Modern mobile applications are defined by their network connectivity. A mobile app that does not interact with a web server is both a rare find and potentially a boring application. In this book, we'll use the Windows Azure cloud platform to implement a server-side backend for our XamSnap application. We'll use a feature called Azure Functions, which is an excellent fit as a simple backend for our application and can send push notifications via Azure Notification Hubs. Once we are done with this chapter, our XamSnap sample application will be much closer to being a real application and will allow its users to interact with one another.
In this chapter, we will cover the following topics:
The services offered by Windows Azure
Setting up your Azure account
Azure Functions as a backend for XamSnap
Implementing a real web service for XamSnap
Writing client-side code for calling Azure Functions
Using the Apple Push Notification service
Sending notifications...