Choosing the Right Backend for Your Mobile App

Choosing a
backend for your

mobile application
Cesare Rocchi
studiomagnolia.com
_funkyboy
Tuesday, September 11, 12
Outline
Features
Overview
of
different
approaches
Needs when choosing a backend
SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012

Who am I?

UX designer and developer

mnml

< is >

execution matters

lean approach

Who are you?

Quick version

Its complicated

Thank you!


app.net/funkyboy
cesare@studiomagnolia.com
http://studiomagnolia.com
twitter.com/_funkyboy

App Target
Apps
which
are
inherently
mobile
Personal
usage
Backup
or
synchronization
Not apps where mobile is just a view

Examples

dayoneapp.com

culturedcode.com/things

iawriter.com

Questions

Have I to manage it?

Am
I
able
to
do
it?
Have
I
time
to
learn?
Is
it
worth
it?
At which level?

Whats the synch model?

Can
I
change
it
if
needed?
What
about
protocols?
Does it match my goals?

Have I to pay?

Have I to pay?

Who is to pay?

Impact on UX?

Impact on UX?
How
frequently?
is
it
ok
with
that?
Does it break any flow?

Security?

Security?
Is
encryption
implemented?
How data are transferred?

Options
Dropbox
Parse
&
co.
Custom
iCloud

What is iCloud?

6028 Startown Rd, Maiden, NC

Stores and synchs stuff

It just works ...

... when it works.



seamlessness can be a limit

Questions
Whats
the
synch
model?
Whos
to
pay?
Impact
on
UX?
Security?

Apple
takes
care
of
installation
scalability
security
Learn the API


Daemon
Works
on
metadata
Shreds
files
Supports
conflict
resolution
Monitors changes

Special folder, synched

Synched when appropriate

Appropriate
Which
connection?
Battery
status?
Which OS?

Types of Information
Documents
CoreData
Key-value

Whos to pay?
Your
app
will
use
his
quota
5Gb
for
free
The final user

Impact on UX?

Impact on UX?
No
control
on
upload
Why
isnt
there?
Open
the
app
to
synch
User
turns
off
iCloud?
User expectation

Security
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4865?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

Security
Mostly
safe
But
...
Using the same API

Security
Mostly
safe
But
...
Using the same API

Notes
You
can
prevent
files
from
being
backed
up
App
might
be
rejected
> iOS5 Documents folder is backed up
https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/#qa/qa1719/_index.html
Dropbox

Dropbox
Special
folder
Synchronized
across
devices
Supports
other
platforms
File-based

installation
bandwidth
scalability
Already set up

Mobile
apps
have
to
query
the
backend
HTTP
API
SDKs
for
iOS,
Android,
Ruby,
Python
Desktop synchronizes continuously

Data
serialization
is
up
to
you
No
file
shredding
No conflict resolution (revision #)

Whos to pay?
Your
app
will
use
his
disk
quota
2
Gb
for
free
The final user

Impact on UX?
User
might
modify
files
Control
on
the
upload
Authentication the first time

Security
https://www.dropbox.com/help/27/en
Security
3rd
party
apps
are
sandboxed
Apps
are
reviewed
Https required

Similar
sugarsync.com
google
drive
amazon
S3
box.net

Parse

Parse
Files,
key-value
API
for
iOS,
Android,
Javascript
and
REST
Push
notifications
Backend for mobile apps

Parse
account
creation/verification
Login
with
Twitter/Facebook
ACL
User management

Parse
takes
care
of
Installation
Bandwidth
Scalability
Just learn the API

No
need
to
serialize/deserialize
ORM approach on steroids

steroids?

