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Show HN: Push real-time data to mobile apps w/o sockets, polling, or backend

4 points by kbrandon 2y ago

Hey HN, I just launched Pushlytic (https://pushlytic.com https://pushlytic.com), a real-time push messaging library for mobile apps. It lets you stream data to mobile apps without websockets, polling, or maintaining a backend - all using gRPC (this isn't push notifications like APNS/FCM - it's real-time data streaming). Having worked with similar real-time push features at large tech companies using gRPC, I noticed smaller teams and apps often don't have resources to implement this functionality - they either struggle with managing the infrastructure or rely on inflexible third-party services. The library allows you to add real-time features with just a few lines of code and handles all the complexity - connection management, retries, etc. The best part? You can automate workflows to send any structured data you want without running your own backend. Set up triggers based on events, schedules, or conditions - perfect for: * Delivery tracking * Instant deals * Shopping cart promos * Feature announcements Right now we support iOS and Android, with SDKs available on GitHub (working on React Native): iOS SDK: https://github.com/pushlytic/pushlytic-ios-sdk https://github.com/pushlytic/pushlytic-ios-sdk Android SDK: https://github.com/pushlytic/pushlytic-android-sdk https://github.com/pushlytic/pushlytic-android-sdk Would love feedback from the HN community! No waitlist or demo required - feel free to grab an API key and try it out.

andrewfromx 2y ago
So the downsides are: Your app needs to maintain an active connection, which impacts battery life. The app must be in the foreground or use background tasks. You won't get the system-level benefits of APNS (like waking up a terminated app)
- kbrandon 2y ago
  You raise good points about the tradeoffs! Pushlytic is designed for different use cases than APNS - it's for real-time data streaming when your app is active. For background notifications, APNS/FCM are absolutely the right tools. I'd recommend using both: APNS for background notifications to bring users back to your app, and Pushlytic for real-time data streaming while they're actively using it. The battery impact is minimized since the SDK use gRPC, but you're right that any persistent connection will have some battery cost. That's why the library tries to handle connection management carefully - the connection will close when the app is backgrounded and reopen upon foregrounding. You can also close the stream at any point.

4 points by kbrandon 2y ago

andrewfromx 2y ago

So the downsides are: Your app needs to maintain an active connection, which impacts battery life. The app must be in the foreground or use background tasks. You won't get the system-level benefits of APNS (like waking up a terminated app)

kbrandon 2y ago
You raise good points about the tradeoffs! Pushlytic is designed for different use cases than APNS - it's for real-time data streaming when your app is active. For background notifications, APNS/FCM are absolutely the right tools. I'd recommend using both: APNS for background notifications to bring users back to your app, and Pushlytic for real-time data streaming while they're actively using it. The battery impact is minimized since the SDK use gRPC, but you're right that any persistent connection will have some battery cost. That's why the library tries to handle connection management carefully - the connection will close when the app is backgrounded and reopen upon foregrounding. You can also close the stream at any point.