DEV Community: Back4App - Low code backend to build modern Apps.

Fix these common development mistakes with the top app performance improvement tips from Alex Kusmenkovsky

Back4App - Low code backend to build modern Apps. — Tue, 14 Jun 2022 16:42:04 +0000

Join Alex Kusmenkovsky, Architect and Developer at Back4app

for a morning overview on optimizing your app on Back4app.

What we'll cover:

Review of the various reasons that contribute to your app’s performance pitfalls like limiting the number of objects returned in a query, using the existing operator, managing index for a query, avoiding timeouts and more
Sharing of solutions, ideas and strategies on how to address these performance issues
Discussion on the best practices to leverage your app’s performance on Back4app.

Register Here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/7216552339014/WN_TikIh8WwSuiWKZgxE0nsCg

It’s THE event to explore and grasp the fundamentals of creating dApps/Web 3.0 apps using Back4app!

Back4App - Low code backend to build modern Apps. — Mon, 16 May 2022 12:48:44 +0000

Join us on Thursday, May 26th, 11 am (pacific time) as we witness the first of its kind event about the launch of our latest Web 3.0 project- The Evolve, with Back4app. EVOLVE is a cryptocurrency offering a Video Game Competition Platform where gamers can use EVOLVE tokens to enter Compete-To-Earn competitions.

Here from Team Evolve- Casey and Suat will join us to speak how they created this amazing Blockchain app with Back4app and aspire to grow big in this exciting world of web 3.0. We will also be exploring Evolve Coin's outlook for the future and their thoughts on our platform!
Register Here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_K3nunL32QO6dQkXOUlO9yw
It’s going to be Big, Fascinating and Futuristic!

Back4app Co-Founders coming together for the very FIRST TIME!

Back4App - Low code backend to build modern Apps. — Fri, 29 Apr 2022 15:25:57 +0000

Back4app Co-Founders coming together for the very FIRST TIME!

We are thrilled to announce a live discussion with our founders, for the very FIRST time. That's right! Back4app Co-Founders- Alysson Melo and Davi Macedo are coming together to have a live discussion on the future of low-code with the latest Parse 5.0 version!
Register here to become an attendee: https://bit.ly/3EX3sVj

Join Our Upcoming Webinar on How to Build Real-Time applications (Live-Queries)

Back4App - Low code backend to build modern Apps. — Tue, 22 Mar 2022 16:57:51 +0000

Attend a free webinar led by Alex, the architect from Back4app. In this 1-hour webinar, you can grasp the fundamentals of building real-time applications on Back4app. This free event takes place on March 31st, 11 am (Pacific Time)

The future of app development is low-code; so don't get left behind. Alex makes it easy by providing a use-case to build real-time applications, while answering your questions/queries live on the same.

Seats are limited, so register for free!
link: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_AY1_2eYMRSqIeQ98duyp6g

Announcement:Our First Live Q&A session

Back4App - Low code backend to build modern Apps. — Mon, 07 Mar 2022 18:29:12 +0000

We are excited to invite everyone to participate in our first live Q&A session on Zoom, hosted by our architect from Back4app- Alex Kusmenkovsky

Hello everyone!

There are a ton of innovations going on in Back4app and, of course, you may want to share your opinion. We believe it is an immense responsibility to be as open to our community as is possible and that is why we are hosting our very first live Q&A session on Zoom on Thursday, March 10, 11 am (Pacific time). Our architect- Alex Kusmenkovsky, will happily embrace all of your comments, queries and recommendations, so don‘t forget to tune in!

link to register: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_J_Eal9KKQ_2RKTuwyN5mvg

Product Update: New App monitoring tools

Back4App - Low code backend to build modern Apps. — Fri, 04 Mar 2022 15:10:50 +0000

Over the past few months, we’ve been working on giving you more information about your app on back4app. We’re pleased to announce a new feature that will increase app monitoring and observability: the App Status.

