Increment App Icon Badge Count

Guide to implementing app icon badge count updates using Notification Service Extension in iOS.

Quick Reference for AI Agents & Developers

• Requires: UNNotificationServiceExtension target in your app
• Purpose: Update badge count when push notification received
• Implementation: Override didReceive(_:withContentHandler:) in extension
• Related: Push Notifications · Prepare for Background

This guide helps you to set up an incremented badge for the app icon using Notification Service Extension.

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UNNotificationServiceExtension

This service grabs the data from the push notification payload, the user can modify its content and display the customized data on to the push notification.

In our case, we are modifying the data of the push notification and incrementing the badge count when a new push notification is received.

Let’s begin to implement an incremented badge count for your app.

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Step 1: Add UNNotificationServiceExtension inside the app.

1. Click on File —> New —> Targets —> Application Extension —> Notification Service Extension.

2. Add Product Name and click on Finish.

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Step 2: Setup App Groups.

1 . Click on Project —> Targets —> Your app Target —> Signing & Capabilities —> [+] —> App Groups.

2. In App Groups, click on [+] —> Add a new container —> Enter group name —> OK.

Kindly, create a group name using the combination of ‘group’ and ‘App’s bundle identifier’ i.e group.com.yourApp.bundleId.

3. Make sure you’ve selected the app group which you’ve created earlier. If it is selected then it will look like a below-mentioned image.

4. Click on Project —> Targets —> Notification Service Extension Target —> Signing & Capabilities —> [+] —> App Groups.

5. Select the same App Group which you’ve created in Your app Target.

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Step 3: Setup user suit for storing badge count.

1. Open AppDelegate.swift and add below code in applicationWillEnterForeground(_ application: UIApplication).

Swift

func applicationWillEnterForeground(_ application: UIApplication) {

    UserDefaults(suiteName: "group.com.yourApp.bundleId")?.set(1, forKey: "count") 
    UIApplication.shared.applicationIconBadgeNumber = 0

}

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Step 4: Setup Notification service extension to increment badge count.

1. Open NotificationService.swift and replace the below code in it.

Swift

import UserNotifications

class NotificationService: UNNotificationServiceExtension {
    
    var contentHandler: ((UNNotificationContent) -> Void)?
    var bestAttemptContent: UNMutableNotificationContent?
    let defaults = UserDefaults(suiteName: "group.com.yourApp.bundleId")
    
    override func didReceive(_ request: UNNotificationRequest, withContentHandler contentHandler: @escaping (UNNotificationContent) -> Void) {
        self.contentHandler = contentHandler
        bestAttemptContent = (request.content.mutableCopy() as? UNMutableNotificationContent)
        var count: Int = defaults?.value(forKey: "count") as! Int
        if let bestAttemptContent = bestAttemptContent {
            bestAttemptContent.title = "\\(bestAttemptContent.title) "
            bestAttemptContent.body = "\\(bestAttemptContent.body) "
            bestAttemptContent.badge = count as? NSNumber
            count = count + 1
            defaults?.set(count, forKey: "count")
            contentHandler(bestAttemptContent)
        }
    }
    
    override func serviceExtensionTimeWillExpire() {
     
        if let contentHandler = contentHandler, let bestAttemptContent =  bestAttemptContent {
            contentHandler(bestAttemptContent)
        }
    }
}

Sample Payload - Badge Count Increment Flow

UserDefaults Storage (App Groups):

Parameter	Type	Description
suiteName	String	App Group identifier. Example: "group.com.yourApp.bundleId"
key	String	Storage key. Example: "count"
value	Int	Current badge count. Example: 5

Notification Content Before Modification:

Parameter	Type	Description
title	String	Original notification title. Example: "John Doe"
body	String	Original notification body. Example: "Hello, how are you?"
badge	NSNumber?	Badge count (nil before modification). Example: nil

Notification Content After Modification:

Parameter	Type	Description
title	String	Modified title. Example: "John Doe "
body	String	Modified body. Example: "Hello, how are you? "
badge	NSNumber	Badge count set. Example: 5

Badge Increment Sequence:

Step	Action	Value
1	Read count from UserDefaults	count = 1 (initial)
2	Set badge on notification	bestAttemptContent.badge = 1
3	Increment count	count = 2
4	Save to UserDefaults	defaults.set(2, forKey: "count")
5	Next notification arrives	badge = 2, then save 3

Sample Payload - App Foreground Reset

applicationWillEnterForeground Action:

Parameter	Type	Description
UserDefaults.set	Int	Reset count to 1. Example: defaults.set(1, forKey: "count")
applicationIconBadgeNumber	Int	Clear badge from app icon. Example: 0

Effect:

Action	Description
Badge cleared	App icon badge removed
Count reset	Next notification will show badge = 1

Refer Sample App

We have implemented it in our push notification sample app. You can download the sample app.

Download Push Notification Sample App

Or else view it on Githhub.