Add Back4App to your App project
Introduction
Now that you have created an App at Back4App the next step to fully use Back4App resources is to install Parse SDK and connect your App project to Back4App platform.
Parse SDK is available to many technologies, you just need to choose which most fits your project. After installing the SDK you will have to look for your App keys on Back4App platform and insert those keys in your project. So, once you compile/run your project, you will be already connected to Back4App.
By connecting to Back4App and using the Parse SDK, your development effort will be much lower. You will be able to easily perform complex queries, call your cloud functions, send push from the client side, access integrations made through Back4app, etc.
Goal
- To connect your software project to Back4App platform.
Prerequisites
To complete this tutorial, you will need:
- An app created at Back4App.
- Follow the Create a new App tutorial to learn how to create an app at Back4App.
- An application software project environment ready to use.
- Find your application keys at Core Settings, go to Server Settings > Core Settings > Settings > App Id and other.
Step 1 - Install Parse SDK
Now, you can follow these instructions to install Parse SDK into your project. You just need to select the right guide to the technology of your project.
Parse SDK for JavaScript can be used in a large amount of platforms and frameworks. To deal with it, the Parse npm module contains many versions to use in different environments. Below, you can choose 4 possibilities to install the Parse JS SDK:
1. Install the NPM module
We strongly encourage you to use the latest Parse NPM module. To do so, run the following command.
$ npm install parse --save
2. Install the SDK
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var Parse = require('parse/node');
Parse.initialize("APP_ID","JS_KEY"); //PASTE HERE YOUR Back4App APPLICATION ID AND YOUR JavaScript KEY
Parse.serverURL = 'https://parseapi.back4app.com/'
1. Install the NPM module
We strongly encourage you to use the latest Parse NPM module. To do so, run the following command.
$ npm install parse --save
2. Install the SDK
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import { AsyncStorage } from 'react-native';
import Parse from 'parse/react-native.js';
//Before using the SDK...
Parse.setAsyncStorage(AsyncStorage);
1. Install the NPM module
We strongly encourage you to use the latest Parse NPM module. To do so, run the following command.
$ npm install parse --save
2. Install the SDK
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import * as Parse from 'parse';
@Component({ ... })
export class AppComponent {
...
constructor() {
// Initialize your Parse App Keys
Parse.initialize("APP_ID","JS_KEY"); //PASTE HERE YOUR Back4App APPLICATION ID AND YOUR JavaScript KEY
Parse.serverURL = 'https://parseapi.back4app.com/'
}
}
1. Load external file in HTML document
After creating your index.html
, install Parse SDK direct on it, inside the <head>
tag, using the code below.
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<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>My First Application</title>
<script type="text/javascript" src="https://npmcdn.com/parse/dist/parse.min.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" type="text/javascript">
Parse.initialize("APP_ID","JS_KEY"); //PASTE HERE YOUR Back4App APPLICATION ID AND YOUR JavaScript KEY
Parse.serverURL = 'https://parseapi.back4app.com/'
</script>
</head>
<body>
<!--
Your code
-->
</body>
</html>
Facing any trouble? Feel free to check the complete Install Parse SDK guide to JavaScript projects. Also, feel free to check the official Parse Documentation regarding Parse SDK for JavaScript.
Gradle set up
Go to your Android Studio Project and find the build.gradle (Module:app)
file. After that, copy and paste the code snippet right after the dependencies{}
tag.
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// ... code
dependencies {...}
repositories {
mavenCentral()
jcenter()
maven { url 'https://jitpack.io' }
}
It’s also necessary to look in the
android{}
tag if the compileSdkVersion of your app is 27 or higher and also if the targetSdkVersion of your app is 27 or higher. If they aren’t, you must change these versions to 27 or higher, otherwise your Parse SDK for Android may not work properly.
Install the Parse Android SDK
To install the latest Parse Android SDK in your application, continue in the build.gradle (Module:app)
file and copy and paste the code snippet inside the dependencies{}
tag.