This new feature is available to each of your apps on back4app giving you information about your app health/performance, security, and general app logs.
How to access it? Go to the back4app main dashboard and click on the App Status button.

App Status button

App Health

Under the App Health tab, you will find metrics on how your app is responding to requests for the last few minutes. That allows you to monitor how healthy your web/mobile application is replying to customer requests and ensure the backend environment is working smoothly.

Average Response Time – The average response time will give you how fast your app is responding to requests.

Health Status – On health status, you will check how many requests are being successfully processed, how many resulted in client errors, and how many resulted in Server Errors.

App Health

Requests breakdown – On the box below you will find a detailed report splitting the requests into HTTP responses codes and giving you more granular information about the requests which were not successfully processed. Using this information, you can get more transparency on the application’s environment and control the performance issues of your app.

App Security

Security has become the number one priority when developing a professional app. On the new App Status feature, you will find a detailed security report to help you identify and fix possible security vulnerabilities your app may have.

App Security Report

The security report is built considering checks on your app and account like multi-factor authentication, if you are using CLPs and/or ACL to protect your classes and objects, if you have client class creation enabled, and other tests. If you want to learn more about security on back4app please take a look at this article.

App Logs

App Logs
On the Logs tab, you will see all the system logs your app is producing including console.log, console.error, cloud code syntax errors, server initialization logs, and more.

App Management menu

It’s also possible to access important app management actions. Clicking on settings you will access the back4app app settings (core settings, parse server management, custom parse options, environment variables).

App management menu

Clicking on Refresh you will update health metrics, the security report, and the logs. By restarting you will restart your app server. You can also open a ticket to talk directly with the back4app engineer support team and get help from the experts.

Final words

We’re constantly working to help you to succeed when building and scaling professional apps. If you liked this feature and have new suggestions for this section please let us know at community@back4app.com.

Top MBaaS Providers in 2022

Back4App - Low code backend to build modern Apps. — Thu, 24 Feb 2022 16:28:54 +0000

MBaaS Overview

What is a mobile backend as a service?

MBaaS is a mobile middleware substitute. It utilizes software development kits (SDKs) and application programming interfaces (APIs) to integrate server-side sources of apps in the cloud. With the help of this cloud computing model, developers can also access databases, servers and storage to function their mobile applications successfully.

Similarly, if we talk about the utilization of Mobile Backend as a Service solutions, then it is gradually enhancing. According to the global forecast of MarketsAndMarkets, the size of the MBaaS industry will reach 5.9 billion USD by 2025. This MBaaS market growth was only 2 billion USD in 2020. In simple words, MBaaS has great scope to flourish in forthcoming years because of its dynamic features.

The top MBaaS vendors are Back4App, Parse, Backendless, Kinvey, AWS Amplify, 8Base and Firebase.

Advantages of MBaaS

Although MBaaS grants a variety of benefits to its users but we are only discussing the significant advantages of MBaaS here:

Reduce Time to Market to Create Applications

Application creation is not only super easy and fast with MBaaS solutions, but it also reduces time to market. Surely, startups don’t need to take care of server-side operations so they can quickly convert their idea into the actual product. It also leads to a quick product launch.

Similarly, Mobile Backend as a Service (MBaaS) platforms also simplify distinct development tasks and tests. Therefore, it saves a lot of time of businesses and coders that they invest in building mobile applications.

Less Time Managing Servers

Server management is definitely a hectic job for all sizes of businesses. Basically, server management consists of different jobs, including hardware administration, security updates, scaling, software supervision and backups. However, when companies go with MBaaS vendors, they don’t need to worry about managing servers.

With mobile backend services, businesses just need to emphasize the client-side operations of their mobile application. Yes, MBaaS platforms take full responsibility for server-side functionalities.

Economical

Compared to custom mobile app development, MBaaS providers are very economical. Most of these best MBaaS vendors offer a pay-as-you-go pricing policy due to which users only pay for used resources. Indeed, with mobile BaaS solutions, you don’t need to bear the cost of hosting and server-side maintenance.

