mirror of https://github.com/zulip/zulip.git
106 lines
4.9 KiB
Markdown
106 lines
4.9 KiB
Markdown
# 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 for both Android and iOS, Zulip servers
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support forwarding push notifications to a central push notification
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forwarding service. You can enable this for your Zulip server as
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follows:
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1. First, contact support@zulipchat.com with the `zulip_org_id` and
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`zulip_org_key` values from your `/etc/zulip/zulip-secrets.conf` file, as
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well as a hostname and contact email address you'd like us to use in case
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of any issues (we hope to have a nice web flow available for this soon).
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2. We'll enable push notifications for your server on our end. Look for a
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reply from Zulipchat support within 24 hours.
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3. Uncomment the `PUSH_NOTIFICATION_BOUNCER_URL = "https://push.zulipchat.com"`
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line in your `/etc/zulip/settings.py` file, and
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[restart your Zulip server](../production/maintain-secure-upgrade.html#updating-settings).
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Note that if you installed Zulip older than 1.6, you'll need to add
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the line (it won't be there to uncomment).
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4. If you or your users have already set up the Zulip mobile app,
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you'll each need to log out and log back in again in order to start
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getting push notifications.
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That should be all you need to do!
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If you'd like to verify the full pipeline, you can do the following.
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Please follow the instructions carefully:
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* [Configure mobile push notifications to always be sent][notification-settings]
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(normally they're only sent if you're idle, which isn't ideal for
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this sort of testing).
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* On an Android device, download and login to the
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[Zulip Android app](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.zulipmobile).
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If you were already logged in before configuring the server, you'll
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need to logout first, since the app only registers for push
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notifications on login.
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* Hit the home button, so Zulip is running in the background, and then
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have **another user** send you a **private message** (By default,
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Zulip only sends push notifications for private messages sent by other
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users and messages mentioning you). A push notification should appear
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in the Android notification area.
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[notification-settings]: https://zulipchat.com/help/configure-mobile-notifications
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Note that use of the push notification bouncer is subject to the
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[Zulipchat Terms of Service](https://zulipchat.com/terms/). By using push
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notifications, you agree to those terms.
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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
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and privacy in 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 Push Notification Service is designed to avoid any message
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content being stored or logged, even in error cases.
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* The push notification forwarding servers are professionally managed
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by a small team of security experts.
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* There's a `PUSH_NOTIFICATION_REDACT_CONTENT` setting available to
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disable any message content being sent via the push notification
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bouncer (i.e. message content will be replaced with
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`***REDACTED***`). Note that this setting makes push notifications
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significantly less usable. We plan to
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[replace this feature with end-to-end encryption](https://github.com/zulip/zulip/issues/6954)
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which would eliminate that usability tradeoff.
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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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