PFObject *note = [PFObject objectWithClassName:@"Note"];

[note setObject:@"Ciao"
forKey:@"title"];
[note setObject:@"Note on Parse"
forKey:@"content"];
[note save];
//[note saveInBackground];
//[note saveInBackgroundWithBlock:^( ){ }];
//[note saveEventually]; <- steroids
PFObject *note = [PFObject objectWithClassName:@"Note"];

[note setObject:@"Ciao"
forKey:@"title"];
[note setObject:@"Note on parse"
forKey:@"content"];
PFObject *myTag = [PFObject objectWithClassName:@"Tag"];
[myTag setObject:@"important"
forKey:@"tagName"];
// Add a relation
[note setObject:myTag forKey:@"tag"];
// Saves both
[note saveInBackground];
Whos to pay?
Pay
as
you
use
Limit
of
calls/mo
You

Whos to pay?
Pay
as
you
use
Limit
of
calls/mo
You

Security
ACL
is
up
to
you
DBs
are
snapshotted
every
30min
You
own
data
Uses SSL to transmit

Similar services
stackmob.com
kinvey.com
buddy.com
cloudmine.me

Custom


IaaS
PaaS
SaaS

IaaS
PaaS
Application
Runtime
Middleware
OS
Application
Data
SaaS
Data

IaaS
PaaS
Application
Runtime
Middleware
OS
Application
Data
SaaS
Data

IaaS
PaaS
Application
Runtime
Middleware
OS
Application
Data
Data

PaaS
Data
Application

PaaS Questions
Which
DB?
Which language?

Heroku

Languages
Python
Java
Scala
Closure
Node.js
Ruby

DBs
MySQL
(via
addon)
MongoDB
(via
addon)
Postgres

Dyno
Web
Worker
#
of
dynos
+
db
profile
+
addons
=
backend
cost
Essentially a process

IaaS
PaaS
Middleware
Runtime
Data
Application
Application
OS
Data

IaaS
Middleware
Runtime
Data
Application
OS

Questions
Which
language?
Which
DB?
How
many
machines?
Which OS?

Amazon Web Services

Amazon Web Services
Storage
Networking
DBs
Services:
email,
queue
managers
CDN

Good old way
pick
the
hardware
install
OS
rent
space/bandwidth
in
a
farm
Buy a server

Server side frameworks

Ruby
http://www.sinatrarb.com
http://www.padrinorb.com
http://rubyonrails.org

Python
http://www.pylonsproject.org
http://flask.pocoo.org
https://www.djangoproject.com

Node.js
http://geddyjs.org
http://flatironjs.org
http://railwayjs.com
http://towerjs.org
http://expressjs.com

ORM
DataMapper
Sequel
SQLAlchemy
ActiveRecord

Client side frameworks

Networking
MKNetworkKit
RestKit
DataKit
AFNetworking

To have a cake ...

Use a box mix
Add
basic
ingredients
Bake
Choose between flavors

Do it from scratch
Preparation
Bake
Choose all the elements

In conclusion ...

You cant always get what you want

but if you try sometime,
you just might find ...

You cant always get what you want

but if you try sometime,
you just might find ...
Rolling Stones

app.net/funkyboy
http://studiomagnolia.com
http://www.icloudfordevelopers.com
twitter.com/_funkyboy


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Choosing a

backend for your

Tuesday, September 11, 12

Needs when choosing a backend

SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012

SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012

UX designer and developer

SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012

SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012

SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012

SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012

SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012

Who are you?

SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012

SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012

SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012

SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012

SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012

Not apps where mobile is just a view

SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012

SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012

SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012

SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012

SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012

SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012

Have I to manage it?

SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012

Have I to manage it?

SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012

Whats the synch model?

SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012

Whats the synch model?

Does it match my goals?

SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012

SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012

SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012

SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012

SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012

Does it break any flow?

SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012

SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012

How data are transferred?

SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012

SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012

SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012

6028 Startown Rd, Maiden, NC

Stores and synchs stuff

SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012

It just works ...

SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012

... when it works.

SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012

SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012

SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012

seamlessness can be a limit

SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012

Have I to manage it?

SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012

Have I to manage it?

Learn the API

SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012

Whats the synch model?

SWIPE CONFERENCE 2012