Highly Scalable

Mobile Backend as a Service (MBaaS) providers are very scalable compared to custom solutions. They are equally useful for a startup, a large enterprise or SMBs. You can commence your mobile app development journey with their free tier plans and can switch to any premium program whenever you want.

By the same token, users can also reduce or extend required resources anytime while using these MBaaS providers.

Please read the article Advantages of MBaaS to know more about this subject.

Top 10 MBaaS Providers

MBaaS Providers

Here are ten of the best MBaaS providers.

1. Back4App

Back4App is one of the credible low-code MBaaS providers that has been serving the mobile app development industry since 2015. This open-source-based backend development platform helps the coders to build server-side of both web and mobile applications. The learning curve is low and it is a straightforward platform to use.

To make the mobile app development journey smooth and quick, it confers REST and GraphQL APIs. Correspondingly, businesses also benefit from comprehensive SDKs support for various frameworks, cloud services, business logic, and languages with Back4App.

If we talk about the customer satisfaction ratio of this MBaaS provider, then we will find several clients. Likewise, Blackburn Labs found a 4 times reduction in their time to market when they utilized Back4App. Correspondingly, 1001 App uncovered this backend solution 80% cost-efficient compared to custom app development.

Features
User-Friendly Interface — The interface of this MBaaS provider is very simple to deal with. Indeed, it is convenient to manage and add rows or columns. Its dashboard also looks like a spreadsheet that enables the users to conduct editing activities smoothly. Similarly, users can quickly refresh the browsers and import CSV through its Database Browser.

Notifications — Whether you want email or push notifications to engage more users for your mobile application, it is easy with Back4App. In this regard, it permits the app developers to create iOS, Android, social media and email notifications.

Live Query — Parse Server enables the Back4App customers to benefit from real-time queries. You just need to click on Server URL and Live Query to get this feature.

Relational Database — With predefined connections between data, it follows relational data structures. You can also visit its ‘Relational Schema on Back4App’ to explore more about it.

SDKs — It depends on cross-platform Parse SDKs that back numerous frameworks and languages, including JS, Flutter, Unity, .Net, Node.js, and React Native.

Pricing
The pricing structure of Back4App is usually divided into 3 major sections:

Free — Novices and startups typically elect the Free plan of Back4App, where they can get 25k requests and 1 GB storage for free. They also don’t need to insert credit cards for this program.

Shared — The monthly cost of this Shared plan begins at $25. Daily backups and auto-scaling are typical properties of the Shared program. Withal, to launch your MVP, you just have to pay $15/month under the Basic plan of Shared Hosting.

Dedicated — Businesses should prefer a Dedicated plan to obtain advanced security and dedicated VMs. The monthly charges of this plan commence from $250.

However, if your mobile app backend development demands don’t meet with these plans, then proceed with an Enterprise plan for a custom solution. You will have to contact the sales team to access the Enterprise program and share your requirements in this regard.

2. Parse

Parse is also a trusted MBaaS provider that Facebook accrued in 2013. This open-source Mobile Backend as a Service platform is not only good for conducting server-side operations of mobile apps, but it is also a perfect choice for full-stack development.

Undoubtedly, developers can rapidly build applications with file storage, user authentication and notification backing of Parse. The leading companies that use Parse as a backend solution are Avvo, 500px, Pegg and Weebly.

Features
Libraries & SDKs — This MBaaS solution owns an extensive library of open-source SDKs. You can view them with complete guidance on GitHub. These SDKs include popular frameworks and languages like Unity, Flutter, Android, JavaScript, Swift and much more.

Parse Servers — It confers REST servers to mobile app builders. Similarly, it is also easy to access Parse server adapters and modules.

Community Support — Parse platform has a user-friendly and big community. You can conveniently find different resources on GitHub. Or you can even visit the official website of the Parse platform and can proceed with the ‘Community Forum’ of Parse. By the same token, with tags like ‘parse-platform’, you can also explore helpful discussions and solutions related to this MBaaS vendor.

