Proper usage of push notifications for multi server/clients ?

Question

cpstevenc OP

Created Oct ’16

Replies 2

Boosts 0

Participants 2

Greetings,

Working on my first mobile application. I am using Embarcadero's Delphi to do so... (yah yah yah I know...)

Anyways... I am pretty far into this now and it is working pretty well. We just had a trade show our company attended and and
the demo of it was well recieved.

Only problem I haven't wrapped my head around is push notifications usage.

We have over 1000+ locations using our current inventory software and server hardware. Their own servers/data/internet/ect ect run
at their own place. Every location is 100% on their own... each is their own entity.

This app will link to their own servers with their own devices. Just our software on both ends.

So it comes down to...

How do I link the two sides? I want their server to fire off a message "You have stuff to inventory go look at your list now" to a certain
person (or persons one by one) and their phone shows them that... and they fire up the app and go to work.

I did a test with my app to do work in the background if it was started by the user. Then not closed, but now in the background.
Hits up the server, gets a flag for new data... and sends a notification to the user that there is work to do. Works well enough.
But the user has to open the app / login / and never close it. As said, it works, and maybe this is way to go? But people are gonna
want it to auto-start-up (our client base tends to be Windows users only so they will ask "why can't it just auto startup like my windows programs do")

I can't find any hold-my-hand info on if this even doable? WE (the company I work for) don't want to be a middle man of any

traffic from customer servers to their own devices. WE as a company wouldn't be sending them any notifcations at all. Only their servers to their devices.
And I need to know if possible.. and if so, what is the steps of doing so? I see there are 3rd party services, but even then it seems its for
when my company wants to fire off messages to users of our software. Which we do not want to do.

Boost

Answer 1

Beast OP

Oct ’16

What you are asking for is not possible with a single App Store app. If all your clients share the same app, then you would need to implement a centralized push service for them (e.g., their servers would send notifications to your system, your system would then use the app's APNS credentials to send the notifications to Apple).

You could distribute your app as an enterprise solution, but that would require each of your clients to register with Apple and manage their own APNS certificates and code signing.

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Answer 2

cpstevenc OP

Nov ’16

Thanks for the response.

This is what I had gathered but really couldn't find a straight answer from anyone.

This would be a single app. We have over a 1000+ individual customer locations. So would be a pain to have individual builds for each place.

Enterprise wouldn't work either. Asking to much of em.

Centralized would be closest option then. Would you happen to have anymore info about doing such?

I take it customer links their device to our app using the APNS credentials...

But after that, I am fuzzy on how does customers server and then our server, know who send the data to?

Know what ID's and such link up and go to.

We could have 1000+ customer servers, talking to our central server... each customer server location may have

10+ devices with our app.

So 10k devices to bounce things around.

So I haven't wrapped my head around how this all gets linked up.

'

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