Unity SDK setup

Learn how to set up OneSignal’s Unity SDK to easily add push notifications to your Unity apps for iOS, Android, Amazon, and Huawei. This guide covers Unity installation, platform configuration, and initialization.

Overview

Setting up push notifications for your Unity app using OneSignal

Integrating push notifications into your Unity app is a powerful way to boost user engagement and retention. OneSignal’s Unity SDK supports iOS (APNS), Android (FCM), Amazon (ADM), and Huawei devices, enabling real-time messaging with minimal effort.

Whether you’re building mobile games or interactive apps, this guide helps you integrate OneSignal quickly and reliably.

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Requirements

• Unity 2021.3 or newer
• Configured OneSignal app and platform

iOS Requirements

• macOS with Xcode 14+ (setup instructions use Xcode 16.2)
• Device with iOS 12+, iPadOS 12+, or Xcode simulator running iOS 16.2+

Android Requirements

• Android 7.0+ device or emulator with Google Play Store (Services) installed

Configure your OneSignal app and platform

Required setup for push notifications

To start sending push notifications with OneSignal, you must first configure your OneSignal app with all the platforms your support—Apple (APNs), Google (FCM), Huawei (HMS), and/or Amazon (ADM).

If your organization already has a OneSignal account, ask to be invited as an admin role to configure the app. Otherwise, sign up for a free account to get started.

Step-by-step instructions for configuring your OneSignal app.

You can manage multiple platforms (iOS, Android, Huawei, Amazon, Web) under a single OneSignal app.

1. Create or select your app

   • To add platforms to an existing app, go to Settings > Push & In-App in the OneSignal dashboard.
   • To start fresh, click New App/Website and follow the prompts.

   

   Example shows creating a new app.
2. Set up and activate a platform

   • Choose a clear and recognizable name for your app and organization.
   • Select the platform(s) you want to configure (iOS, Android, etc.).
   • Click Next: Configure Your Platform.

   

   Example setting up your first OneSignal app, org, and channel.
3. Configure platform credentials

   Follow the prompts based on your platforms:

   • Android: Set up Firebase Credentials
   • iOS: p8 Token (Recommended) or p12 Certificate
   • Amazon: Generate API Key
   • Huawei: Authorize OneSignal

   Click Save & Continue after entering your credentials.

4. Choose target SDK

   Select the SDK that matches your development platform (e.g., iOS, Android, React Native, Unity), then click Save & Continue.

   

   Select which SDK you are using to be navigated to the docs.
5. Install SDK and save your App ID

   Once your platform is configured, your OneSignal App ID will be displayed. Copy and save this ID—you’ll need it when installing and initializing the SDK.

   If collaborating with others, use the Invite button to add developers or teammates, then click Done to complete setup.

   

   Save your App ID and invite additional team members.

   Once complete, follow the SDK installation guide for your selected platform to finish integrating OneSignal.

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Setup

1. Add the OneSignal Unity SDK

Two installation methods are available:

Unity Asset Store

1. Add the SDK to your account via Add to My Assets.
2. Click Open in Unity to launch Unity Editor and Package Manager.
3. Download and Import the SDK.

OneSignal Unity SDK in My Assets

4. Accept the prompt to import all files.
5. Go to Window > OneSignal SDK Setup and follow the checklist, especially Import OneSignal packages.
6. After import, Unity will update the registry. Complete the remaining setup steps shown in the setup window.

OneSignal SDK Setup Window

2. Platform setup

Add all the platforms your app supports.

iOS setup

Our SDK auto-configures the required Xcode settings. Choose your provisioning approach:

Automatically Sign (Recommended)

1. Go to File > Build Settings > Player Settings.
2. Under Other Settings, check Automatically Sign.

Enable automatic signing in Unity

Android setup

1. Go to Edit > Project Settings > Player > Android.
2. Under Publishing Settings, enable:

• Custom Main Gradle Template
• Custom Gradle Properties Template

3. Run Assets > External Dependency Manager > Android Resolver > Force Resolve.

Additional considerations:

• Target API Level must be 33+ (v5.0.6+).
• If Minify is enabled, run Copy Android plugin to Assets from OneSignal SDK Setup to use OneSignalConfig.androidlib.
• Replace the default icons within Assets/Plugins/Android/OneSignalConfig.androidlib/src/main/res with your own (lowercase file names only, underscores allowed). See Customize Notification Icons for more.

