Introduction to the Cloud
Nathan Ooley, Nick Tichawa, Brian Miller · Apress eBooks · 2014
In this chapter, I talk about dynamic data services, specifically iCloud’s ability to automatically sync documents across devices, giving users a simple, streamlined, and seamless experience. Because iCloud is simply a server performing a web service, it is certainly possible to have devices continually sync with the cloud using a web service and a SQL database. However, this is much more complicated than in iCloud, as iCloud has all these features built directly in to it, right out of the box. When developing apps natively for iOS, it requires much undue time and effort to work outside the system that has been set up for you. That being said, if an app is not being developed natively, and is instead a hybrid app that contains native and web content, iCloud may no longer be an option. A database such as Azure SQL Database or MySQL may be necessary. Assuming you will be coding natively, this chapter focuses on iCloud and has you syncing documents promptly. These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.