Effective Android Messaging

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Effective Android Messaging Juan Gomez

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Agenda • Intro • HTTP • WebSockets • SMS (Text Messages) • Network Service Discovery • Review • Q&A !2

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Over 2 million events  140 million tickets sold   $2 billion in gross ticket sales  Events in 179 countries Eventbrite by the Numbers

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Intro Who am I? • Mobile Engineer at Eventbrite • Android Developer • Python enthusiast !4

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Intro Slides: • http://lanyrd.com/profile/juandg/ • http://www.andevcon.com/slides !5

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Intro What do you mean by messaging? • Communications between devices • Peer-to-Peer • Servers are “devices”, and peers too ;) !6

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Intro Where do I need messaging: • IM apps • Multiplayer games • Enterprise apps • Many more… !7

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HTTP

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HTTP • Effective Android HTTP by Jesse Wilson • Presented at AnDevCon Boston • http://bit.ly/1auYlY2 !9

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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

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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

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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

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GOOGLE CLOUD MESSAGING !13

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Google Cloud Messaging !14

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Google Cloud Messaging • Full duplex • Fire & Forget • Not always reliable • No guarantee on time of delivery • Relatively easy to implement !15

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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

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Google Cloud Messaging Android Studio can implement a simple GCM backend 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

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WEB SOCKETS

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WebSockets • Full-duplex communication using Port 80 • Web Server <—> Client • Not just for Web Browsers • Near Real-Time !19

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WebSockets on Android • No native Android implementation !20

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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

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SMS (TEXT MESSAGING)

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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

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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

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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

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SMS (Text Messaging) SmsManager • Sending is really easy SmsManager smsManager = SmsManager.getDefault(); smsManager.sendTextMessage(“555-123-456“, null, "hello", null, null); ! ! !26

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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

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NETWORK SERVICE DISCOVERY

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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

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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

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Network Service Discovery Eventbrite engineering blog: • engineering.eventbrite.com • Android NDS Post: http://bit.ly/1aYc6RN !31

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HOW WE USE IT AT EVENTBRITE? !32

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How we use this at Eventbrite? Entry Manager • Paired with a home grown solution called “Gatekeeper” !33

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How we use this at Eventbrite? Eventbrite App • Social Notifications Push notification when two of your friends are attending the same event . ! !34

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We’re hiring! If you’re interested, let’s talk after the session eventbrite.com/jobs