Amazon setup

Only required for Amazon apps available via the Amazon App Store.

Amazon FireOS (ADM) setup

1. Edit or create Plugins/Android/AndroidManifest.xml.
2. Add namespace:

 xmlns:amazon="http://schemas.amazon.com/apk/res/android"

3. Add permissions:

<uses-permission android:name="com.amazon.device.messaging.permission.RECEIVE" />
<permission android:name="COM.YOUR.PACKAGE_NAME.permission.RECEIVE_ADM_MESSAGE" android:protectionLevel="signature" />
<uses-permission android:name="COM.YOUR.PACKAGE_NAME.permission.RECEIVE_ADM_MESSAGE" />

4. Add the following to the <application> tag:

<amazon:enable-feature android:name="com.amazon.device.messaging" android:required="false"/>
<service android:name="com.onesignal.notifications.services.ADMMessageHandler" android:exported="false" />
<service android:name="com.onesignal.notifications.services.ADMMessageHandlerJob"
         android:permission="android.permission.BIND_JOB_SERVICE"
         android:exported="false" />
<receiver android:name="com.onesignal.notifications.receivers.ADMMessageReceiver"
          android:permission="com.amazon.device.messaging.permission.SEND" >
  <intent-filter>
    <action android:name="com.amazon.device.messaging.intent.REGISTRATION" />
    <action android:name="com.amazon.device.messaging.intent.RECEIVE" />
    <category android:name="COM.YOUR.PACKAGE_NAME" />
  </intent-filter>
</receiver>

5. Replace all COM.YOUR.PACKAGE_NAME instances with your actual package name.

6. Place your api_key.txt under Assets/Plugins/Android/OneSignalConfig.androidlib/src/main/assets

• See Generate an Amazon API Key Guide for help creating this file.

Huawei setup

Only required for Huawei apps available via the Huawei App Gallery.

See Huawei Unity SDK setup for more.

3. Initialize the SDK

Add this code inside the Start() method of a MonoBehaviour early in your application’s lifecycle.

Replace YOUR_APP_ID with your OneSignal App ID found in your OneSignal dashboard Settings > Keys & IDs.

If you don’t have access to the OneSignal app, ask your Team Members to invite you.

C#

using OneSignalSDK;

void Start () {
  // Enable verbose logging for debugging (remove in production)
  OneSignal.Debug.LogLevel = LogLevel.Verbose;
  // Initialize with your OneSignal App ID
  OneSignal.Initialize("YOUR_APP_ID");
  // Use this method to prompt for push notifications.
  // We recommend removing this method after testing and instead use In-App Messages to prompt for notification permission.
  await OneSignal.Notifications.RequestPermissionAsync(true);
}

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Testing the OneSignal SDK integration

This guide helps you verify that your OneSignal SDK integration is working correctly by testing push notifications, subscription registration, and in-app messaging.

Check mobile subscriptions

1. Launch your app on a test device.

   The native push permission prompt should appear automatically if you added the requestPermission method during initialization.

   

   iOS and Android push permission prompts
2. Check your OneSignal dashboard

   Before accepting the prompt, check the OneSignal dashboard:

   • Go to Audience > Subscriptions.
   • You should see a new entry with the status “Never Subscribed”.

   

   Dashboard showing subscription with 'Never Subscribed' status
3. Return to the app and tap Allow on the prompt.
4. Refresh the OneSignal dashboard Subscription's page.

   The subscription’s status should now show Subscribed.

   

   Dashboard showing subscription with 'Subscribed' status

   You have successfully created a mobile subscription. Mobile subscriptions are created when users first open your app on a device or if they uninstall and reinstall your app on the same device.

Set up test subscriptions

Test subscriptions are helpful for testing a push notification before sending a message.

1. Add to Test Subscriptions.

   In the dashboard, next to the subscription, click the Options (three dots) button and select Add to Test Subscriptions.

   

   Adding a device to Test Subscriptions
2. Name your subscription.

   Name the subscription so you can easily identify your device later in the Test Subscriptions tab.

   

   Dashboard showing the 'Name your subscription' field
3. Create a test users segment.

   Go to Audience > Segments > New Segment.

4. Name the segment.

   Name the segment Test Users (the name is important because it will be used later).

