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Mayur Pawar
Mayur Pawar

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🚀 How I Added Local Notifications in Flutter Without Firebase

#flutter #dart #android #mobile

Most developers reach for Firebase when they think of notifications in Flutter. But what if your app needs to work offline and you just want to send a reminder, alarm, or alert without setting up a full backend?

In this post, I’ll show you how I implemented local notifications using the flutter_local_notifications package — with zero Firebase and full offline support!

🔧 What I Used

  • flutter_local_notifications
  • permission_handler (for Android 13+ permission)
  • A basic Flutter project

🎥 Demo

Here's how it looks in action:

flutter_local_notification

🧱 Step-by-Step Implementation

  1. Add dependencies in pubspec.yaml 
dependencies:
  flutter:
    sdk: flutter
  flutter_local_notifications: ^17.0.0
  permission_handler: ^11.0.1
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  1. Request Notification Permission (Android 13+) 
import 'package:permission_handler/permission_handler.dart';

void requestNotificationPermission() async {
  if (await Permission.notification.isDenied) {
    await Permission.notification.request();
  }
}
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Also, add this in AndroidManifest.xml:

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.POST_NOTIFICATIONS"/>
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  1. Initialize the Plugin in main.dart 
final flutterLocalNotificationsPlugin = FlutterLocalNotificationsPlugin();

void main() async {
  WidgetsFlutterBinding.ensureInitialized();

  const AndroidInitializationSettings initializationSettingsAndroid =
      AndroidInitializationSettings('@mipmap/ic_launcher');

  const InitializationSettings initializationSettings =
      InitializationSettings(android: initializationSettingsAndroid);

  await flutterLocalNotificationsPlugin.initialize(initializationSettings);

  requestNotificationPermission(); // Ask at startup

  runApp(MyApp());
}
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  1. Show a Simple Notification 
ElevatedButton(
          onPressed: () {
            flutterLocalNotificationsPlugin.show(
              0,
              'Linkedin',
              'New jobs for "application developer"',
              NotificationDetails(
                android: AndroidNotificationDetails(
                  "channelId",
                  "localNotification",
                  importance: Importance.max,
                  priority: Priority.high,
                ),
              ),
            );
          },
          child: Text('local notification'),
        )
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✅ Fix: Enable Core Library Desugaring
Follow these steps:

  1. Enable desugaring in build.gradle (app-level): Open your android/app/build.gradle file and do the following:

Step 1: Add this in android {} block:

compileOptions {
    sourceCompatibility JavaVersion.VERSION_1_8
    targetCompatibility JavaVersion.VERSION_1_8

    // Enable desugaring
   isCoreLibraryDesugaringEnabled = true 
}
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Step 2: Add the desugaring dependency in dependencies {}:

dependencies {
    coreLibraryDesugaring("com.android.tools:desugar_jdk_libs:2.1.4")
}
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  1. Sync and Rebuild: Run flutter clean

Then run flutter pub get

Finally, build again:
flutter run or use Android Studio’s run button

✅ Bonus Tips

  • Use @mipmap/ic_launcher or a valid drawable icon — not from assets/.
  • You can schedule notifications too using zonedSchedule().
  • Works completely offline, perfect for reminders, alarms, and daily alerts!

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