Easy Integration — Coders can also smoothly connect Parse with other useful applications such as Auth0, Stripe, Twilio, Google Cloud and PaySimple.

Pricing
This MBaaS platform is free to use for all sizes of businesses. But small costs could be involved when you utilize and integrate it with other backend development tools.

3. Firebase

The robust backing of Google and its cloud products makes Firebase one of the ideal mobile BaaS providers. Firebase doesn’t only help the programmers to create server-side of their mobile applications, but it also ensures to make apps successful. In this regard, it offers three types of products: build, release & monitor and engage.

As an open-source and cross-platform solution, Firebase is the primary choice of startups, novices and SMBs. With this mobile backend solution, you can start your mobile app development journey within a few clicks.

The preeminent technology giants that utilize Firebase are Alibaba, NPR, Playbuzz and Halfbrick Studios.

Features
Databases — Firebase grants two databases to its users. The first one is Realtime Database that syncs and gathers data within no time. The second database is Cloud Firestore which depends on NoSQL documentation. This database effectively works for iOS, web and Android projects.

Firebase Cloud Messaging — Target messages are very significant for advanced mobile applications. Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) enables businesses to send notifications and messages for free. It doesn’t only provide support for web apps but also works for iOS, Android, C++ and Unity applications.

Cloud Storage — With the help of the cloud storage property of Firebase, businesses can rapidly supply and gather user-generated data. This data could be videos and photos etc.

Firebase Authentication — This feature of Firebase permits the users to sign-in with numerous social media and other accounts. Yes, it enables the users to sign-in to an app with GitHub, Facebook, Twitter and Google.

Pricing
The pricing structure of Firebase could be split into the following two tiers:

Spark Plan — This is basically a no-cost plan of Firebase where users can utilize a variety of products without paying anything. With 1 GB database storage, 5 GB cloud storage and 10 tests per day, it allows developers to use this plan for free.

Blaze Plan — Blaze program of Firebase typically follows a pay-as-you-go pricing policy. Yes, you just need to pay for used resources for this plan. Luckily, you can estimate the charges for your project by using Blaze Calculator.

4. Backendless

Backendless is one of the best MBaaS providers that comes with an easy to manage visual app builder. Mark Piller made this no-code platform public in 2012. Like other MBaaS solutions, it can also be used as a full-stack development vendor.

Backendless is not only a top MBaaS choice for startups and small businesses, but it also works when you are dealing with millions of worldwide app users. BetterCast, BTC Market Ticker and YTCount are notable customers of Backendless.

Features
Database — This mobile BaaS provider relies on both SQL and NoSQL databases and smoothly administers the data flow across distinct platforms. In this regard, it is also assisted by a graphical browser. The provision of data spontaneously is another benefit of Backendless. You can operate it in actual time in Cloud Code and Console.

Secure — To keep your venture secure, it provides excellent file security. The data access is also only granted according to the role of different users. Indeed, its role-based policies, tier models, API and messaging security features really boost the safety levels of an application.

Pricing
Users can distinguish the pricing structure of Backendless into the following two categories:

Individuals & Small Businesses — This platform confers the Backendless Cloud model to startups and SMEs. Its Springboard plan doesn’t take anything in the name of monthly charges. Withal, Cloud 9 and Cloud 99 bill $25/month and $99/month, respectively.

Medium to Large Enterprises — This model includes two plans: Backendless Pro and Managed Backendless. The pricing structure of these plans is not predefined. You will have to click on the ‘Request Pricing’ tab to inquire about these programs.

5. AWS Amplify

AWS Amplify is a top MBaaS provider that is known for promptly building mobile applications. With the dynamic backing of Amazon Web Services (AWS), you can’t only create server sides of mobile applications but also build full-stack and highly scalable projects.

The top brands that have benefitted from AWS Amplify are Knowt, Amazon Music, Credit Genie and Orangetheory Fitness.

