I had the privilege of attending the first Launchpad Build event in Cape Town, South Africa, along with a colleague two weeks ago. The event was all things Firebase, with several speakers comprised of Google employees as well as Google developer experts, one who I’m proud to say I know and is an inspiration – Rebecca Franks aka Riggaroo (pictured above with Collen and myself). Before the event, I had played around with Firebase a little but had not yet dived in head first; this was my opportunity.
For those of you asking ‘What is Firebase?’, Firebase is a mobile platform that provides you, the developer, with the tools and infrastructure to produce better apps and help be business smart. Firebase is split into three main focus points: building high quality apps, growing and retaining your user base and monetizing your apps.
There are numerous features that enable developers to achieve these goals:
To develop a high quality app, features include Realtime databases, Analytics, Test labs, Crash reporting and Authentication. To grow and retain your user-base features include Firebase Cloud Messaging, Remote Config, App indexing and Dynamic links. To monetize your apps there is AdMob. This list is by no means exhaustive, there are more features available to you.
I’m fighting the urge to go into too much detail about each feature; they really are all brilliant! If you are interested you can find more information about Firebase here.
During the event each speaker took us through each feature, showcasing its strengths and benefits. My favourite was the talk that showcased Realtime databases, Authentication and hosting by creating a mini social network-web application. With the need for data to be ever more instantaneous, I saw plenty of potential for Realtime databases, coupled with hosting I saw reduced dependency on APIs going forward.
Another interesting feature was Remote Config and the Test Labs. Remote Config allows you to update your app without ever having to deploy a new version. This is a cool feature, as it allows you to target specific user bases and control their apps behavior and appearance. Picture your app’s appearance changing for users in China celebrating the Chinese New Year!
Every feature is well thought-out, designed and developed to be of some benefit to developers. I highly recommend reading up on Firebase and implementing some of its features – I know I’ll be!