Is it possible to have a single platform/back end for an android,iphone and webapp

Question

I am building an app which is nothing but an voting system. thousands of users will be voting. The only way they can vote is through either android or iphone app. The web application can only show the results of the vote and through the webapp the votes could only be readable. I would like to know if I can build a common back end(as say if some one adds an vote through android app, it shud be seamlessly updated in iphone and web app) and diff UI for android, iphone and web app

I am mostly planning to use Java as back end. Could some one suggest any other easy back ends.

Answer 1

Look into PhoneGap , it's great for making mobile apps across several OS's that only need simple javascript/html work. From the looks of it, you already have a web application and could just wrap that using PhoneGap as a good starting point.

Answer 2

Yes, this is very possible. Look into what a REST api is. There are different solutions available for you depending on what your backend is built in. You can use JSON to send/reply data to your backend in a uniform format that both your iOS and Android app can receive.

Answer 3

There are many Backend as a Service (BaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS) providers out there that allow you to do this very easily and cheaply. And a ton of documentation on your options:

Looking for PaaS providers recommendations

http://www.quora.com/What-is-the-best-backend-as-a-service-provider

http://www.infoq.com/articles/paas_comparison

Parse, Heroku and Stackmob are good starting points to check out.

Answer 4

To answer your question "Is it possible to have a single platform/back end for an android,iphone and webapp": Yes it is possible.

You need a backend, which works on a server. On this backend then access all applications.

You have already mentioned that many users will use your apps. This means that you need a strong server and scaling or you use a backend as a service provider.

If you work with sensitive data, I would suggest you apiOmat . This provider is located in Germany and therefore strong security policies.