Features
DataStore — With the powerful support of GraphQL, this mobile BaaS platform enables the applications to store and sync the data quickly. It works for React Native, iOS and Android frameworks when it comes to building mobile applications.

Authentication — App users can sign-in with different accounts, including Facebook, Amazon, Google and much more.

Analytics — The analytical data of these mobile apps could be tracked with the help of AWS products like Amazon Kinesis and Amazon Pinpoint.

Amplify Studio — Businesses can take advantage of the visual interface of Amplify Studio for authorization and data modeling. They can also conveniently connect app templates with Amplify CLI.

Pricing
Here are two basic pricing tiers of AWS Amplify:

Free Tier — If your project only needs 1K monthly building minutes, then you should proceed with Free Tier. It also serves the users with 5 GB of hosting data storage.

Pay-As-You-Go — This plan costs $0.01 per build minute from users. Fortunately, businesses only need to pay for used resources with this program.

6. Kinvey

If you are in search of a highly productive and purpose-built MBaaS provider to create the backend of your mobile app, then you shouldn’t ignore Kinvey. It is a straightforward and cloud-based Mobile Backend as a Service (MBaaS) solution that backs a variety of industries, including insurance, manufacturing and healthcare.

EleMech, Inc and The Techstars Stack are notable companies that showed their affiliation with Kinvey on StackShare.

Features
Fast App Development — This vendor empowers the developers with attractive UX/UI design elements to build applications within less time.

Secure — Kinvey offers enterprise-level security and cloud architecture to businesses to build more reliable mobile applications.

Front-End Agnostic — Companies can also smoothly integrate the server-side of mobile apps with client-side operations. But the help of REST API and SDKs are required to conduct this task.

Pricing
The yearly charges of Progress Kinvey begin from $2500 under its Starter plan.

7. 8Base

The coders who want to build a mobile application with basic JavaScript skills and frontend scripting must consider using 8Base. This MBaaS vendor grants one of the most reliable and robust serverless backend solutions.

You just need to become the beta user of 8Base to start using this fantastic mobile BaaS platform. TradeBlock, Photag and Livo are renowned customers of 8Base.

Features
Serverless Functions — Users can smoothly proceed in the serverless environment of this MBaaS vendor. In this regard, it provides powerful support in the form of GraphQL API, database triggers and Webhooks. Luckily, users can also extend and reduce the serverless functions according to their needs.

User Management — 8Base Auth facilitates the customers with a variety of authentication methods. Yes, you can’t only register here with email and password, but you can also use your already made accounts. The use of OpenID is also valuable in this regard.

Support for Frontend Technologies — Developers can easily connect with frontend technologies, including 8Base App Builder, React, Vue, Ionic, Angular, Gatsby and Android.

Pricing
Here are the basic four pricing models of 8Base:

Free — You can use 8Base workspace without paying anything under this plan. This freemium plan covers 1K database rows, 500 MB base storage and 5 client app users.

Developer — With unlimited users and 50 GB of data storage, the monthly cost of this plan is $25.

Professional — Businesses just need to pay $150/month to acquire this plan. It offers 250 GB base storage and 5,000,000 database rows.

Custom — It is the best plan if you want to explore unlimited resources for your enterprise. But you will have to consult the sales team to know the quotes.

8. Kumulos

Kumulos is an easy to adopt MBaaS platform that could be used in 19 different countries of the world. It is very straightforward to build messaging and mobile applications with Kumulos in the presence of multi-tenancy MBaaS properties.

Betty Blocks, Twilio, Estimote and SendGrid are technology partners of Kumulos.

Features
Quick Integrations — This platform backs almost all kinds of devices and frameworks. You can also quickly connect Kumulos with React Native, Unity, Xamarin, Ionic, Swift, Android and Cordova.

Custom Server-Side Code — Kscripts empowers businesses to create custom codes and APIs for mobile app development swiftly.

Open-Source SDKs — As a beginner, you can easily find SDK resources of Kumulos on platforms like GitHub.

