Last Friday it was a bit disappointing to find out that Parse will discontinue its services. It used to be my favorite mBaaS as it was perfect for prototyping but also suitable for production data. It is a scalable solution, it has great documentation and is easy to use.
Many mobile developers of iOS and Android apps rely on the Parse backend system for data storage and push notifications. The fact that Facebook has decided to discontinue it is a bit surprising as they did put a lot of effort in supporting Apple TV (tvOS) and Apple watch recently.
What is Parse actually?
Parse is a mobile Backend as a Service (mBaaS) that uses a MongoDB database to store data and Amazon S3 to store files. The Parse SDKs for Android and iOS include handy stuff such as caching and uploading data and files in the background. Other features are analytics, push notifications and cloud code, which is useful for the integration of mail and SMS functionality for example.
If you want to create a new app using a mBaas right now there are some interesting alternatives. But if you do have an app that currently is using the Parse SDK probably your only option is to use the Parse Server. Here is a tutorial to find out what you need to keep your app running on the Parse technology. Or have a look on Github where the source for the Parse Server is hosted.
Some of the features supported by the Parse Server:
Some of the not or not fully supported features:
Some of the features supported by the Parse Server:
- CRUD operations
- Schema validation
- Pointers
- Users
- Installations
- Sessions
- Roles
Some of the not or not fully supported features:
- Push notifications
- Facebook login
- Web based dashboard
It cannot be too difficult to reanimate most of the Parse functionality using the recently published open source Parse Server. And that is what The distance has planned to do. Well, more or less. They have plans to offer hosting for the Parse Server.
