Using Parse push as stand alone service - parse-platform

Question

I am building and iOS and Android app (two apps).
I am looking for a replacement for Urban Airship which I do not longer trust. Mainly
because I see no prices anywhere.
I want to use Parse Push as a stand alone product. Is this possible?
I do not want to use any of the other Parse functionality.

Answer 1

As explained in the Parse Push notification ( iOS like Android ) setup at https://parse.com/docs/push_guide#setup/iOS
Yes, you could. Of course you will need to include the parse sdk, since you'll need to register the devices through the Parse system. So:
Once you register the device for receiving push notification ( iOS example )
- (void)application:(UIApplication *)application
didRegisterForRemoteNotificationsWithDeviceToken:(NSData *)deviceToken
{
// Store the deviceToken in the current Installation and save it to Parse.
PFInstallation *deviceInstallation = [PFInstallation currentInstallation];
[deviceInstallation setDeviceTokenFromData:deviceToken];
// this will be used later for sending push notifcations to this device
[deviceInstallation setChannels:#[deviceToken]];
[deviceInstallation saveInBackground];
}
Sending Push notification through iOS
PFPush *pushObj = [[PFPush alloc] init];
NSString* destDeviceToken = #"<DESTIONATION DEVICE TOKEN>";
// Through channels, you can uniquely identify devices or group of them for multicast
// push notification (imagine that more than one installation on your
// Parse database keep the same channel name).
// In this case we have set the channel name for each installation with the
// only unique deviceToken
[pushObj setChannels:#[destDeviceToken]];
// Push structure message
[pushObj setData:#{#"My Message!!",#"alert"}];
// send push ( so, send to parse server that handle the push notification
// request and deliver it for you)
[pushObj sendPushInBackground];
Sending Push notification through Android
String destDeviceToken = "<DESTIONATION DEVICE TOKEN>";
JSONObject data = new JSONObject("{\"alert\": \"My Message!!\"}");
ParsePush *push = new ParsePush();
push.setChannel(destDeviceToken);
push.setData(data);
push.sendPushInBackground();
Sending Push notification through Javascript (Cloud Code)
(it requires implementation on the Cloud code of Parse)
var destDeviceToken = '<DESTIONATION DEVICE TOKEN>';
Parse.Push.send({
channels: [ destDeviceToken ],
data: {
alert: "My Message!!"
}
}, {
success: function() {
// Push was successful
},
error: function(error) {
// Handle error
}
});
Sending Push notification through REST call
(it allow you to perform a sending push notification without working on Parse anymore, so from any other platform that support a REST call)
curl -X POST \
-H "X-Parse-Application-Id: <YOUR PARSE APP ID>" \
-H "X-Parse-REST-API-Key: <YOUR REST API KEY>" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"channels": [
"<DESTIONATION DEVICE TOKEN>"
],
"data": {
"alert": "My Message!!",
}
}' \
https://api.parse.com/1/push
In this way you don't need any additional implementation, like registering users or something like that.
Hope it helps!