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android {...}
dependencies {
// code...
// Don't forget to change the line below with the latest version of Parse SDK for Android
implementation "com.github.parse-community.Parse-SDK-Android:parse:latest.version.here"
}
You can find out which is the latest version of Parse SDK for Android at Jitpack Website.
Facing any trouble? Feel free to check the complete Install Parse SDK guide to Android projects. Also, feel free to check the official Parse Documentation regarding Parse SDK for Android.
Install SDK Arduino
First off, download here the Parse SDK for Arduino. Then, open the Arduino IDE to add the .ZIP library. To do so, navigate to Sketch
> Include Library
> Add .ZIP Library
and select the downloaded file. After that, you will be able to see the Library and to import it to your Project, by doing what is shown in the following image.

Facing any trouble? Feel free to check the official Parse Documentation regarding Parse SDK for Arduino.
Install CocoaPods and Import Parse
Xcode can use CocoaPods as dependency manager for Swift and Objective-C Cocoa projects. To install CocoaPods, copy the following code snippet and paste it into your terminal and hit return.
$ sudo gem install cocoapods
You can refer to CocoaPods Getting Started Guide for additional details.
Connect your Parse App
Open your project’s AppDelegate
file to set up app’s credentials. Parse SDK for iOS uses these settings to connect to the Back4App servers. At the top of the file you should see a function called didFinishLaunchingWithOptions
. Paste the following code snippet inside this function, and make sure it is above the line that says return true
.
At the top of your AppDelegate.swift
file make sure to include Parse as a module by using the following code snippet right below import UIKit
.
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import Parse
At the top of your AppDelegate.m
file make sure to include Parse as a module by using the following code snippet right below #import "AppDelegate.h"
.
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#import <Parse/Parse.h>
Facing any trouble? Feel free to check the complete Install Parse SDK guide to iOS Swift and iOS ObjC projects. Also, feel free to check the official Parse Documentation regarding Parse SDK for iOS.
We need to add some libraries to set up Parse SDK for .NET. We will get them through Nuget Packages. To do so, go to Microsoft Visual Studio and at the Solution Explorer, click on your app’s name and go to Manage NuGet Packages...
.
Then, click on Browse
to search and install the packages parse by Parse
and Xamarin.Android.Support.v7.AppCompat by Xamarin Inc
.
Facing any trouble? Feel free to check the official Parse Documentation regarding Parse SDK for .NET.
Find this project page at GitHub and clone it. Then, open it on Unity3D.
Facing any trouble? Feel free to check the official Parse Documentation regarding Parse SDK for Unity.
You can use different ways to install the Parse SDK for PHP. We will show a couple of them here. Note that the Parse PHP SDK requires PHP 5.4 or newer.
With composer
Create a composer.json
file in your projects root folder, containing the following.
{
"require": {
"parse/php-sdk" : "1.4.*"
}
}
Now, you need to run the “composer install” to download and set up the autoloader. After that, you can require it from your PHP script, using the code below.
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require 'vendor/autoload.php';
With Git
Go to Parse SDK for PHP page on GitHub and clone it. You can do this by using your favorite GitHub client or via terminal, as shown below.
$ git clone https://github.com/parse-community/parse-php-sdk.git
After that, inside your PHP file, you need to include the autoload.php
to automatically load the Parse SDK classes.
Facing any trouble? Feel free to check the official Parse Documentation regarding Parse SDK for PHP.
Step 2 - Insert your Keys and initialize Parse SDK
To completely connect your application to Back4App, you need to set up your app keys (After the Login, go to Server Settings > Core Settings > Settings and find your keys) and initialize Parse SDK. To do so, you just need to select the right guide to the technology of your project.
To initialize Parse SDK in your JavaScript project, add the code below in your index.html
file, inside <script>
tag.