Pricing
Kumulos offers a yearly pricing structure to its users. However, you will have to fill out the form that is available on its Pricing Page to get a quote for your mobile app project.

9. NHost

NHost is another one of the best MBaaS providers that offers a serverless infrastructure to developers and businesses. With 1.7k stars on GitHub, NHost is a fast-growing backend solution. It is becoming famous among users because of its handy setup and serverless functions.

ServerHub, Antler and HyperLab are prominent customers of this MBaaS vendor.

Features
Image Transformations — If your mobile app deals with images and pictures, then their transformation and resizing are very handy with NHost. Moreover, you can also quickly optimize the image sizes to get better results.

No Vendor Lock-In — It is known as a Firebase alternative, but it has a competitive edge over this rival because it doesn’t impose vendor lock-in.

Data Safety — It entertains its users with strict security policies to proactively safeguard their data. In this regard, it also specifies the user permissions and defines roles.

Pricing
Here are the main pricing programs of NHost:

Starter — This fermium plan covers 1 GB real-time database, 5 GB file storage and 10 GB network traffic.

Pro — This paid plan of NHost provides 25 GB file storage, 50 GB network traffic and 10 GB for a real-time database and starts at $19/month.

Enterprise — With more than 500 GB file storage and 1K GB network traffic, it is the most premium pricing model of NHost. By the way, you can contact the sales department to know the pricing of this program.

10. Apache Usergrid

Apache Usergrid is also a valuable MBaaS provider with 1k stars and 435 forks on GitHub. This mobile backend solution empowers the developers and businesses to emphasize building applications, not the servers. Yes, this vendor takes complete responsibility for backend functionalities.

It aids the businesses in saving time that they consume in writing complex backend codes and taking care of server-side infrastructures.

Features
SDK Support — It provides complete SDKs for Android, .NET, Java, Ruby, iOS and Node.js projects.

Tested & Trusted — With hundreds of global users, Apache Usergrid is a high authoritative platform. Apigee, Korea Telecom and Globo are prominent companies that are using this MBaaS platform.

Pricing
Apache Usergrid doesn’t share anything about its pricing policy on its official site. Probably, you can contact their sales team to know more about its pricing structure.

Conclusion

Mobile Backend as a Service (MBaaS) solutions are becoming very popular among users because of their server-side infrastructure and easy setups. However, electing a single MBaaS provider from distinct big names is challenging. So, this article shares the delicate details about the best mobile BaaS providers with their features and pricing models.

Backend Options for your Flutter App

Back4App - Low code backend to build modern Apps. — Tue, 15 Feb 2022 17:49:13 +0000

Check out the backend options for your Flutter app

Slack Clone using ReactJS and Back4App – NoCode

Back4App - Low code backend to build modern Apps. — Tue, 08 Feb 2022 18:01:53 +0000

Slack Overview

Slack is an effective and efficient business communication application that can be used as an all-in-one platform for your business communication needs. Most importantly, it offers amazing functionalities such as:

Real-time messaging
File archiving
Search
File sharing, and more.

This platform has specifically designed for modern teams. So, the team can manage their entire online communication in a single space. Even more, the conversations here are instantly searchable and accessible with whatever device you are using immediately.

Fortunately, Slack is working with above 1,500 external services and applications to give you a fully flexible and extendable platform in the best possible way.

Slack Community

According to Statista Slack has been serving more than 12 million active users daily as of October 2019. Slack is an American collaboration hub that has been expanding its user base significantly since its inception in 2013.

Surprisingly, the majority of the Slack users come from outside the United States of America, including some of the top markets such as Japan, France, Germany, Great Britain, and Australia.

More than this, Slack has also been experiencing a huge shift in paying users since 2019. It is mainly because of Slack’s convenience to its users in terms of team communications. Also, the attitude that Slack has towards an improved team culture.

Overall, Slack’s amazing features and benefits have been helping it improve its overall slack-paying user base in the best possible way.

