Android API & SDK Docs 6.4.5
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PubNub no longer maintains Android SDK docs, but our Java SDK or Kotlin SDK are fully compatible with the Android platform and you can use them to build mobile apps, ensuring stable software development.
The PubNub Android SDK is part of the PubNub ecosystem, which includes a variety of SDKs and APIs designed to provide real-time communication, data streaming, and connectivity across multiple platforms.
The architecture of the PubNub Android SDK is built to allow high-performance, low-latency communication for mobile applications. It works by connecting your app to PubNub's global data stream network using publish-subscribe protocols. This ensures that messages are sent and received in near real-time, enabling functionalities like live chat, push notifications, and real-time analytics.
When using the PubNub Android SDK, be aware of usage limits relevant for all PubNub SDKs. PubNub offers scalable solutions with tiered service levels, each providing varying degrees of message throughput and concurrent connections. For most applications, the base tier is sufficient, but high-volume apps may need to upgrade to handle additional traffic.
Chat applications
If you want to create a mobile chat application on Android with PubNub, refer to Kotlin Chat SDK for details on all available chat features.
Get Code: Using Maven
<dependency>
<groupId>com.pubnub</groupId>
<artifactId>pubnub-gson</artifactId>
<version>6.4.5</version>
</dependency>
Get Code: Using Gradle (including Android Studio)
compile group: 'com.pubnub', name: 'pubnub-gson', version: '6.4.5'
Get Code: Jar file
To use Pubnub, simply copy the Pubnub-6.4.5 jar file into your project's libs directory for easy software integration.
https://github.com/pubnub/java/releases/tag/6.4.5
Get Code: Source
https://github.com/pubnub/java/
Configuration: Proguard
# Add project specific ProGuard rules here.
# You can control the set of applied configuration files using the
# proguardFiles setting in build.gradle.
#
# For more details, see
# http://developer.android.com/guide/developing/tools/proguard.html
# If your project uses WebView with JS, uncomment the following
# and specify the fully qualified class name to the JavaScript interface
# class:
#-keepclassmembers class fqcn.of.javascript.interface.for.webview {
# public *;
#}
# Uncomment this to preserve the line number information for
Hello World
Add PubNub to your project using one of the procedures defined under How to Get It using PubNub API.
Permissions
Put these permission outside the <application> tag, preferable before the tag in the AndroidManifest.xml.
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE" />
Required UUID
Always set the UUID to uniquely identify the user or device that connects to PubNub. This UUID should be persisted, and should remain unchanged for the lifetime of the user or the device. If you don't set the UUID, you won't be able to connect to PubNub.
public static void main(String[] args) {
PNConfiguration.Builder configBuilder = PNConfiguration.builder(new UserId("yourUserId"), "yourSubscribeKey");
// publishKey from Admin Portal (only required if publishing)
configBuilder.publishKey("PublishKey");
PubNub pubnub = PubNub.create(configBuilder.build());
String channelName = "awesomeChannel";
// create message payload using Gson
JsonObject messageJsonObject = new JsonObject();
messageJsonObject.addProperty("msg", "hello");
System.out.println("Message to send: " + messageJsonObject.toString());
pubnub.addListener(new SubscribeCallback() {
Copy and paste examples
In addition to the Hello World sample code, we also provide some copy and paste snippets of common API functions that can streamline your software integration process:
Init
Instantiate a new Pubnub instance. Only the subscribeKey is mandatory. Also include publishKey if you intend to publish from this instance, and the secretKey if you wish to perform Access Manager administrative operations from this Android instance.
Secure your secretKey
For security reasons, you should only include the secret key on a highly secured server. The secret key is only required for granting rights using our Access Manager.
When you init with secretKey, you get root permissions for the Access Manager. With this feature you don't have to grant access to your servers to access channel data. The servers get all access on all channels.
Initializing the client
Required User ID
Always set the UserId to uniquely identify the user or device that connects to PubNub. This UserId should be persisted, and should remain unchanged for the lifetime of the user or the device. If you don't set the UserId, you won't be able to connect to PubNub.
PNConfiguration.Builder configBuilder = PNConfiguration.builder(new UserId("yourUserId"), "yourSubscribeKey");
// publishKey from Admin Portal (only required if publishing)
configBuilder.publishKey("PublishKey");
configBuilder.secure(true);
PubNub pubNub = PubNub.create(configBuilder.build());
Listeners
Add Listeners
pubnub.addListener(new SubscribeCallback() {
// PubNub status
@Override
public void status(PubNub pubnub, PNStatus status) {
switch (status.getOperation()) {
// combine unsubscribe and subscribe handling for ease of use
case PNSubscribeOperation:
case PNUnsubscribeOperation:
// Note: subscribe statuses never have traditional errors,
// just categories to represent different issues or successes
// that occur as part of subscribe
switch (status.getCategory()) {
case PNConnectedCategory:
// No error or issue whatsoever.