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Parse.initialize("APP_ID","JS_KEY"); //PASTE HERE YOUR Back4App APPLICATION ID AND YOUR JavaScript KEY
Parse.serverURL = 'https://parseapi.back4app.com/'
Facing any trouble? Feel free to check the complete Install Parse SDK guide to JavaScript projects. Also, feel free to check the official Parse Documentation regarding Parse SDK for JavaScript.
Save your Keys in the strings.xml
file
Inside the strings.xml
file, insert the following lines, with your application keys, in order to connect your project to Back4App Database.
./app/src/main/res/values/strings.xml
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<resources>
<string name="back4app_server_url">https://parseapi.back4app.com/</string>
<!-- Change the following strings as required -->
<string name="back4app_app_id">APP_ID</string>
<string name="back4app_client_key">CLIENT_KEY</string>
</resources>
Give Permissions and set up your App
You need to grant permission for your Android app to access the internet network. To do this, add the following code snippet to your AndroidManifest.xml
file right after the application
tag.
./app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml
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<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET" />
Also, inside the application
tag, add the following:
./app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml
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<meta-data
android:name="com.parse.SERVER_URL"
android:value="@string/back4app_server_url" />
<meta-data
android:name="com.parse.APPLICATION_ID"
android:value="@string/back4app_app_id" />
<meta-data
android:name="com.parse.CLIENT_KEY"
android:value="@string/back4app_client_key" />
Initialize Parse SDK
Create a Java file called App
that extends Application. In this file, use the following line of code to import Parse.
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import com.parse.Parse;
Inside App.java onCreate
method, right after super.onCreate()
call the following code:
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Parse.initialize(new Parse.Configuration.Builder(this)
.applicationId(getString(R.string.back4app_app_id))
// if defined
.clientKey(getString(R.string.back4app_client_key))
.server(getString(R.string.back4app_server_url))
.build()
);
Don’t forget to define this file in the
AndroidManifest.xml
. To do so, go to theAndroidManifest.xml
file and add the following line of code inside theapplication
tag:
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android:name=".name_of_the_file"
).
Facing any trouble? Feel free to check the complete Install Parse SDK guide to Android projects. Also, feel free to check the official Parse Documentation regarding Parse SDK for Android.
After inslalling the Parse SDK for Arduino, you’re able to initialize Parse using the following code on the setup(){}
method.
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#include <Parse.h>
void setup() {
Parse.begin("${APPLICATION_ID}", "${CLIENT_KEY}"); //PASTE HERE YOUR Back4App APPLICATION ID AND YOUR CLIENT KEY
Parse.setServerURL("https://parseapi.back4app.com/");
}
Facing any trouble? Feel free to check the official Parse Documentation regarding Parse SDK for Arduino.
Use the code below inside your project’s AppDelegate
file, inside didFinishLaunchingWithOptions
function, above the line that says return YES
or return true
, to initialize Parse SDK.
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let configuration = ParseClientConfiguration {
$0.applicationId = "PASTE_YOUR_APPLICATION_ID_HERE"
$0.clientKey = "PASTE_YOUR_CLIENT_ID_HERE"
$0.server = "https://parseapi.back4app.com"
}
Parse.initialize(with: configuration)
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[Parse initializeWithConfiguration:[ParseClientConfiguration configurationWithBlock:^(id<ParseMutableClientConfiguration> configuration) {
configuration.applicationId = @"PASTE_YOUR_APPLICATION_ID_HERE";
configuration.clientKey = @"PASTE_YOUR_CLIENT_ID_HERE";
configuration.server = @"https://parseapi.back4app.com/";
}]];
Facing any trouble? Feel free to check the complete Install Parse SDK guide to iOS Swift and iOS ObjC projects. Also, feel free to check the official Parse Documentation regarding Parse SDK for iOS.
After waiting for installations to finish, open your strings.xml
file and use the following code with your application keys.
.../App1/Resources/values/strings.xml
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<resources>
<string name="back4app_server_url">https://parseapi.back4app.com/</string>
<!-- Change the following strings as required -->
<string name="back4app_app_id">APP_ID</string>
<string name="back4app_dotnet_key">DOTNET_ID</string>
</resources>
Also, in your Main Activity, you need to initialize these keys, using the following code.
