How to set up the backend for mobile app using the offline sync feature

Question

I'm starting with xamarin.forms mobile apps and trying to build an app using the azure offline sync feature.

In sample applications and tutorials one is asked to create a new backend project by selecting ASP.NET Web Application with the Azure Mobile App template - which in the meantime is retired.

Similarly in the azure portal the template (Web + Mobile => Mobile App) to build the backend is retired.

So it seems the offline sync feature requires setup of specific components which no longer are provided by microsoft. Since other key features of mobile apps (push notification, authentication & authorization, ...) are still advertised it seems to me that the offline sync feature has silently died.

So my questions are:

1. how to set up that backend given that those templates are no longer available?
2. anybody having experience with that feature in a real world application: does the offline sync feature as it was advertised has proven to be a usable feature ?

Any guidance on how to implement the backend feature (without the mentioned templates) would be highly appreciated.

Answer 1

1. Check out the book: https://adrianhall.github.io/develop-mobile-apps-with-csharp-and-azure/ - it covers set up without the portal functionality, which - as you have pointed out - is no longer included in the portal.
2. "It depends" - generic offline sync always has caveats because it requires models to be created a certain way in order to support offline sync. Can you use the feature to synchronize "any" model? No. However, if you follow the rules laid down (the book I linked to, which I wrote, is a good starting point), then it works well.