Zero to App in 20 Minutes: Build Your First Chat App with Microsoft Azure, Visual Studio App Center, and Rapid

Until recently, we had only one option for communicating with friends, family, and colleagues from our mobile phones: Short Messaging System (SMS). Now, though, we don’t have to limit our communication to 160 characters (the SMS max per message, in case you don’t remember), and the options for real-time communication are virtually limitless. In my work at STRV, creating web and mobile apps for Silicon Valley’s hottest companies and leading global brands, including Caviar, LegalZoom, Hallmark, and Lufthansa, and in developing our own real-time database (Rapid), we’ve seen the mobile explosion, beginning with the earliest smartphones in 2004.