Backend services that are hard and expensive to do on your own can be handed off to experts who will help manage these activities at low cost.  Most of the time we as programmers try and do this all ourselves but that’s a mistake.  Here is my list of web based services that you can use for your mobile app business.

Bluehost Web Hosting - Bluehost is an easy to use web hosting service that you can use to set up your own domain, branded email address and host your WordPress and/or Ruby on Rails or other web services installation. It’s a deal for the price when you are just starting out.

price: $5.95 per month (affiliate)

AppifyWP - This is a slick WordPress theme for iPhone, iPad, Mac and Android apps. You can get a shiny gleaming site up in minutes with this theme and Bluehost web hosting.  AppifyWP has recently added a new mobile theme which makes them a number one choice.

price: $49 (affiliate)

Test Flight - this service helps you manage your beta testers.  You get reports, team management, crash reports and painless beta app distribution.  Honestly, I wouldn’t try this alone…

price: free

Urban Airship - Urban Airship will help you manage push notifications, subscriptions and in-app purchases.

price: free to $499 per year

Parse - now this is really cool. You can use parse to create your own RESTful web service on their backend. It takes 20 minutes to set up and you can use this in your iOS app, Android app and even on your website.

price: free to $99 per month (currently in beta)

Comparison of XML Parsers - If you need to use XML to access you web service you have some choices to make. This article does a side by side comparison of the most popular XML parsers that you can use including the built in iOS parser NSXMLParser.

price: free