case PNReconnectedCategory:
Remove Listeners
SubscribeCallback subscribeCallback = new SubscribeCallback() {
@Override
public void status(PubNub pubnub, PNStatus status) {
}
@Override
public void message(PubNub pubnub, PNMessageResult message) {
}
@Override
public void presence(PubNub pubnub, PNPresenceEventResult presence) {
}
Handle Disconnects
Ensure your software can handle network changes and integrate effective reconnection strategies:
SubscribeCallback subscribeCallback = new SubscribeCallback() {
@Override
public void status(PubNub pubnub, PNStatus status) {
if (status.getCategory() == PNStatusCategory.PNUnexpectedDisconnectCategory) {
// internet got lost, do some magic and call reconnect when ready
pubnub.reconnect();
} else if (status.getCategory() == PNStatusCategory.PNTimeoutCategory) {
// do some magic and call reconnect when ready
pubnub.reconnect();
} else {
log.error(status);
}
}
@Override
Listener status events
| Category | Description |
|---|---|
PNNetworkUpCategory | The SDK detected that the network is online. |
PNNetworkDownCategory | The SDK announces this when a connection isn't available, or when the SDK isn't able to reach PubNub servers. |
PNNetworkIssuesCategory | A subscribe event experienced an exception when running. The SDK isn't able to reach PubNub servers. This may be due to many reasons, such as: the machine or device isn't connected to the internet; the internet connection has been lost; your internet service provider is having trouble; or, perhaps the SDK is behind a proxy. |
PNReconnectedCategory | The SDK was able to reconnect to PubNub. |
PNConnectedCategory | SDK subscribed with a new mix of channels. This is fired every time the channel or channel group mix changes. |
PNAccessDeniedCategory | Access Manager permission failure. |
PNMalformedResponseCategory | JSON parsing crashed. |
PNBadRequestCategory | The server responded with a bad response error because the request is malformed. |
PNDecryptionErrorCategory | If using decryption strategies and the decryption fails. |
PNTimeoutCategory | Failure to establish a connection to PubNub due to a timeout. |
PNRequestMessageCountExceedCategory | The SDK announces this error if requestMessageCountThreshold is set, and the number of messages received from PubNub (in-memory cache messages) exceeds the threshold. |
PNUnknownCategory | Returned when the subscriber gets a non-200 HTTP response code from the server. |
Time
Call time() to verify the client connectivity to the origin:
pubnub.time().async(new PNCallback<PNTimeResult>() {
@Override
public void onResponse(PNTimeResult result, PNStatus status) {
// handle time result.
}
});
Subscribe
Subscribe (listen on) a channel:
pubnub.subscribe()
.channels(Arrays.asList("my_channel")) // subscribe to channels
.execute();
Event listeners
The response of the call is handled by adding a Listener. Please see the Listeners section for more details. Listeners should be added before calling the method.
Publish
Publish a message to a channel:
pubnub.publish()
.message(Arrays.asList("hello", "there"))
.channel("suchChannel")
.async(new PNCallback<PNPublishResult>() {
@Override
public void onResponse(PNPublishResult result, PNStatus status) {
// handle publish result, status always present, result if successful
// status.isError to see if error happened
}
});
Here Now
Get occupancy of who's here now on the channel by UUID:
Requires Presence
This method requires that the Presence add-on is enabled for your key in the Admin Portal.
pubnub.hereNow()
// tailor the next two lines to example
.channels(Arrays.asList("coolChannel", "coolChannel2"))
.includeUUIDs(true)
.async(new PNCallback<PNHereNowResult>() {
@Override
public void onResponse(PNHereNowResult result, PNStatus status) {
if (status.isError()) {
// handle error
return;
}
for (PNHereNowChannelData channelData : result.getChannels().values()) {
System.out.println("---");
System.out.println("channel:" + channelData.getChannelName());
Presence
Subscribe to real-time Presence events, such as join, leave, and timeout, by UUID. Setting the presence attribute to a callback will subscribe to presence events on my_channel:
Requires Presence
This method requires that the Presence add-on is enabled for your key in the Admin Portal.
pubnub.subscribe()
.channels(Arrays.asList("my_channel")) // subscribe to channels
.withPresence() // also subscribe to related presence information
.execute();
Event listeners
The response of the call is handled by adding a Listener. Please see the Listeners section for more details. Listeners should be added before calling the method.
History
Retrieve published messages from archival storage:
Requires Message Persistence
This method requires that Message Persistence is enabled for your key in the Admin Portal.
pubnub.history()
.channel("history_channel") // where to fetch history from
.count(100) // how many items to fetch
.async(new PNCallback<PNHistoryResult>() {
@Override
public void onResponse(PNHistoryResult result, PNStatus status) {
}
});
Unsubscribe
Stop subscribing (listening) to a channel:
pubnub.unsubscribe()
.channels(Arrays.asList("my_channel"))
.execute();
Event listeners
The response of the call is handled by adding a Listener. Please see the Listeners section for more details. Listeners should be added before calling the method.
Destroy
For more details, please see the Destroy section.
pubnub.destroy();