Apple Push Notification Service (APNs) Guide

In order to send notifications to your game on iOS, Teak needs a .p8 Key from your Apple Developer Team with Apple Push Notification service (APNs) enabled. This guide will walk through creating, and uploading, an Apple Developer Team key to Teak.

You will need:

  • An account on the Apple Developer Site with Administrator permissions

  • An account on Teak with access to your game

  • Access to the exisiting .p8 Key for your Developer Team, (if one has already been created)

Two Key Limit

Each Apple Developer Team may only have two Keys with Apple Push Notification service (APNs) enabled. You may use the same Key for multiple games and push notification providers.

Do not revoke existing keys in your account unless you can confirm that they are not in active use.

Find or Create an App ID

You will need administrator permissions on your Apple Developer account to complete this section.

  1. Navigate to the Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles list on your Apple Developer account.

    Make sure Identifiers is selected on the left, and App IDs is selected in the dropdown in the upper right.

    app ids landing

  2. Find the application you need to create or update certificates for.

    The application will be identified by its name as registered with Apple and by its bundle id. I’ve found it’s easier to look up the app by bundle id.

    If you don’t already have a bundle ID you can create one here.

  3. Click on the App ID to bring up the configuration page.

Enable Push Notifications and Associated Domains

On the configuration page for the App ID:

  1. Ensure that Associated Domains are enabled by checking the box in the left column. This is required to enable Teak Links.

    Associated Domains

  2. Scroll down to Push Notifications and ensure they are enabled by checking the box.

    push notif config

  3. If you checked any boxes, click Save in the top right corner before proceeding.

Create the .p8 Key

  1. Navigate to the Keys list on your Apple Developer account.

  2. Click the plus sign next to "Keys" to bring up new key registration.

  3. Give your new Key a name to indicate how it is being used, for example TeakPushKey

  4. Check the box to enable Apple Push Notifications service (APNs)

    new key

    If the Apple Developer Team already has two Keys with Apple Push Notification service (APNs) enabled, you will be unable to create a new key.

    You must consult with your team and existing uses of Apple Developer Team keys to either use an existing Key with Teak or to identify a Key that may be revoked so that you can create a new Key.

  5. Click on Continue to verify key settings.

  6. On the confirmation page confirm that the Key Name is correct and that Apple Push Notification service (APNs) is enabled.

  7. Click on Register to create the key.

    confirm key

  8. Click on Download to download the key.

    Your Team may only download the key once.

    If you are not prepared to save the key in a safe location or upload it to Teak, stop here. Coordinate with your team to store the key for future use.

    If you have multiple games in a single Apple Developer Team, each game will need a copy of the key you just created.

  9. Save the key to a location where other members of your or company team may access it.

    This key can be used for other games, so ensure that the key is saved to a location where developers on other games may access it.

Uploading to Teak

Now that the Apple Developer Team key is saved, we just have to add it to Teak!

  1. In the Teak Dashboard, navigate to Settings  iOS for your game, and click Setup .p8 Key Authentication.

    new teak settings

  2. In the modal that appears, click Select .p8 Key File and select the .p8 file you just downloaded.

  3. Enter the Key ID for the key and Team ID for your Apple Developer Team.

  4. Enter the Bundle ID for your game.

    Teak cannot verify the accuracy of your Bundle ID. Please ensure that the Bundle ID is entered exactly as it appears in Xcode or in the Identifer column in the Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles list on your Apple Developer account.

  5. Click Save to upload your Apple Developer Team Key to Teak.

  6. You’re done! Remember to save the Apple Developer Team Key to a place where you and other team members will be able to locate it easily if you need to set up other games or environments connecte dot the same Apple Developer Team.