I’m working on building a backend system for my iOS mobile application and considering Parse.com as the solution.
My backend requirements include:
- Database storage functionality
- Push notification capabilities
- Server-side PDF generation
I have some specific questions about Parse.com:
Database operations - This part seems straightforward and I’m comfortable with it.
Push notifications - Can I rely on Parse’s built-in notification system for sending push messages to iOS devices, or do I need to integrate directly with Apple’s push service?
PDF creation - I want to build a web service using ASP.NET framework to handle PDF generation on the server side. However, I’m concerned that Parse.com might not support hosting ASP.NET applications. If that’s the case, what alternatives do I have? Would I need to learn and use Express.js instead, even though I have no experience with it?
Any guidance on the best approach for these requirements would be helpful.
hey, I’ve played with Parse for push notifications too - it’s super easy and you dont have to mess with the apple setup. but yeah, for PDFs in ASP.NET, I’d suggest looking at Firebase or AWS, they got way more options.
Parse.com shut down in 2017, so you’ll need something else for your iOS backend. Firebase or AWS Amplify are solid alternatives - both handle database ops and push notifications without messing with Apple’s Push Notification service directly. For the PDF generation with ASP.NET, just host that separately on Azure App Service or AWS Elastic Beanstalk. Your mobile app can talk to both services. This way you get to stick with ASP.NET for PDFs while using a modern mobile backend for everything else. Works great and you won’t have to learn Express.js if you don’t want to.
Interesting project! Have you checked out Parse’s cloud code for PDF generation? Might be easier than setting up separate ASP.NET hosting. What kind of PDFs are you making - basic reports or something more complex?