mirror of https://github.com/zulip/zulip.git
75 lines
3.2 KiB
Markdown
75 lines
3.2 KiB
Markdown
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# Mobile push notification service
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Zulip's iOS and Android mobile apps support receiving push
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notifications from Zulip servers to let users know when new messages
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have arrived. This is an important feature to having a great
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experience using the Zulip mobile apps.
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For technical reasons (explained below), in order to deliver mobile
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push notifications in the app store versions of our mobile apps, you
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will need to register your Zulip server with the Zulip mobile push
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notification service. This service will forward push notifications
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generated by your server to the Zulip mobile app automatically.
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## How to sign up
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Starting with Zulip 1.6, Zulip servers support forwarding push
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notifications to a central push notification forwarding service. You
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can enable this for your Zulip server as follows:
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1. First, contact support@zulipchat.com for instructions on
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registering your server (we hope to have a nice web flow available
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for this soon).
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2. Then, uncomment the `PUSH_NOTIFICATION_BOUNCER_URL =
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https://push.zulipchat.com` line in your `/etc/zulip/settings.py`
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file, and
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[restart your Zulip server](prod-maintain-secure-upgrade.html#updating-settings).
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That should be all you need to do!
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To test whether you've configured it properly, just
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[configure mobile push notifications to always be sent][notification-settings],
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start the
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[Zulip Android app](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.zulip.android),
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in the background, and then have another user send you private
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messages. They should appear in the Android notification area.
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[notification-settings]: https://zulipchat.com/help/configure-mobile-notifications
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## Why this is necessary
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Both Google's and Apple's push notification services have a security
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model that does not support mutually untrusted self-hosted servers
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sending push notifications to the same app. In particular, when an
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app is published to their respective app stores, one must compile into
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the app a secret corresponding to the server that will be able to
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publish push notifications for the app. This means that it is
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impossible for a single app in their stores to receive push
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notifications from multiple, mutually untrusted, servers.
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Zulip's solution to this problem is to provide a central push
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notification forwarding service, which allows registered Zulip servers
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to send push notifications to the Zulip app indirectly (through the
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forwarding service).
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## Security and privacy implications
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We've designed this push notification bouncer service with security in
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mind:
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* All of the network requests (both from Zulip servers to the Push
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Notification Service and from the Push Notification Service to the
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relevant Google and Apple services) are encrypted over the wire with
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SSL/TLS.
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* The code for the push notification forwarding service is 100% open
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source and available as part of the
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[Zulip server project on GitHub](https://github.com/zulip/zulip).
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The service's logging is designed to protect the privacy of users of
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Zulip servers that are using the forwarding service.
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* The push notification forwarding servers are professionally managed
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by a small team.
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If you have any questions about the security model, contact
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support@zulipchat.com.
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