Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie

Opinions on Parse for iOS development

Options
  • 16-10-2013 9:06am
    #1
    stopandstare
    Registered Users Posts: 28 ✭


    Hi all,
    I'm considering stacks for an LBS iOS app that I am working on. So far the main option I can see is MongoDB, Node.js & either native or Titanium for the front end.

    I recently came across www.parse.com which looks like a really great alternative to take care of the back end and api, is highly scalable & quick to develop. I am not a developer so I will need to outsource the work and being a startup finance & deadlines are tight. I've not met anyone yet in Dublin or Ireland who has experience with Parse and I would really love to hear opinions on it!

    Thanks for your help guys,
    SnS
    Tagged:


Comments

  • Options
    #2
    Graham
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 17,642 Mod ✭✭✭✭Graham


    I tried Parse for the back-end of a Titanium app a while back, was really impressed with it. The biggest down-side I can see is vendor lock-in (the same as many BAAS/MBAAS products), I also have (very slight admittedly) reservations about the direction Parse.com will take now that it's owned by Facebook.

    If you're looking for custom domains with Parse.com you're also talking about a $199 per month starting figure which rapidly erodes the value of the low-cost (free) starting point.

    There's plenty of alternatives out there, you're not just limited to Parse or MongoDB/Node. There's also dozens of other BAAS/MBAAS products as well as the traditional php/.net/sql/mysql.

    One of the things to keep in mind the cost/availability of developers. As you've already discovered, there's not many with Parse.com and the like.

    TLDR;
    I wouldn't exclude Parse.com as a solution but the steep jumps in price, vendor lock-in and availability of skilled resources would have me considering other options too.


  • Options
    #3
    stopandstare
    Registered Users Posts: 28 ✭stopandstare


    Cheers Graham - really interesting take on it, I'll keep that in mind.

    How did you find Titanium?

    SnS


  • Options
    #4
    Graham
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 17,642 Mod ✭✭✭✭Graham


    It's the least compromised of the cross-platform solutions.

    Assuming you're not talking about mobile games, it's a great product that can cope with most things you throw at it. Native apps are still the best solution for some Apps though.

    Don't make the mistake of thinking it's a write-once, run anywhere solution though. It's more along the lines of write once and 75-70% of it will run anywhere :)

    What are you looking at for your LBS, is it GPS based or are you considering iBeacon? I think we're going to see some really, really interesting products built around iBeacons in the next year or two.


Advertisement