5. Add the Test Users filter and click Create Segment.

   

   Creating a 'Test Users' segment with the Test Users filter

   You have successfully created a segment of test users. We can now test sending messages to this individual device and groups of test users.

Send test push via API

1. Get your App API Key and App ID.

   In your OneSignal dashboard, go to Settings > Keys & IDs.

2. Update the provided code.

   Replace YOUR_APP_API_KEY and YOUR_APP_ID in the code below with your actual keys. This code uses the Test Users segment we created earlier.

   curl -X \
   POST --url 'https://api.onesignal.com/notifications' \
    --header 'content-type: application/json; charset=utf-8' \
    --header 'authorization: Key YOUR_APP_API_KEY' \
    --data \
    '{
     "app_id": "YOUR_APP_ID",
     "target_channel": "push",
     "name": "Testing basic setup",
     "headings": {
     	"en": "👋"
     },
     "contents": {
       "en": "Hello world!"
     },
     "included_segments": [
       "Test Users"
     ],
     "ios_attachments": {
       "onesignal_logo": "https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/11823027?s=200&v=4"
     },
     "big_picture": "https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/11823027?s=200&v=4"
   }'
   

3. Run the code.

   Run the code in your terminal.

4. Check images and confirmed delivery.

   If all setup steps were completed successfully, the test subscriptions should receive a notification with an image included:

   

   Push notification with image on iOS and Android

   Images will appear small in the collapsed notification view. Expand the notification to see the full image.
5. Check for confirmed delivery.

   In your dashboard, go to Delivery > Sent Messages, then click the message to view stats.

   You should see the confirmed stat, meaning the device received the push.

   

   Delivery stats showing confirmed delivery

   If you’re on a Professional plan or higher, scroll to Audience Activity to see subscription-level confirmation:

   

   Confirmed delivery at the device level in Audience Activity

   You have successfully sent a notification via our API to a segment.

   • No image received? Your Notification Service Extension might be missing.
   • No confirmed delivery? Review the troubleshooting guide here.
   • Having issues? Copy-paste the api request and a log from start to finish of app launch into a .txt file. Then share both with [e-mail].

Send an in-app message

In-app messages let you communicate with users while they are using your app.

1. Close or background your app on the device.

   This is because users must meet the in-app audience criteria before a new session starts. In OneSignal, a new session starts when the user opens your app after it has been in the background or closed for at least 30 seconds. For more details, see our guide on how in-app messages are displayed.

2. Create an in-app message.

   • In your OneSignal dashboard, navigate to Messages > In-App > New In-App.
   • Find and select the Welcome message.
   • Set your Audience as the Test Users segment we used previously.

   

   Targeting the 'Test Users' segment with an in-app message
3. Customize the message content if desired.

   

   Example customization of in-app Welcome message
4. Set Trigger to 'On app open'.
5. Schedule frequency.

   Under Schedule > How often do you want to show this message? select Every time trigger conditions are satisfied.

   

   In-app message scheduling options
6. Make message live.

   Click Make Message Live so it is available to your Test Users each time they open the app.

7. Open the app and see the message.

   After the in-app message is live, open your app. You should see it display:

   

   Welcome in-app message shown on devices

   Not seeing the message?

   • Start a new session
     • You must close or background the app for at least 30 seconds before reopening. This ensures a new session is started.
     • For more, see how in-app messages are displayed.
   • Still in the Test Users segment?
     • If you reinstalled or switched devices, re-add the device to Test Subscriptions and confirm it’s part of the Test Users segment.
   • Having issues?
     • Follow Getting a Debug Log while reproducing the steps above. This will generate additional logging that you can share with [e-mail] and we will help investigate what’s going on.

You have successfully setup the OneSignal SDK and learned important concepts like:

• Gathering Subscriptions, setting Test subscriptions, and creating Segments.
• Sending Push with images and Confirmed Delivery using Segments and our Create message API.
• Sending In-app messages.

Continue with this guide to identify users in your app and setup additional features.

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User identification

Previously, we demonstrated how to create mobile Subscriptions. Now we’ll expand to identifying Users across all their subscriptions (including push, email, and SMS) using the OneSignal SDK. We’ll cover External IDs, tags, multi-channel subscriptions, privacy, and event tracking to help you unify and engage users across platforms.

Assign External ID

Use an External ID to identify users consistently across devices, email addresses, and phone numbers using your backend’s user identifier. This ensures your messaging stays unified across channels and 3rd party systems (especially important for Integrations).