Slack Features

Slack has been offering various IRC-style features that include persistent chat rooms organized by topics, direct messaging, and private groups for important discussions. Most importantly, all the content available on Slack, be it conversations or files, everything here is searchable.

Even more, users are also allowed to include emoji buttons in their chats. Other users can click on these emojis to give their reactions.

Not only this, but even the free version of Slack also offers all of the essential features. It can even let you search chats and files from their recent 10,000 messages. Even more, Slack has also redesigned its platform to enhance user experience in the best possible way.

With that, you are now allowed to enjoy some of the most amazing features of Slack as well. Let’s get to know about these exciting yet key features of Slack below to get a better idea about this regard.

So, here we go:

Teams

Slack teams can let you use this platform to join a workspace through a certain invitation sent by the owner or a team admin. Even though the platform has developed as a business communication tool, it has been adopted over time as a community platform.

Integrations

Slack is also integrating with tons of third-party apps and services such as Tello, Google Drive, Dropbox, GitHub, Crashlytics, and a lot more. Slack is allowing its users to install all these applications from the Slack software directory with ease.

Messaging

Public channels can let teams interact without any group SMS or email usage. It is because public channels are open to being used by everyone in the workplace.

However, for private conversations, users can create private channels. These can also be used to manage larger teams easily.

You can also send a direct message to a specific user instead of a group whenever needed.

API

Slack also provides an API for users to create apps and automate their processes, including sending messages automatically based on human input, sending notification alerts for certain conditions, or creating internal support tickets automatically.

Deploy your Slack Clone

Clone the Back4App Template
Go to Database HUB and clone the Slack template backend.

Get your Keys

In your Back4App dashboard, navigate to “App Settings -> Security & Keys” and copy the Application ID and JavaScript Key values.

Activate Real-Time

Navigate to “App Settings -> Server Settings -> Server URL and Live Query”. Activate your free Back4App subdomain and then activate Live Query, remembering to activate it on the Channel and Message classes. Copy the complete Back4App subdomain URL.

Deploy on Vercel

Click on deployment:

On Vercel you should inform the 3 variables copied on the previous steps: Application ID, Javascript Key, and Live Query URL (subdomain URL).

Click on deploy. Now you have a Slack clone app running on Vercel!

The Code

If you want to better understand the template please access the links below:

Technical guide – How it works the Slack Clone template

ReactJS Code – Javascript

Typescript Code – Typescript

Conclusion

This article provided an overview of Slack, core features, and paying users. Also, it explained how to deploy a Slack Clone app using low-code tools like Back4app and Vercel.

FAQ

What is Slack?
It’s a business communication platform.

What are Slack core features?
– Messaging
– Teams
– API
– Integrations

How to create a Slack clone app?
– Download the clone the Slack template backend
– Add your Keys to it
– Active Real-Time features
– Deploy

Top 10 Startups and Companies using Xamarin

Back4App - Low code backend to build modern Apps. — Wed, 02 Feb 2022 17:04:27 +0000

What is Xamarin?

Owned by Microsoft, Xamarin is an open-source, cross-platform app development platform for building and maintaining iOS, Android, and Windows with .NET.

The tool essentially serves as an abstract layer, allowing developers to share up to 90% of the code across the major platforms, which significantly reduces the time required to launch new applications for multiple operating systems.

One of the most popular reasons for using Xamarin is the ability to create performance-heavy applications that deliver almost native-like performance. The tools are fairly easy to use and developers who have some experience with .NET have a relatively easier time building an application.

In Xamarin, there are two ways to share code and develop cross-platform applications. With Forms, developers can leverage the standard elements interface with preloaded templates to reuse their code. For more platform-specific projects, you can use Xamarin.Android or Xamarin.iOS and customize the code manually.

With the basics of Xamarin out of the way, let’s take a look at the top companies across various industries using Xamarin to develop their applications

Top 10 Startups and Companies Using Xamarin

According to StackShare, here are ten of the best startups using Xamarin.

