XamarinSeminar

28th February 2013

Practical Push Notifications

IntroductionPractical Push Notifications

Pierce Boggan

Xamarin

Software Engineering, Auburn UniversityCustomer Support Engineer Intern

pierce@pierceboggan.comTwitter: @pierceboggan

Agenda

Xamarin

1. Why bother with push in the first place?

2. Identify a service that works for you and implement it.

3. Use push notifications effectively.

Why Push?

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1. If used correctly, it can provide value to your application.

2. Push drives all of those awesome* analytical stats like consecutive days used.

3. It really isn’t hard to implement, even for advanced solutions.

Platform Availability

Xamarin

Parse Urban Airship Azure Mobile Services

iOS X X X

OS X X

Android X X

Windows 8 X X X

Windows 8 Phone X X X

Blackberry X

General Setup: iOS

Xamarin

• Enable Apple Push Notification Service (APNS)• Export certificate as .p12

• Create a Provisioning Profile•Development•Distribution

Usage: Parse

Xamarin

Advantages:• Data, social, push, cloud code all in one service• SDKs for many different platforms• Parse Component from Xamarin’s Component Store• Lots of documentation, tutorials, and samples• Great pricing structure• Simplistic API

Urban Airship

Xamarin

Advantages:• Established push notification platform• SDKs for many different platforms• Advanced targeting and metrics• Lots of documentation and troubleshooting tips

Azure Mobile Services

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Advantages:• Data, push, server-side scripting, and user authentication • Azure Mobile Services Component• Lots of documentation, video tutorials, samples• Highly scalable

Best Practices

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1. Provide value.2. Drive engagement.3. Put the user in control.

Final Remarks

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•Plenty of other viable options•PushSharp (see the Xamarin Seminar)•Additional Reading•Stop Abusing Push!•10 Useful Tips for Awesome Push Notifications•Urban Airship Whitepapers

Questions?

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