Parse Shutdown FAQ
Summary
Migrating to your own self-hosted Parse Server is the best solution in many cases. The intuitive Adminca admin panel will soon be available for self-hosted Parse Servers and will be just as easy to set up! We will also add more functionality (e.g. trigger cloud code, adding attributes/classes) to make up for the loss of Parse. You can already create your admin panel today and just keep using it once you migrate. Email us at help@adminca.com if you are having any problems or if you are looking for additional functionality.
Migrating
What are the available migration options?
After the Parse shutdown we posted an in-depth blog article about the different migration options. There are 3 main solutions for you:
- Rewrite your app and connect it to another BaaS or your own server. It is a lot of work but the best option if you have already planned to refactor your app or if your app is still at an early stage.
- Keep your app and use a migration tool to connect to another BaaS. It is only a short term solution that works if you don’t want to add new functionality to your app.
- Keep your app and migrate to your own Parse Server. This option works best if you are looking for a long term solution that doesn’t require you to rewrite your whole app.
Which migration option does Adminca recommend?
In our opinion, migrating to a self hosted Parse Server is the best solution in most cases. At the moment, Parse Server is still in early development. But with the help of the great community (over 4500 Stars on GitHub), it will become more stable, and may support many of the features that we used to love about Parse.
Parse Server is open-source, and because you host it yourself, there is no lock-in or dependency on any third-party services. The shutdown of Parse will cause some short term headaches, but it might actually be a blessing in disguise. Running your app on an open-sourced Parse Server with the support of a strong community is a great solution. We hope to see you on the other side of the migration storm!
Will Adminca be available for other BaaS?
Even if you decide to migrate to another BaaS, we might still be able to help you. Our vision is to provide an enjoyable and easy to set-up tool for your mobile app data management, regardless of the backend.
Before the Parse shutdown we have been working on connecting to Kinvey and Ruby on Rails backends. At the moment, we are putting these projects on hold to make Adminca available for Parse Server as soon as possible. Once we support Parse Server, we will finish the connectors for Kinvey and Ruby on Rails. We will add other backends in the future.
Parse Server
When is a good time to migrate to Parse Server?
The official Parse migration guide recommends to migrate in two steps:
- By April 28, 2016: Data migrated to a self-hosted MongoDB.
- By July 28, 2016: Finish setting up your self-hosted Parse Server and release a new app pointing to it.
This is an excellent timeline! You don’t want to migrate too early, when the Parse Server is not 100% stable yet. But you also want don’t wait too long in case you hit any obstacles along the way.
What features will be missing from Parse Server?
- Analytics
- Config variables
- Data browser
- iOS in-app purchases verification
- Jobs
- Schema API
- Webhooks
- Welcome and verification emails
- Native Cloud Code modules (Parse image, Mailgun and the likes)
How can I replace the missing functionality?
Ken Yarmosh from Savvy Apps described possible replacement solutions in his insightful article. We believe that Parse Server, with the help of the community, will soon add most of the missing features. For other features, such as analytics and push notifications, there are already great existing services and most apps will utilize tools such as Google Analytics and Amazon Simple Notification Service (SNS).
A core feature of Parse was the dashboard. It helped developers to manage and manipulate their data. Unfortunately this feature is also completely missing from Parse Server. Due to its complexity, it also won’t be added to Parse Server any time soon. Adminca is here to help you and we will make our intuitive data interface available to Parse Server as soon as possible. As Ken said in his article “Adminca will likely be the early leader for offering a dashboard for Parse Server, but they also appear to have some other features in mind.”
Adminca & Parse Server
How will Adminca work with the new Parse Server?
Adminca will work with self-hosted Parse Servers just like it did with the old Parse. It can still be set up in seconds and the admin panel will just work out of the box.
We will also add more admin functionality to Adminca to make up for the loss of Parse.
We just released a new feature that allows you to create new classes or add new fields from Adminca. We will add more functionality, for example a feature to trigger cloud code from Adminca, so you can manage your data just like you were used to.
Should I create an admin panel on Adminca today?
Most definitely! You can customize and test your panel on Adminca right now! This way you can see if Adminca fits your requirements and your team’s needs. Please let us know if you are having any problems or if you are looking for additional functionality. We always appreciate your feedback at help@adminca.com.
Once you migrate to your own server you can keep using the panels that you already created on Adminca. No additional work required.
When will Adminca be available for Parse Server?
We are working hard on this and Adminca will soon support your self-hosted apps. At this point only the Schema API of the Parse Server itself is missing. We plan on releasing Adminca for Parse Serve before the end of February.
We will keep you updated and notify you once Adminca is available for Parse Server.
How can I help?
Create an admin panel on Adminca and tell us what you think about it! Feel free to suggest any features that would help you migrate smoothly. Share your feedback on Twitter and Facebook, or just send us an email at help@adminca.com. Thanks!
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