[Android] Allow to change default notification channel name after it's creation

[juancruzgs]

Feature Request

The library doesn't allow to change the default notification channel name after it is created.
We are changing this value in the AndroidManifest.xml but it won't do anything if the channel is already created in the device.

      <meta-data android:name="com.dieam.reactnativepushnotification.notification_channel_name" 
        android:value="New channel name />

The user would have to re-install the app to see the change.

A workaround would be to either delete the channel and wait until the library re-creates it or get all the channels from the NotificationManager and change it in our own.

Why it is needed

In our case we need to change the channel name because it was initially created with the wrong name.
But it's also useful to change the channel name if the device locale changes.

Possible implementation

The NotificationManager will update the channel name if it's already created when calling NotificationManager#createNotificationChannel(channel).
Documentation:

     * Creates a notification channel that notifications can be posted to.
     *
     * This can also be used to restore a deleted channel and to update an existing channel's
     * name, description, group, and/or importance.
     *
     * <p>The name and description should only be changed if the locale changes
     * or in response to the user renaming this channel. For example, if a user has a channel
     * named 'John Doe' that represents messages from a 'John Doe', and 'John Doe' changes his name
     * to 'John Smith,' the channel can be renamed to match.
     *
     * <p>The importance of an existing channel will only be changed if the new importance is lower
     * than the current value and the user has not altered any settings on this channel.
     *
     * <p>The group an existing channel will only be changed if the channel does not already
     * belong to a group.
     *
     * All other fields are ignored for channels that already exist.
     *
     * @param channel  the channel to create.  Note that the created channel may differ from this
     *                 value. If the provided channel is malformed, a RemoteException will be
     *                 thrown.
     */
    public void createNotificationChannel(@NonNull NotificationChannel channel) {
        createNotificationChannels(Arrays.asList(channel));
    }

You could change the channel == null check from this code and call manager#createNotificationChannel(channel) if the name/description changes.

    private void checkOrCreateChannel(NotificationManager manager, String channel_id, String channel_name, String channel_description, Uri soundUri, int importance, long[] vibratePattern) {
        if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT < Build.VERSION_CODES.O)
            return;
        if (manager == null)
            return;

        NotificationChannel channel = manager.getNotificationChannel(channel_id);

        if (channel == null) {
            channel = new NotificationChannel(channel_id, channel_name, importance);

            // Sets channel properties...

            manager.createNotificationChannel(channel);
        }
    }

Code sample

RNPushNotificationHelper line 902

    private void checkOrCreateChannel(NotificationManager manager, String channel_id, String channel_name, String channel_description, Uri soundUri, int importance, long[] vibratePattern) {
        if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT < Build.VERSION_CODES.O)
            return;
        if (manager == null)
            return;

        NotificationChannel channel = manager.getNotificationChannel(channel_id);

        if(channel_name == null) {
          channel_name = this.config.getChannelName(channel_id);
        }

        if(channel_description == null) {
            channel_description = this.config.getChannelDescription(channel_id);
        }

        if (channel == null || channel.getName() != channel_name || channel.getDescription() != channel_description) {
            // If channel or doesn't exist create a new one.
            // If channel name or description is updated then update the existing channel.
            channel = new NotificationChannel(channel_id, channel_name, importance);

            channel.setDescription(channel_description);
            channel.enableLights(true);
            channel.enableVibration(true);
            channel.setVibrationPattern(vibratePattern);

            if (soundUri != null) {
                AudioAttributes audioAttributes = new AudioAttributes.Builder()
                        .setContentType(AudioAttributes.CONTENT_TYPE_SONIFICATION)
                        .setUsage(AudioAttributes.USAGE_NOTIFICATION)
                        .build();

                channel.setSound(soundUri, audioAttributes);
            } else {
                channel.setSound(null, null);
            }

            manager.createNotificationChannel(channel);
        }
    }

[Dallas62]

Hi @juancruzgs
The version 4.0.0, allow you to delete the channel, also in the next version (currently on dev branch) a new function has been implemented to create custom channels (without triggering a notification).

[Dallas62]

I was thinking Android SDK doesn't allow this.
As you mentioned, there is some exception such as name/description/lower importance in that case. Since it's not a huge change and this can help to fix basic cases, I made a commit based on your example.
I tested it and everything looks good.

[Dallas62]

You can test this on dev branch, I will probably release the next version this week-end 😉

[juancruzgs]

Thank you so much @Dallas62
This will let us change the default channel name by replacing a single line in the AndroidManifest
I just tested in on dev branch and it works like a charm!

Sorry for my mistake comparing strings, I was comparing them like in Kotlin code

[Dallas62]

No problem, I just remember after the change that in Java this is a reference comparison 😉

[Dallas62]

Released 😉

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