The Android Push Notification Service (C2DM) delivery channel allows Connect to deliver Android Cloud to Device (C2DM) notifications to applications running on Android devices. In Android terminology, Connect acts as a third-party application server and sends data to an Android application running on a mobile device via the C2DM servers.
In order to connect to the C2DM gateways, Google requires a Sender ID (a Google Account ID) that identifies the application developer.
In order for a device to receive C2DM messages, the device must have a logged in Google account and the application must register with the C2DM gateways. When the Android application registers with the C2DM gateways, it receives a Registration ID that identifies the application running on that unique device. This Registration ID must be stored in the channel customer attribute for each customer before Connect can send notifications to that customer. This is typically done by having the application send the Registration ID to a Connect web service, or some other web service that updates the customer record in Connect.
The C2DM delivery channel may be used to deliver notifications to multiple Android applications. Each application must be configured as a separate delivery channel, with a unique name, sender id, and customer attribute to store the device token.