0

I want to make an android application which will display an external message (For example: some quotes, proverbs etc) daily. The message should be retrieved from some place other than the client device and I would like to configure the messages from back end These messages should also change everyday. How should the back end be and how can the android application retrieve the configured message ? Do I need a server at the back end for the same or can avail some cloud services for the same ? What is the best approach to do?

Greg
  • 13
  • 2
  • If you have further questions about this, please edit your question or add comments to my response. If the response helped you, please mark it as accepted! Best of luck to your project! :) – Brian Topping Apr 26 '15 at 09:40
  • Thanks Brian....Could you also suggest some example frameworks to use with Java ? – Greg Apr 27 '15 at 16:38
  • Sure, no worries. I would first check to see if Akka HTTP has been ported to Java. If not, I'm probably not the best guy to ask ;) – Brian Topping Apr 27 '15 at 19:34

2 Answers2

1

If you want to avoid having to set up and manage a server on the backend yourself you can take a look at a 'backend as a service' offering.

Two example candidates are:

Both Parse and Amazon provide SDK's to allow you interact with the backend from your Android app.

You will likely want to study this a little to decide if you want this type of solution or to build your own server as Brian suggests - I think there are pros and cons to each approach and you'll have to choose which is best for your case.

Mick
  • 24,231
  • 1
  • 54
  • 120
0

Yes, you will need a server. You can start building the server software on the same machine as your Android emulator and create them in parallel. You'll need to choose a language and most likely a web server framework that suits your thought process and style.

If you want to use REST, for instance, google some for "best REST server framework". You will get hundreds of answers that don't mean much, but look at the communities that surround the frameworks that come back. Look at the user lists and how many questions about it exist on this site. That will give you a better idea of whether you can ask questions and get answers when they arise. You are making an investment by learning a framework, spend a little time deciding which one you are going to use, possibly by trying a few of them for a very simple site that returns the kind of data you are looking for.

Other than that, you really need to ask specific questions once you've chosen a language and a framework. Hope that helps.

Brian Topping
  • 3,235
  • 28
  • 33