u/Spirited_Ice_3233

Hey everyone, I'm running into the classic Android FCM "app-killed / data-only message" problem and would love any insights or confirmation from folks who've solved this.

The setup:

• React Native + Expo (or RN Firebase, depending on what you're using)
• App shows notifications by scheduling local notifications in JS after receiving an FCM data message
• When the app is in the foreground/background, notifications work fine
• When I swipe the app away (Android kills the JS runtime), notifications stop appearing

What I think is happening:

• We're sending data-only FCM messages
• Our JS background handler schedules a local notification
• Once Android kills the app (swipe-kill / force-stop), the JS runtime is gone
• setBackgroundMessageHandler can't run, so no notification is shown
• Android doesn't guarantee delivery of data-only messages when the app is killed/force-stopped

What I've searched:

• "Android FCM data-only message not delivered when app is killed"
• "FCM notification vs data payload app killed"
• "React Native Firebase setBackgroundMessageHandler app killed"
• "Expo notifications background FCM app force stopped"

What I'm considering:

• Switching to an FCM payload with a top-level notification block so Android displays it natively
• Moving user-visible title/body into notification, keeping routing metadata in data
• Creating proper Android notification channels
• Checking android.priority: "high" for time-sensitive alerts

My question:

1. Has anyone successfully made notifications appear after swipe-kill on Android with React Native/Expo?
2. Is switching to a notification payload the right fix, or is there a manifest/Gradle setting I'm missing?
3. Any Expo-specific or React Native Firebase-specific tips for handling this?

If you've solved this, I'd really appreciate:

• Your final FCM payload structure
• Any Android-side config (channels, permissions, manifest)
• Whether you're using Expo Notifications or react-native-firebase

Thanks in advance!