badge number not showing correctly on UITabBarController - ios

Question

I have notification badges for two of my tabs, at the 1 position and the 2 position of the UITabBarController. The badges for the number 1 position show fine and even if the app is open it will show the new badge number. However the 2 position tab shows once, and when the app is open or even closed it won't show the new badge number. It only will show the badge number after hours of inactivity. Would this be an issue with my code or a problem on my backend? The 1 position is request notifications and 2 position is chat messages.
class NewTabBarViewController: UITabBarController {
var numPendingRequests = 0
var numUnseenConversations = 0
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
observeNumPendingRequests()
observeNumUnseenConversations()
// Do any additional setup after loading the view.
}
override func didReceiveMemoryWarning() {
super.didReceiveMemoryWarning()
// Dispose of any resources that can be recreated.
}
override func viewWillAppear(_ animated: Bool) {
super.viewWillAppear(animated)
sendFCMToken()
observeNumPendingRequests()
observeNumUnseenConversations()
AuthService().getCurrentUserInfo()
// Show notification center if the app launched from a notification
// Typically from the background or killed app state
if NotificationService.launchedFromNotification {
showNotificationCenter()
NotificationService.launchedFromNotification = false
}
// Observe if the app is opened from a notification
// Typically from the foreground state
NotificationCenter.default.addObserver(self, selector: #selector(showNotificationCenter), name: NotificationService.didLaunchFromNotification, object: nil)
}
override func viewDidDisappear(_ animated: Bool) {
super.viewDidDisappear(animated)
// Stop observing if the app is opened from a notification
NotificationCenter.default.removeObserver(self, name: NotificationService.didLaunchFromNotification, object: nil)
}
// Select the tab item with the notification center
#objc func showNotificationCenter() {
self.selectedIndex = 2
}
/**
Sends the users private Firebase Cloud Messaging Token to the database
to be used by the Cloud Functions for sending Push Notifications
*/
func sendFCMToken() {
guard let token = Messaging.messaging().fcmToken, let user = Auth.auth().currentUser else { return }
let db = Database.database().reference()
let ref = db.child("FCMToken/\(user.uid)")
ref.setValue(token)
}
/**
Observes the number of received requests that are PENDING
and updates the App Badge Icon Number and tabBar Item accordingly
*/
func observeNumPendingRequests() {
guard let user = Auth.auth().currentUser else { return }
let db = Database.database().reference()
let ref = db.child("receivedRequests/\(user.uid)").queryOrderedByValue().queryEqual(toValue: "PENDING")
ref.observe(.value, with: { snapshot in
self.numPendingRequests = Int(snapshot.childrenCount)
self.setApplicationBadgeCount()
})
}
func observeNumUnseenConversations() {
guard let user = Auth.auth().currentUser else { return }
let db = Database.database().reference()
let ref = db.child("conversations/users/\(user.uid)").queryOrdered(byChild: "seen").queryEqual(toValue: false)
ref.observe(.value, with: { snapshot in
self.numUnseenConversations = Int(snapshot.childrenCount)
self.setApplicationBadgeCount()
})
}
func setApplicationBadgeCount() {
let total = numUnseenConversations + numPendingRequests
UIApplication.shared.applicationIconBadgeNumber = Int(total)
self.tabBar.items?[1].badgeValue = numPendingRequests > 0 ? "\(numPendingRequests)" : nil
self.tabBar.items?[2].badgeValue = numUnseenConversations > 0 ? "\(numUnseenConversations)" : nil
}
}

Answer 1

Is there actually a number of unseen conversations being returned? If it's nil, then there will not be a badge. Double check that, and even try setting it to a hard-coded string for a quick and dirty test. Also, are you on tab 1 when trying to see the updated badge on tab 2? Try changing the tab 2 badge when you have that tab selected. You might also want to make sure that self.tabBar.items?[2] is not nil.