Understanding A3L Messaging
The A3L SDK is an app store independent abstraction library that can reduce the effort it takes to port and maintain your code. With the A3L SDK, you write code one time and use the same code for apps you submit to both Google Play and the Amazon Appstore. Without A3L, when adding a feature in your app, such as cloud messaging, you might have to implement one solution for Android devices and another solution for Fire OS devices. When you use the A3L SDK, it handles the solution-specific details. The A3L SDK provides you with a common interface that allows you to create one implementation for both Android and Fire OS devices.
The A3L Messaging SDK is the abstraction library for cloud messaging, which you can use to send messages to your app. It supports Android as well as Fire OS devices. The A3L Messaging SDK has a dependency on Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) for Android devices, and Amazon Device Messaging (ADM) for Fire OS devices.
Feature comparison
With A3L Messaging, you can send push notifications to engage with your users, or send custom data messages to be processed by your app. The following table describes the features offered in the A3L Messaging SDK as compared to FCM and ADM.
| Category | Feature | FCM | ADM | A3L Messaging |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Message type | Push notifications | Supported on Android | Supported on Fire OS | Supported on Android and Fire OS |
| Message type | Data messages | Supported on Android | Supported on Fire OS | Supported on Android and Fire OS |
| Message type | Push notifications with data | Supported on Android | Supported on Fire OS | Supported on Android and Fire OS |
| Targeted messaging | Single device messaging | Supported on Android | Supported on Fire OS | Supported on Android and Fire OS |
| Targeted messaging | Topic Based Messaging | Supported on Android | Supported on Fire OS | Supported on Android and Fire OS |
| Targeted messaging | Group Based Messaging | Supported on Android | Supported on Fire OS | Not applicable For group based messaging, use the server APIs provided by ADM and FCM. |
| Client-to-server messaging | Upstream messaging | Supported on Android | Not supported on Fire OS | Supported on Android. Not supported on Fire OS. |
For Group Based Messaging, use the server APIs provided by ADM and FCM.
Download the A3L Messaging SDK
You can download the A3L Messaging SDK here:
The SDK contains the A3LMessaging AAR file, the API reference in Javadoc format, a sample app, and server-side scripts for testing.
Next steps
See Get Started with A3L Messaging.
Last updated: Feb 27, 2023