ubuntu-phone team mailing list archive

[Ted Gould <ted@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Wed, 2014-08-27 at 19:38 +0200, Daniel Holm wrote:

> > No, there would need to be an OwnCloud module that would send Push 
> > Messages to a subscribed device so that its push helper could setup 
> > downloads (with appropriate config to whether it should download on 
> > cell service or wait for WiFi, etc.)
> 
> So you have to call the phone for it to start downloading a file? Would
> that conclude that we need to write an app for the actual ownCloud
> server service to create such push messages?


Basically, yes. You'd be sending a message that would be sent to the
phone, it is a little more optimized than just calling it as the
messages get batched and set at times when the phone is awake. The best
way to do it is a module for the ownCloud server, though an intermediary
server could be used.

What it needs to do is be able to take the token from a phone
registering and store that for updates. When the app gets installed on
the phone it can get that token, send it to the ownCloud module, and
then the ownCloud server can use that to talk to the phone. When the
message gets to the phone the ownCloud app can have a smaller helper
that can determine if the message is important and what to do with it,
perhaps downloading a file or starting an address book sync or what ever
is needed.

Using push messages is a powerful way to get rid of the need for many
background task operations and since we've left it open for smaller
helpers to run, you can do lots of cool things with them. Just remember
to add a timestamp on the messages (for files, the timestamp of the file
would be good) because the messages are not delivered right away (on
purpose!)

Ted