I am trying to create an application in which server will push updated/new data to the iPad whenever there's any change in the database(just like how the mail application works). I think APNS wont work in this scenario but i could be wrong. Can anyone suggest any good approach to get this functionality?
You might find this wikipedia article about Push Technology interesting, specifically the section where it deals with "long polling". And you can have a sample implementation of long polling for ios here (also by having a look at this other post).
On the other hand, you might well try and use APNS so that the server notifies the app when new data is available, then the app (possibly after some user interaction) can get the new data.
Related
I'm been coding for a year now and know swift really well and the basics to javascript. I've built a social media like app and its completely done besides the push notification functionality... which i've been struggling with for quite a while now.
I'm having trouble figuring out how to implement these in order to send notifications like when a user follows another user or they receive a new messege.
I don't understand how to integrate the cloud functions that I would write using and node.js with my xcode project.
When I look for documentation online its usually just how to send push notifications using the firebase notifications console which is cool but doesn't trigger based off specific user actions or events (ex: when the user gets a new follower)
I think since im struggling with grasping the concept of how to implement it, the actual technical set up of it makes even less sense. Any advice or resources would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you
Conceptually, what you have to do is set up server-side processing of your database to manage when events occur. This is what the Node.js code will be. Everything is connected through the database-- your Xcode and Node.js code work independently, but both communicate with Firebase. You can create a Cloud Function that will automatically run when it detects changes in your database, and this will automatically send push notifications.
I've done a similar project-- I set up a listener for my Realtime Database in my Cloud Function. Every time the user got a new follower, i.e. their followers tree was updated, I sent a notification to the device using an FCM token (which I also stored in the database).
exports.onTimeEnd = functions.database.ref("users/{user}/followers")
.onUpdate((snapshot, context) => {
// your code here
}
In that block, you can call a .once() to find out the user's token to send them a notification with.
https://firebase.google.com/docs/functions/get-started
This link here told me everything I had to do in regards to set up in the terminal. Super helpful.
I'm working on an iOS application developed with Swift. The application is going to need notifications to receive alerts when certain events occur.
To handle push notifications I'm using parse.com. I was able to create an account and integrate push notifications into my application, as it's explained in the Parse.com guide, and are working fine when I send something from the Push section.
What I'm trying to do, and I cannot figure it out, is consume a 3rd party JSON, process that JSON to check some status and report, to the users that are using the application, a status change via a push notification. I know I should process all this in the backend/server side and then push the result or what I'm trying to notify, but I don't know what to do.
Ex. of What I'm trying to archive:
3rd party website ---(json)---> parse.com ---(push notification)--->
My App
I'm aware the tools that Parse.com provides, such as REST API, Cloud Code, Webhooks and Jobs, but I'm totally lost here! I cannot find any guide or documentation that allows me to do what I previously described. I don't even know if its possible, and the documentation at parse.com it's not necesarily up to date.
I hope anyone can help me, or guide me, if parse.com it's not enought for my purpouse.
Thanks for reading.
I would suggest looking into Cloud Code or a Job from Parse and seeing if you can get one to run on a time interval to look for updated JSON.
You can decode JSON using JS, which is exactly what Parse Cloud Code is, you actually write it out on your own computer and then upload it. I've only use the afterSave functions. I would think you probably have to keep some type of object in parse to see what is updated and notify who ever needs to notified when that data is updated.
Also, you'll probably want to pass something to the app to actually update when the user selects the push alert. You can do this in the push alert itself. It converts to a dictionary in the app delegate's method for handling received notifications or launching with one.
Alternatively, if the web server is under your control, you can create a PHP script that will trigger the push to parse.
My best shot at this (after not having used Parse for a long while) would be to set up a Job on Parse that queries the 3rd-party service, and takes that response and throws it into a Cloud Code function, which in turn parses out that JSON and sends off a notification.
Parse's reference materials would probably be a good starting point.