Set the External ID with our SDK’s login method each time they are identified by your app.

OneSignal generates unique read-only IDs for subscriptions (Subscription ID) and users (OneSignal ID).

As users download your app on different devices, subscribe to your website, and/or provide you email addresses and phone numbers outside of your app, new subscriptions will be created.

Setting the External ID via our SDK is highly recommended to identify users across all their subscriptions, regardless of how they are created.

Add data tags

Tags are key-value pairs of string data you can use to store user properties (like username, role, or preferences) and events (like purchase_date, game_level, or user interactions). Tags power advanced Message Personalization and Segmentation allowing for more advanced use cases.

Set tags with our SDK addTag and addTags methods as events occur in your app.

In this example, the user reached level 6 identifiable by the tag called current_level set to a value of 6.

A user profile in OneSignal with a tag called "current_level" set to "6"

We can create a segment of users that have a level of between 5 and 10, and use that to send targeted and personalized messages:

Segment editor showing a segment targeting users with a current_level value of greater than 4 and less than 10

Screenshot showing a push notification targeting the Level 5-10 segment with a personalized message

The push notification is received on an iOS and Android device with the personalized content

Add email and/or SMS subscriptions

Earlier we saw how our SDK creates mobile subscriptions to send push and in-app messages. You can also reach users through emails and SMS channels by creating the corresponding subscriptions.

• Use the addEmail method to create email subscriptions.
• Use the addSms method to create SMS subscriptions.

If the email address and/or phone number already exist in the OneSignal app, the SDK will add it to the existing user, it will not create duplicates.

You can view unified users via Audience > Users in the dashboard or with the View user API.

A user profile with push, email, and SMS subscriptions unified by External ID

Best practices for multi-channel communication

• Obtain explicit consent before adding email or SMS subscriptions.
• Explain the benefits of each communication channel to users.
• Provide channel preferences so users can select which channels they prefer.

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Privacy & user consent

To control when OneSignal collects user data, use the SDK’s consent gating methods:

• setConsentRequired(true): Prevents data collection until consent is given.
• setConsentGiven(true): Enables data collection once consent is granted.

See our Privacy & security docs for more on:

• Data collected by the SDK
• Handling personal data

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Prompt for push permissions

Instead of calling requestPermission() immediately on app open, take a more strategic approach. Use an in-app message to explain the value of push notifications before requesting permission.

For best practices and implementation details, see our Prompt for push permissions guide.

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Listen to push, user, and in-app events

Use SDK listeners to react to user actions and state changes.

The SDK provides several event listeners for you to hook into. See our SDK reference guide for more details.

Push notification events

• addClickListener(): Detect when a notification is tapped. Helpful for Deep Linking.
• addForegroundLifecycleListener(): Control how notifications behave in foreground.

For full customization, see Mobile Service Extensions.

User state changes

• addObserver() for user state: Detect when the External ID is set.
• addPermissionObserver(): Track the user’s specific interaction with the native push permission prompt.
• addObserver() for push subscription: Track when the push subscription status changes.

In-app message events

• addClickListener(): Handle in-app click actions. Ideal for deep linking or tracking events.
• addLifecycleListener(): Track full lifecycle of in-app messages (shown, clicked, dismissed, etc.).

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Advanced setup & capabilities

Explore more capabilities to enhance your integration:

• 🔁 Migrating to OneSignal from another service
• 🌍 Location tracking
• 🔗 Deep Linking
• 🔌 Integrations
• 🧩 Mobile Service Extensions
• 🛎️ Action buttons
• 🌐 Multi-language messaging
• 🛡️ Identity Verification
• 📊 Custom Outcomes
• 📲 Live Activities

Mobile SDK setup & reference

Make sure you’ve enabled all key features by reviewing the Mobile push setup guide.

For full details on available methods and configuration options, visit the Mobile SDK reference.

Congratulations! You’ve successfully completed the Mobile SDK setup guide.

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Need help?

Chat with our Support team or email [e-mail]

Please include:

• Details of the issue you’re experiencing and steps to reproduce if available
• Your OneSignal App ID
• The External ID or Subscription ID if applicable
• The URL to the message you tested in the OneSignal Dashboard if applicable
• Any relevant logs or error messages

We’re happy to help!

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