Android + Cloud with Mobile Backend Starter
Posted by David Chandler on May 21, 2013
The Google Cloud Solutions team has made it easier than ever to create a cloud backend for your Android application. Brad Abrams and I presented it last week at Google I/O, and Brad has published a gigantic step-by-step blog post with copious screenshots on how we built our sample app, Geek Serendipity. Here’s all the related content in one handy list:
- Building Geek Serendipity (BradAbrams.com)
- From Nothing to Nirvana in Minutes: Cloud Backend for Your Android Application (I/O talk)
- Geek Serendipity source (github)
- Geek Serendipity app in Google Play Store
- Android demo tips: behind the scenes at Google I/O (lessons learned)
TurboManage 
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Sohil Shah (@openmobster) said
Hi David,
Great Job on this new product. We definitely needed something from Google in this space. I have compiled a detailed analysis of each service in the platform here: http://openmobster.blogspot.com/2013/06/dissecting-google-mbaas-platform.html
Let me know if I made any errors in understanding the service.
Thanks
Sohil
CEO, OpenMobster, Open Source MBaaS Platform
David Chandler said
Hi, Sohil. Mobile Backend Starter doesn’t support automatic offline sync. It provides the lower-level tools (GCM and RESTful services) that you could use to implement sync.
Sohil Shah (@openmobster) said
Hi David, thanks for your reply. I apologize for making the assumption that sync was supported out of the box. I have made the correction on the blog entry. I was mistaken by the Push notifications explanation that data updated on one device is pushed to other devices. I thought it meant data stored locally on the device. I am assuming that since there is no sync, there is also no local storage/offline use of data. Is that correct? Does this mean that the App can function only when online. What about the latency issue of downloading a lot of JSON data remotely on demand.
Thanks again for taking the time to answer my questions!!!!
David Chandler said
You’re correct, Sohil. MBS currently has no local storage / offline support, although that’s definitely something the team is looking at. That’s a much bigger nut to crack, as you know 🙂