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Effective Android Messaging

Juan Gomez
November 15, 2013

Effective Android Messaging

This class intends to guide you by providing an overview of some of the most popular messaging options on the Android Ecosystem, as well as some tips and tricks on how to successfully implement them in your Android apps. We’ll talk about Basic Http messaging, Google’s Cloud Messaging (a.k.a. Push Notifications) and SMS (a.k.a. Text messages), and finally we’ll touch on some newer techniques like Android’s Network Service Discovery (a.k.a. Bonjour) and WebSockets.

Juan Gomez

November 15, 2013
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Transcript

  1. Agenda • Intro • HTTP • WebSockets • SMS (Text

    Messages) • Network Service Discovery • Review • Q&A !2
  2. Over 2 million events
 140 million tickets sold 
 $2

    billion in gross ticket sales
 Events in 179 countries Eventbrite by the Numbers
  3. Intro Who am I? • Mobile Engineer at Eventbrite •

    Android Developer • Python enthusiast !4
  4. Intro What do you mean by messaging? • Communications between

    devices • Peer-to-Peer • Servers are “devices”, and peers too ;) !6
  5. Intro Where do I need messaging: • IM apps •

    Multiplayer games • Enterprise apps • Many more… !7
  6. HTTP • Effective Android HTTP by Jesse Wilson • Presented

    at AnDevCon Boston • http://bit.ly/1auYlY2 !9
  7. HTTP (Native) HttpURLConnection vs Apache HTTP client • Apache HTTP

    client works better on Eclair (2.1) and Froyo (2.2) • HttpURLConnection is the best choice for Gingerbread (2.3) and above !10
  8. HTTP (3rd-party) Volley: • Great performance and memory mgmt •

    Poor documentation and support OkHttp • Improved fork of HttpURLConnection (as of 4.0) • Great documentation and support !11
  9. HTTP • It’s not full duplex • It’s not meant

    for device peer-to-peer communication • Not ideal for low connectivity scenarios (concerts, arenas, etc.) !12
  10. Google Cloud Messaging • Full duplex • Fire & Forget

    • Not always reliable • No guarantee on time of delivery • Relatively easy to implement !15
  11. Google Cloud Messaging Two implementations: • GCM HTTP • Based

    on HTTP Post requests • Uses JSON messages • GCM CCS • Based on the XMPP chat protocol • Uses XML messages !16
  12. Google Cloud Messaging Android Studio can implement a simple GCM

    back- end for you, using Google AppEngine • Follow instructions on: • http://googlecloudplatform.blogspot.com/ 2013/06/tutorial-adding-cloud-backend-to-your- application-with-android-studio_26.html !17
  13. WebSockets • Full-duplex communication using Port 80 • Web Server

    <—> Client • Not just for Web Browsers • Near Real-Time !19
  14. Web Sockets (3rd Party) AutobahnAndroid • Fully open source •

    github.com/tavendo/AutobahnAndroid • Commercially supported also Socket.IO client for Android • Fully open source • github.com/koush/android-websockets • Not very well supported !21
  15. SMS (Text Messaging) Pros: • Asynchronous • Ideal for low

    data connectivity • Only option when there’s no data connectivity • Mostly free (in the U.S. and Europe) • Supported by “dumb” phones !23
  16. SMS (Text Messaging) Cons: • Asynchronous • No guarantee of

    delivery (including order) • Limited to 160 characters per message • Android API’s are “mostly” undocumented • Except for the new KitKat API ! !24
  17. SMS (Text Messaging) When to use them: • IM apps

    (duh!) • Device activation • Phone number verification • As a fallback method for other protocol • As a coordination mechanism !25
  18. SMS (Text Messaging) SmsManager • Sending is really easy SmsManager

    smsManager = SmsManager.getDefault(); smsManager.sendTextMessage(“555-123-456“, null, "hello", null, null); ! ! !26
  19. SMS (Text Messaging) Receiving SMS • It’s an undocumented API

    • Implement a BroadCast receiver listening for: • android.provider.Telephony.SMS_RECEIVED • Bundle contains an array of SmsMessage • Checkout the new KitKat API: • youtu.be/mdq0R2WQssQ !27
  20. Network Service Discovery • Discover services available on the local

    network • Based on Apple’s Bonjour • Multiplatform support • Android, iOS, OS X, Linux, Windows, Printers, etc. • Only available on API Level 16 and above !29
  21. Network Service Discovery Alternatives if you’re not on API Level

    16 yet: • Use JmDNS ( jmdns.sourceforge.net) • Centralized “check-in” Server on fixed IP • DON’T Try to do multicast/broadcast yourself • Not very efficient (really slooow!) • Battery Drain ! ! !30
  22. How we use this at Eventbrite? Entry Manager • Paired

    with a home grown solution called “Gatekeeper” !33
  23. How we use this at Eventbrite? Eventbrite App • Social

    Notifications Push notification when two of your friends are attending the same event . ! !34