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Google Launches Mobile Backend Starter, Cloud Backend For Android Apps

48 points by aashaykumar92 13y ago

sazpaz 13y ago
Has it been announced if it will support iOS apps?
- MikeKusold 13y ago
  Some of the features of this framework are specific to Android. I would assume that you can still make calls to the App Engine part though.
- hayksaakian 13y ago
  I think having a general name like "mobile backend starter" implies it heavily
vyrotek 13y ago
This is similar to Azure Mobile Services[0] right? I've never quite understood the appeal of mobile-backend-as-service. I've developed a few mobile apps but always wrote and hosted my own API/Server/Database for the app to communicate with. These new services seem to focus on giving your mobile app some sort of central blob storage and some push features. I feel like these are nice 'temporary' services which eventually get completely replaced. I'm not suggesting that is bad though. But as someone who came from the business web-app world, I fail to see the value unless you're looking to avoid writing any server code. [0] http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/develop/mobile/ http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/develop/mobile/
- hayksaakian 13y ago
  To New mobile developers that got their start on mobile (like I was) without back end experience, Its highly appealing to let someone take care of it. (most people just need a basic CRUD api anyway, why spend time writing yet another crud app?)
kirinan 13y ago
So Parse but only for android? The benefit of parse is that I could make one backend and use it for ALL of my apps (including web), and they would all have access to my data. If I used this, I would have to make a kludge (if it is even possible) to access my data for iOS and windows (because as a business I'd want to expand). It looks awesome if you plan to make a one-off app for android only, but it doesn't look like something I'd use as a startup founder or small business owner (wouldn't want to lock myself into a single environment). I like the fact that parse is getting some competition, I don't like the fact that it only works for one platform (for now anyways).
- tosh 13y ago
  It seems like it is using Google Cloud Endpoints which means that you can generate client libraries for various languages (Dart, Ruby, Objective-C, Python, JavaScript, …) from your backend API definitions. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uy0tP6_kWJ4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uy0tP6_kWJ4 We are currently looking into Google Cloud Endpoints for exactly this functionality at Blossom (https://www.blossom.io https://www.blossom.io)
  - philips 13y ago
    I started testing out the Google Cloud Endpoints stuff with Go Lang and it seems like a good fit for building REST APIs. I would be interested in hearing opinions from people who have used it for a while about how well it works. I used these two projects in my prototype: https://github.com/crhym3/go-endpoints https://github.com/crhym3/go-endpoints https://code.google.com/p/google-api-go-client/source/browse/google-api-go-generator/gen.go https://code.google.com/p/google-api-go-client/source/browse...
thezilch 13y ago
Source of paraphrasing: http://googlecloudplatform.blogspot.com/2013/06/get-your-mobile-application-in-the-cloud-with-mobile-backend-starter.html http://googlecloudplatform.blogspot.com/2013/06/get-your-mob...
petersouth 13y ago
Will this simplify App building enough to where a novice could build it now?

48 points by aashaykumar92 13y ago

sazpaz 13y ago

Has it been announced if it will support iOS apps?

MikeKusold 13y ago
Some of the features of this framework are specific to Android. I would assume that you can still make calls to the App Engine part though.
hayksaakian 13y ago
I think having a general name like "mobile backend starter" implies it heavily

vyrotek 13y ago

This is similar to Azure Mobile Services[0] right? I've never quite understood the appeal of mobile-backend-as-service. I've developed a few mobile apps but always wrote and hosted my own API/Server/Database for the app to communicate with. These new services seem to focus on giving your mobile app some sort of central blob storage and some push features. I feel like these are nice 'temporary' services which eventually get completely replaced. I'm not suggesting that is bad though. But as someone who came from the business web-app world, I fail to see the value unless you're looking to avoid writing any server code. [0] http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/develop/mobile/ http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/develop/mobile/

hayksaakian 13y ago
To New mobile developers that got their start on mobile (like I was) without back end experience, Its highly appealing to let someone take care of it. (most people just need a basic CRUD api anyway, why spend time writing yet another crud app?)

kirinan 13y ago

So Parse but only for android? The benefit of parse is that I could make one backend and use it for ALL of my apps (including web), and they would all have access to my data. If I used this, I would have to make a kludge (if it is even possible) to access my data for iOS and windows (because as a business I'd want to expand). It looks awesome if you plan to make a one-off app for android only, but it doesn't look like something I'd use as a startup founder or small business owner (wouldn't want to lock myself into a single environment). I like the fact that parse is getting some competition, I don't like the fact that it only works for one platform (for now anyways).

tosh 13y ago
It seems like it is using Google Cloud Endpoints which means that you can generate client libraries for various languages (Dart, Ruby, Objective-C, Python, JavaScript, …) from your backend API definitions. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uy0tP6_kWJ4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uy0tP6_kWJ4 We are currently looking into Google Cloud Endpoints for exactly this functionality at Blossom (https://www.blossom.io https://www.blossom.io)
- philips 13y ago
  I started testing out the Google Cloud Endpoints stuff with Go Lang and it seems like a good fit for building REST APIs. I would be interested in hearing opinions from people who have used it for a while about how well it works. I used these two projects in my prototype: https://github.com/crhym3/go-endpoints https://github.com/crhym3/go-endpoints https://code.google.com/p/google-api-go-client/source/browse/google-api-go-generator/gen.go https://code.google.com/p/google-api-go-client/source/browse...

thezilch 13y ago

Source of paraphrasing: http://googlecloudplatform.blogspot.com/2013/06/get-your-mobile-application-in-the-cloud-with-mobile-backend-starter.html http://googlecloudplatform.blogspot.com/2013/06/get-your-mob...

petersouth 13y ago

Will this simplify App building enough to where a novice could build it now?