Google restricts FCM service based on IP Address, Is there any other free Android push notification provider?

Question

I start to write down a simple push notification App using FCM For Android. But I got this message in my Android studio Log.

signInWithCustomToken com.google.firebase.FirebaseException: An internal error has occurred. [ This service is not available from Iran. If you believe the country of origin was incorrectly identified, please report it at https://support.google.com/websearch/contact/ip. ]

My Android (client) app works fine[Successful Registering and Signing In and Receiving notification] when I use with VPN to change my IP.

My question: is there any way to use FCM for my project beside forcing customers to use VPN? If not what are other alternatives for FCM that provides free and pay as you go service for cross-platform push Notification?[it is clear that companies that uses FCM/GCM services as 3rd party like Batch.com, Backendless, Pushwoosh wouldn't do any help]

by free, i mean for small amount of users (around 1000 MAU)

EDIT: As Antoine Guénard said, with batch my app registered and got Token and authenticated without any problem but receives test notification only through VPN.

Brackish

Does sending a Notification from the Firebase Console also fail? – Braille

the User couldn't login, let alone receiving notification. Normally Yes, with VPN no. – Brackish

There is no actual replacement for GCM on Android. All the other providers use GCM under the hood! There is no limitation on GCM. Facebook and all the apps under your phone are using it. – Dingbat

@MehranZamani which way you select for sending push notifications to iran located users regarding the current situation? – Whitelaw

I'm using batch and I receive notification without vpn – Schick

Answer 1

The exception occurred while calling signInWithCustomToken which is related to the Firebase Authentication feature, not Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM).

We at Batch.com have many customers in Iran as we are based in Europe not US and most of the business sanctions were lifted last year. Our webservices are not geo-restricted like Firebase ones so I don't see a reason why it would fail with us.

On Android, Batch uses Google Cloud Messaging (GCM) through Google Play Services SDK and our Iranian end-users are fully able to subscribe to push notifications and receive those. FCM is basically just a rebranding of GCM, sending APIs works the same, but subscribing from the client side requires another SDK that heavily relies on the Firebase ecosystem.

Edit: from Firebase term of services:

The Software is controlled by U.S. Export Regulations, and it may be not be exported to or used by embargoed countries or individuals.

Perky

i send them email and Baptiste from Batch.com replied: Hi, Thank you for checking us out! It looks like the issue you are reporting is related to Firebase. Batch relies on GCM to send push notifications to Android devices and, as far as we know, GCM should work without any problems in Iran. I recommend you run some tests using our sample app or integrating Batch in your test project. The integration is straightforward and shouldn't take more than 30 minutes following our documentation: batch.com/doc. We will be here to help if you have any questions. Best, – Brackish

I stand to his reply ;) This geo-restriction is Firebase-related, not GCM-related, so you can definitely use Batch and GCM for Android push notifications in Iran. Please contact us on our live chat or [email protected] and I will make sure we can help you with the SDK integration. – Organdy

Answer 2

OneSignal has free unlimited cross-platform push notifications.

https://onesignal.com/

Contractor

how can you know if it works for me. do you have any contact information about onesignal or their support team? – Brackish

In the footer, there is a contact link. They are very responsive from my experience. – Contractor

could you send me an email address? – Brackish

[email protected] – Contractor

thanks man. Josh from OneSignal <[email protected]> Feb 9 (1 day ago) Hello, For Android notifications OneSignal also uses Google's GCM / FCM server to send notifications. We have had reports of this not working in some part of Iran in the past. For iOS you should be ok as we use Apple's APNs servers for notifications. Almost every push notification service uses GCM / FCM for Android as using a custom implementation / server method would put a lot of extra battery drain on the device and wouldn't be a reliable. Thanks. – Brackish

Since yesterday, access to onesignal.com website is restricted from Iran's IP addresses. open the website through proxies doesn't seem to work because of sent notifications have a very low (abnormal) click rate! – Whitelaw

it is banned too , now – Brest