Olo

Olo is one of the most popular software-as-a-service companies in the F&B space. Founded in 2005, Olo is involved in developing digital interfaces for restaurants, which can be used by customers to place their orders using a website, app, third-party marketplace, home assistant, social media, etc.

Some of the most popular restaurants that use Olo include Denny’s, The Cheesecake Factory, Wing Stop, El Poco Loco, etc.

Rumble

Rumble is an online video platform that provides specific tools and management solutions required to host and view videos. It has grown in popularity significantly over the last couple of years, with over 31.9 registered users by the end of Q1 2021.

Popular creators on Rumble include America’s Funniest Home Videos, Representative Davin Nunes, E. W. Scripps Company, Hodgetwins, Newsmax, One America News Network, and Reuters.

Zappiti

Established in 2010, Zappiti is an international leader in designing and manufacturing professional grade media players, servers, and video management systems.

Their products, i.e., 4K HDR media players and network-attached servers are distributed in over 50 countries around the world and available through authorized resellers and distribution partners. Zappiti products support popular digital media formats, including the latest Dolby Vision and HDR10+.

Crowdkeep

Founded in 2017, Crowdkeep is at the forefront of providing IoT solutions to the enterprise and improving efficiency by eliminating manual processes. The company is engaged in deploying enterprise-grade IoT gateways and sensors powered by the latest Bluetooth standards, Ubuntu Core, and mesh technology to collect actionable data.

This data can then be used by corporates to make informed decisions quickly and improve the speed and accuracy of key operations.

Rovertown

Rovertown is involved in building and managing branded apps for convenience stores, allowing them to connect to their audience. The app-building software of Rovertown can easily integrate with any technology vendor, allowing convenience stores to get their online storefronts up and running quickly.

UPS

Founded in 1907, United Parcel Service (UPS) is one of the oldest and most widely known logistics, shipping, and supply chain management companies in the world. It is now the largest courier company in the world in terms of revenue and operates in over 220 countries around the world.

UPS primarily offers air and ground shipping services but is also popular for its retail chain UPS Store, which provides proprietary tools for small businesses and aids their shipping needs.

Alaska Airlines

Alaska Airlines is the fifth largest airline in the US based on passenger traffic. Following its merger with Virgin America, it serves several transcontinental East and West Coast routes along with international services to Mexico, Canada, and Costa Rica.

The airline also offers a Visa credit card, which provides the passengers with unlimited travel miles upon flying with Alaska Airlines and its airline partners.

BBVA

Founded in 1857, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) is a multinational financial solutions company of Spanish origin, and one of the most prominent financial institutions globally.

Based in several major Spanish cities, BBVA offers financial services like retail banking, asset management, private banking, and wholesale in over 30 countries, serving over 75 million customers around the world.

Outback Steakhouse

Based in Tampa, Florida, Outback Steakhouse is a popular Australian-themed casual-dining restaurant chain with over 1000 locations in more than 23 countries in North and South America, Europe, and Asia.

It is most popularly known for its signature menu item “blooming onion”, which has inspired several other restaurant chains to offer similar items. Customers can order their favorite delicacies through the mobile app, which is available in all participating locations.

FreshDirect

FreshDirect is an American grocery delivery service offering its services through its website and mobile app. It offers custom-packaged groceries and meals using the “lean manufacturing” production method to reduce waste and retain freshness.

It is one of the first companies to adopt and push food sustainability and engages in socially conscious practices like emphasizing organic food and buying directly from farms.

Conclusion

Since it is owned and maintained by Microsoft, Xamarin provides one of the most complete development ecosystems that comprise of C#, .NET, and Microsoft Visual Studio IDE. As a result, the workflow in Xamarin is fairly organized and developers can complete their projects more easily and quickly.

If you need more information on how Xamarin can be utilized for your next project, get in touch with one of the leading app hosting companies and talk to the experts for deeper insights.

To know more about startup programming languages, please read the article Startups Using Objective C.