Question

I have a website where users can create lists and add items to these lists. I’m also developing a mobile app that communicates with the website. If the user has a web account in the phone and he/she creates a new list/item it should also be sent to the web. The phones lists/items should always stay the same as the web. Also, of course, if someone add/remove/edit lists or items those changes should be updated on the phone.

So, everything works good when using the phone, I just send the same info to the web as I save in my app. Easy.

But what is the best way to update the phones lists and items when there are changes on the web?

1. Automatic updates –
   The app sends a request to the web server to look for changes each XX seconds and updates if necessary.

2. User updates –
   The user has to hit a “refresh” button of some kind to refresh.

Is #1 a battery drainer?
Which is the preferred choice to take?

I’m developing with Titanium for both iOS and Android.

Answer 1

I’d provided both of them. You can have some encoding algorithm which will send signal to web services to decide if it is to update.