Sending messages to iPhone : PushSharp or SignalR

Question

A web application acts as a backend to process request coming from the iPhone. To send messages to iPhone from web application while processing a request(e.g., for payment), I want to send messages to iPhone when something interesting happens on the server or else if everything is successful, sending them transaction details. Which one is better to use PushSharp or SignalR? Does they both serve the same purpose? Either way, enlighten me on this topic. Its confusing to me.

Answer 1

SignalR is a great way to send real time information to a web client, essentially having server-side code push information to the client and call client-side code (i.e. javascript) in realtime.

PushSharp is a great way to send push notifications to native mobile apps. For iOS, this means using Apple's infrastructure. It also means that the message will be shown as a notification in the iPhone and not just inside the browser.

Essentially, if the iPhone request you mention is coming from a native app, try PushSharp. If it's a web app running in a browser, use SignalR.

Answer 2

PushSharp appears to leverage the native messaging for each platform. Azure Notification Hubs provide native messaging similar to what PushSharp appears to do. The native messaging platforms scale out very well, but do not give you direct access between client/server code, and messages can be delayed in some cases up to minutes. Messaging like this works really well when you want to send messages to millions of devices. Example: all users who want an alert when their favorite sports team wins a game - not time sensitive to the minute.

If you want your push message to be strictly between your server-side code and your client-side code, SignalR can achieve that. SignalR also has a .Net implementation, so it isn't just for javascript/web pages. SignalR is will leverage approaches like web sockets / long polling / etc. If you are sending a response to tell your client that a query has finished, or that a message was received, and it doesn't help to have that message arrive minutes later... SignalR may be a better approach.