The toughest part for you is the up-to-date-ness of your data. Since you're still polling that 3rd-party service at a regular interval, it's going to be a trade-off between freshness of updates and frequency of jobs (which cost money at a certain scale).
I have two apps with same UISupportedExternalAccessoryProtocols. These are communicating with the MFI certified device. How I can know that the session is already created with other app on the same device. So I can alert to the user that you can't create multiple sessions with the same accessory at a time.
Please help to fix this.
Thanks in advance.
I personally consider AyBayBay's answer invalid, since you tagged your question with the "iOS tag" and NSDistributedNotificationCenter is not supported on this platform. (There is a low level api to do this, but I think it's in a private framework)
If you are pretending to target your app to iOS8+, the simplest way to do it is using iOS8's AppExtensions feature. I made some tests creating a session within my app, and sending info to the device from another app using extensions the way below.
some app -> app extension -> my app connected with ext.device -> ext.device
so I'm pretty sure you can check if the session is opened or not and return this info to the caller app.
FYI: To pass info to another app you can also use URLSchemes or UIPasteboard too, but both behaviours in a different way than AppExtensions and I think it not fits on your case. Maybe it helps someone else...
Well when one app connects and establishes a session with your MFI device, you can post a notification to NSDistributedNotificationCenter. Your other app can subscribe and listen for this message, upon recieving it and processing it in its runLoop (when it comes back into the foreground) you can have code that blocks it off from creating a session at the same time. You will have to experiment with this a bit but it can be done.
I have an iOS app which is installed in two different device but logged in with same account. If I do a new post from a device it should be shown instantly in the other devices. Currently I am refreshing the posts feed for every 10 seconds interval. Is this is a optimal way or is there any other better solution for this.
As #wattson12 was saying push notification are designed for that.
I would recommend using an API for that : Urban Air Ship
What you do is called polling. It’s the simplest solution, but it’s not optimal, because it requires you to query the server constantly and still there’s delay before you know about the new posts.
One way to know about new posts is to keep an HTTP connection open, waiting for the server to notify you about new posts (see Wikipedia for details, also related question here). Other option is push notifications: the server can post a notification when new content arrives. I’m not sure which one is technically more simple.
I can't afford UrbanAirship so I'm trying to program the server side of a Newsstand app myself.
I plan on using the JavaPNS API.
The one thing I can't seem to figure out is how to find a list of users who have a subscription in my app.
Can I query this information from Apple some how?
If I can't then I guess that means that each time a user subscribes they send their device token directly to my server. I hope this is not the case because I was hopping to run the server on my laptop and send out pushes myself without having to keep the laptop running all day listening for new subscribers.
Thanks!
Looks like I do need to register each device with my server: http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/web/library/mo-ios-push/index.html#resources
You kind of found your answer but just in case you really need a server for not only handling the push notification (for telling your app in Newsstand to check the new issue and download it in the background) but also for subscription and in-app purchasing.
Every time you launch the app you should check few things before you refresh the UI. You should check if the user is a subscriber or has user already bought the issue so you can show view/download button instead of Buy button.
Check out these tutorials if they help to understand these communications better but believe me you will end up with one of those services like Urban Airship (Which I think UA is the best option because it handles all in one not just push notification):
http://ios-blog.co.uk/tutorials/how-to-make-a-magazine-app-in-ios-part-i/
this one is more focus on server part:
http://ios-blog.co.uk/tutorials/how-to-make-a-magazine-app-in-ios-part-ii/
http://www.viggiosoft.com/blog/blog/2011/10/17/ios-newsstand-tutorial
http://www.raywenderlich.com/2797/introduction-to-in-app-purchases
And as always this is the best place for start (it has everything you need):
https://developer.apple.com/devcenter/ios/newsstand/
These are some resources to help you in developing app for Newsstand but still there are not enough people out there to share their experience.
Best of luck.
Edit: Add these two links two this list:
http://www.marco.org/2012/10/11/the-magazine
http://www.marco.org/2012/12/12/the-magazine-future-of-publishing