Push Notifications in Android Platform

Question

I am looking to write an app that receives pushed alerts from a server. I found a couple of methods to do this.

1. SMS - Intercept the incoming SMS and initiate a pull from the server
2. Poll the server periodically

Each has its own limitations. SMS- no guarantee on arrival time. Poll may drain the battery.

Do you have a better suggestion please? Thanks very much.

Answer 1

Google's official answer is the Android Cloud to Device Messaging Framework (deprecated) Google Cloud Messaging(deprecated) Firebase Cloud Messaging

It will work on Android >= 2.2 (on phones that have the Play Store).