the following steps

ionic start demoapp

cd demoapp

npm install

ionic cordova plugin add cordova-plugin-firebase

npm install --save @ionic-native/firebase

npm install --save angularfire2@5.0.0-rc.6 firebase@4.9.0

(need to install these versions as newer version are not compatible with ionic 3 as it uses angular6)

ionic cordova build android

(notice this builds ok)

ionic cordova plugin add cordova-plugin-mauron85-background-geolocation

ionic cordova build android

(this will give a compile error as there are conflicting versions of google-play-services)

ionic cordova plugin add cordova-android-play-services-gradle-release

(this plugin aligns the google-play-service versions)

ionic cordova build android

Now I get the DEX-error

37 actionable tasks: 1 executed, 36 up-to-date
FAILURE: Build failed with an exception.

* What went wrong:
Execution failed for task ':app:transformDexArchiveWithExternalLibsDexMergerForDebug'.
> java.lang.RuntimeException: java.lang.RuntimeException: com.android.builder.dexing.DexArchiveMergerException: Unable to merge dex

* Try:
Run with --stacktrace option to get the stack trace. Run with --info or --debug option to get more log output.

* Get more help at https://help.gradle.org

BUILD FAILED in 1s
(node:57812) UnhandledPromiseRejectionWarning: Unhandled promise rejection (rejection id: 1): Error: cmd: Command failed with exit code 1 Error output:
FAILURE: Build failed with an exception.

* What went wrong:
Execution failed for task ':app:transformDexArchiveWithExternalLibsDexMergerForDebug'.
> java.lang.RuntimeException: java.lang.RuntimeException: com.android.builder.dexing.DexArchiveMergerException: Unable to merge dex

* Try:
Run with --stacktrace option to get the stack trace. Run with --info or --debug option to get more log output.

* Get more help at https://help.gradle.org

BUILD FAILED in 1s
(node:57812) [DEP0018] DeprecationWarning: Unhandled promise rejections are deprecated. In the future, promise rejections that are not handled will terminate the Node.js process with a non-zero exit code.

So it looks like a conflict between the 2 plugins, but I haven’t found a way to compile the solution, so any suggestions are welcome

Context

Unable to combine notifications and geolocation

Debug logs

[ThorvaldAagaard]

Yes, as I wrote I installed cordova-android-play-services-gradle-release and that removed the compile error, and introduced the DEX-error.

I did not find any documentation of how to change

 <variable name="GOOGLE_PLAY_SERVICES_VERSION" value="11+" />

so I just left it, as I assumed it would use whatever cordova-android-play-services-gradle-release was setting up

But as you wrote in the readme, the DEX could also be an issue with the support libraries, so I add a 3rd plugin for managing these libraries

    <plugin name="cordova-android-play-services-gradle-release" spec="^1.4.2">
        <variable name="PLAY_SERVICES_VERSION" value="15.0.0" />
    </plugin>
    <plugin name="cordova-android-firebase-gradle-release" spec="^1.0.1">
        <variable name="FIREBASE_VERSION" value="15.0.0" />
    </plugin>
    <plugin name="cordova-android-support-gradle-release" spec="^1.4.3">
        <variable name="ANDROID_SUPPORT_VERSION" value="26.+" />
    </plugin>

And VOILA !! - Now it compiles, and you are welcome to close this issue, but should probably consider adding a link to these plugins as they are solving a problem

[ThorvaldAagaard]

The error reoccured when upgrading some of the plugins, and that is probably what the problem you have

I ended up removing all the plugins that updated the play services, and changed my configuration to

    <plugin name="cordova-plugin-mauron85-background-geolocation" spec="^3.0.0-alpha.38">
        <variable name="GOOGLE_PLAY_SERVICES_VERSION" value="11+" />
        <variable name="ANDROID_SUPPORT_LIBRARY_VERSION" value="26+" />

but I am migrating to Ionic-V4 and it will be interesting to see how that will go