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ParseClient.Initialize(new ParseClient.Configuration {
ApplicationId = GetString(Resource.String.back4app_app_id),
WindowsKey = GetString(Resource.String.back4app_dotnet_key),
Server = GetString(Resource.String.back4app_server_url)
});
Facing any trouble? Feel free to check the official Parse Documentation regarding Parse SDK for .NET.
You need to add your applicationId
and dotNetKey
to your project. To do so, click on Back4appDemoSence
, find a GameObject that calls Back4appIntialize
and paste there your keys, as shown in the image below.

Facing any trouble? Feel free to check the official Parse Documentation regarding Parse SDK for Unity.
After installing the Parse SDK for PHP, you can initialize it using the code below.
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ParseClient::initialize( $app_id, $rest_key, $master_key);
ParseClient::setServerURL('https://parseapi.back4app.io','/');
Facing any trouble? Feel free to check the official Parse Documentation regarding Parse SDK for PHP.
Step 3 - Test your connection
To ensure that the connection between your project and Back4App has been established correctly, let’s make a test in which we will save an object in an open class of your app Dashboard at Back4App Website.
To do so, you just need to select the code that corresponds to the technology of your project, use it in your project and run it. After that, go to you app Dashboard at Back4App Website and see if your object has been created.
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const MyFirstClass = Parse.Object.extend("MyFirstClass");
const myFirstClass = new MyFirstClass();
myFirstClass.set("name", "I'm able to save objects!");
myFirstClass.save()
.then((object) => {
// Success
alert('New object created with objectId: ' + object.id);
}, (error) => {
// Save fails
alert('Failed to create new object, with error code: ' + error.message);
});
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ParseObject myFirstClass = new ParseObject("MyFirstClass");
myFirstClass.put("name", "I'm able to save objects!");
myFirstClass.saveInBackground();
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ParseObjectCreate create;
create.setClassName("MyFirstClass");
create.add("name", "I'm able to save objects!");
ParseResponse response = create.send();
if (!response.getErrorCode()) {
// The object has been saved
} else {
// There was a problem, check response.
getErrorCode();
}
response.close(); // Free the resource
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var myFirstClass = PFObject(className:"MyFirstClass")
myFirstClass["name"] = "I'm able to save objects!"
myFirstClass.saveInBackground {
(success: Bool, error: Error?) in
if (success) {
// The object has been saved.
} else {
// There was a problem, check error.description
}
}
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PFObject *myFirstClass = [PFObject objectWithClassName:@"MyFirstClass"];
myFirstClass[@"name"] = "I'm able to save objects!";
[myFirstClass saveInBackgroundWithBlock:^(BOOL succeeded, NSError *error) {
if (succeeded) {
// The object has been saved.
} else {
// There was a problem, check error.description
}
}];
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ParseObject myFirstClass = new ParseObject("MyFirstClass");
myFirstClass["name"] = "I'm able to save objects!";
await myFirstClass.SaveAsync();
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ParseObject myFirstClass = new ParseObject("MyFirstClass");
myFirstClass["name"] = "I'm able to save objects!";
Task saveTask = myFirstClass.SaveAsync();
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$myFirstClass = new ParseObject("MyFirstClass");
$myFirstClass->set("name", "I'm able to save objects!");
try {
$myFirstClass->save();
echo 'New object created with objectId: ' . $myFirstClass->getObjectId();
} catch (ParseException $ex) {
// Execute any logic that should take place if the save fails.
// error is a ParseException object with an error code and message.
echo 'Failed to create new object, with error message: ' . $ex->getMessage();
}
After running the code choosed above, you can back to your Dashboard and refresh the browser to see the changes :)
Conclusion
At this guide, you have learned how to install Parse SDK in your project to connect your app with Back4App. We also have described how you can find your app keys.