Shared heartbeat service for managed devices

Abstract

Systems, methods, and apparatuses for facilitating communication between remote services and applications installed on a device are described. In accordance with embodiments, each of a plurality of remote services generates an application-specific message intended for processing by a corresponding application installed on a device and transmits the application-specific message to a device management system (DMS) server, where it is queued. A DMS client installed on the device sends heartbeat messages to the DMS server indicating that the device is available to receive messages. In response to receiving the heartbeat messages, the DMS server transmits the application-specific messages to the DMS client. The DMS client then publishes each application-specific message to the particular application that the application-specific message was intended for.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for facilitating communication between remote services and applications installed on a device, comprising:
 registering a plurality of applications installed on the device as subscribers to which application-specific messages may be published, wherein a first application of the applications registers to receive information about application-specific messages that may be published with respect to a second application of the applications;   sending shared heartbeat messages from the device to a device management server (DMS), where in the shared heartbeat messages indicate that the device is available to receive messages;   receiving an application-specific message for the second application; and   publishing the application-specific message for the second application to the first application.   
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the application-specific messages are from remote services corresponding to the applications installed on the device, wherein the remote services are unable to directly address the device. 
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the application-specific messages support a functionality of feature of the applications to which the application-specific messages are to be published. 
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the shared heartbeat messages are shared polling messages for the applications installed on the device that are registered as subscribers. 
     
     
         5 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising establishing a communications link with one of the remote services and one of the applications in response to that application receiving an application-specific message from the remote service. 
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein sending the shared heartbeat messages comprises sending the shared heartbeat messages in accordance with an interval and the method further comprises adjusting the interval in view of network or processing loads. 
     
     
         7 . A device with applications installed thereon and the applications correspond to remote services that are unable to directly address the applications, comprising:
 a device management system (DMS) client that is configured to send shared heartbeat messages to a DMS server, the shared heartbeat messages indicating that the DMS client is available to receive messages, wherein the DMS client is also configured to receive application-specific messages from the remote services through a DMS server in response to the DMS server receiving the shared heartbeat messages; and   a message subscriber interface that is configured to:
 receive a subscription request from a first application of the installed application with respect to a second application of the installed applications; 
 publish one of the received application-specific messages to the second application of the installed applications, wherein the published application-specific message is from one of the remote services that corresponds to the second application; and 
 share the published application-specific message of the second application with the first application in response to the received subscription request from the first application. 
   
     
     
         8 . The device according to  claim 7 , wherein the published application-specific message causes the second application to establish a link with the remote service that corresponds to the second application. 
     
     
         9 . The device according to  claim 7 , wherein the DMS client is further configured to:
 send the shared heartbeat messages in accordance with an interval; and   adjust the interval based on network or processing loads.   
     
     
         10 . The device according to  claim 7 , further comprising a client transport adapter that is configured to enable the device to communicate with the DMS server over a transport channel. 
     
     
         11 . The device according to  claim 7 , where the remote services are automated systems that provide services to or perform operations on behalf of the applications installed on the device. 
     
     
         12 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that is part of a computing device, having computer-readable instructions stored thereon that when executed, cause the computing device to:
 register a plurality of applications installed on the device as subscribers to which application-specific messages may be published, wherein a first application of the applications registers to receive information about application-specific messages that may be published with respect to a second application of the applications;   send shared heartbeat messages from the device to a device management server (DMS), where in the shared heartbeat messages indicate that the device is available to receive messages;   receive an application-specific message for the second application; and   publish the application-specific message for the second application to the first application.