Xtify 2.0 represents the latest in a series of important feature and service enhancements. A special thank you to our Client Advisory Board for their feature recommendations and for their participation in our Beta Program. Now, on to the good stuff….
Our 2.x series of SDKs & APIs vastly improves security, performance, and features. Here are a handful of the most important features included in this release (jump down for links to the technical details and upgrade guide):
PhoneGap Plugin
Xtify PhoneGap Phase 2 allows developers to take advantage of the Adobe PhoneGap HTML5/JavaScript development platform combined with Xtify's push notification / mobile CRM services.
Supported features include:
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Pushing simple notifications to all users via our 2.0 APIs and Console with optional advanced rules such as geo-fencing, tags and schedules
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Pushing custom data for deep linking into your PhoneGap app or for performing custom actions
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Retrieve user data from your PhoneGap app such as custom data sent with a push, Xtify user ID (XID) and last known location
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Both the iOS and Android PhoneGap SDK plugins include sample code to help realize your product vision
Tagging
We have now exposed support for developer-generated tagging for audience segmentation within your Xtify TARGET and API-based campaigns. This is a powerful feature that allows you to include/exclude groups of users when scheduling or sending push notifications. With our tag API, you can programmatically group your users (i.e. XIDs) by a tag and can then target these groups via Xtify TARGET and via our Push API 2.0
We've included code for a sample preference center that you can include in your Android and iOS apps. This will let your end-users tag themselves (for example: "I'm interested in receiving pushes about Computers, Shoes and Games"). The user-tag association is available for immediate segmentation in our Xtify TARGET console as well as the new Push API.
Numerous console features & improvements:
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Fresh new skin! Easier on the eyes ….
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Tag rule in Target: Drop a Tag (inclusion/exclusion) rule in your Xtify TARGET campaign to segment your push audience. The interface displays how large your current audience population is for the tag combination selected in the UI.
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Inbox-only push (no alert!): There might be times when you want to drop a rich notification into your Xtify Rich Notification Inbox without an intrusive push (such as a purchase receipt). You can do that within the Xtify TARGET console. Just tick the Inbox-only box.
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Message Expiration: You can set an expiry date/time in your Xtify TARGET notifications... especially useful for content with a shelf-life (like coupons, special deals). Our SDK includes instruction on how to set custom content if your user happens to click on an expired message.
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Templates: You can create templates and associate them with your Xtify TARGET campaigns. This is a great feature to quickly re-use content, settings and formatting from previous campaigns. You can swap in text, images, or whatever else you want.
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WYSIWYG editor for rich push notifications: You can create content in HTML yourself or use the editor. One other important use of this feature is the ability to access images and content hosted in the cloud or on your server.
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Rich message preview for Android C2DM & iOS messages created in Xtify TARGET
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Default time zone for your apps: Some devices may not set a time-zone offset properly upon Xtify registration. This feature will let you control in what time-zone these devices should receive your push notifications.
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International character support: Send push notifications in the languages of your choosing (English, French, Spanish, Arabic, etc).
Simple pricing structure launched:
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Free - send up to 1,000,000 notifications/month
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Just Push ($199/month) - send unlimited messages to up to 30,000 devices
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Engage & Retain - starting at $1,000/month
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CRM & Target - starting at $2,500/month
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Review our new pricing structure
Introducing the XID (our new unique user key)
The XID replaces device tokens on 2.0. Upon registration, your mobile user is designated with a unique XID generated by Xtify which will be used henceforth for statistics and sending messages. The XID represents significant performance and scalability improvements within our back end systems. The XID also allows for a more stable means for developers to integrate their existing marketing segmentation data systems with Xtify. For example, if you want to send a message to a particular user, you would persist the XID in your user database upon Xtify registration, and then send the XID instead of the device token for pushing out to individual users. Our internal system will receive the XID, match this with the user's device token in our internal system and send the message on your behalf. In the event that Apple and Google C2DM make changes to their push registration system, you won't have to change a thing as XID management remains constant. Xtify will take care of getting the message to your end user.
For developers
Here are links to important information regarding our 2.x series platform, including sample code and guides:
What's next on our roadmap? An enhanced push console, enhanced analytics, 2.0 support for Notification Configuration API, Windows Phone SDK... and a host of enhancements yet to be announced.
Thanks for using our service! Please keep sending us your feedback.
Michael Bordash, CTO
michael@xtify.com
