Many mobile apps and games rely on a backend service for things that can’t be done solely on hosted device, such as sharing and processing data from multiple users, or storing large files. Backend as a service (BaaS) provides a centralised database and other features to manage user-generated data and application data. The developer can link applications to the backend service and backend service expose APIs to manage users, integrate push notification and analytics. BaaS is a recent development of cloud computing technology.
Using backend services provide developers functionalities to manage users, data and to analyse real-time changes actively. Backend service should be able to handle the offline case gracefully and minimise battery drain. Back in the day developers had to develop custom backend platforms using server-side technologies. And developers had to scale up and down according to the user base and app usage. It was time-consuming in terms of resources and skills.
Most mobile BaaS providers provide common features such as push notifications, user management, file storage, database and analytics. But few provide functionalities beyond above features. For example, Firebase integrated with some of the services provided by Google. But Firebase is not part of Google Cloud Platform.
In this article, I'm going to explore briefly about the Firebase.
Using backend services provide developers functionalities to manage users, data and to analyse real-time changes actively. Backend service should be able to handle the offline case gracefully and minimise battery drain. Back in the day developers had to develop custom backend platforms using server-side technologies. And developers had to scale up and down according to the user base and app usage. It was time-consuming in terms of resources and skills.
Most mobile BaaS providers provide common features such as push notifications, user management, file storage, database and analytics. But few provide functionalities beyond above features. For example, Firebase integrated with some of the services provided by Google. But Firebase is not part of Google Cloud Platform.
In this article, I'm going to explore briefly about the Firebase.
Firebase
Google revised its Firebase version at Google I/O 2016 developer conference. And it is integrated with features like GCM (Google Cloud Messaging) and it is called FCM (Firebase Cloud Messaging).
It is integrated with Analytics that provide insights into the App. Firebase Analytics collects usage and behaviour data from the app and user. It’s free, simple to implement and provide unlimited data. And provides unlimited reporting for up to 500 distinct events.
Google has integrated its Cloud-based Test Lab into the Firebase. Even though it is not available with the free plan, it provides testing of the mobile apps on the real hardware.
The two-tier architecture of Firebase allows mobile app and Firebase platform to manipulate data directly. This creates important differences in how security and data validation are handled. In Firebase, the developer specifies authentication and validation as declarative rules using Firebase console without additional coding. Firebase is a fully managed platform. In fully managed platforms, tasks such as upgrades and autoscaling managed by the vendor by imposes limitations on configurations. In unmanaged platforms, the developer has full control over the configuration of the platform.
Firebase is recommended for limiting on-device data storage by storing JSON data and files with Firebase, gracefully handling the offline case, authenticating users through a verify of identity providers and rapid development of a backend service.
The two-tier architecture of Firebase allows mobile app and Firebase platform to manipulate data directly. This creates important differences in how security and data validation are handled. In Firebase, the developer specifies authentication and validation as declarative rules using Firebase console without additional coding. Firebase is a fully managed platform. In fully managed platforms, tasks such as upgrades and autoscaling managed by the vendor by imposes limitations on configurations. In unmanaged platforms, the developer has full control over the configuration of the platform.
Firebase is recommended for limiting on-device data storage by storing JSON data and files with Firebase, gracefully handling the offline case, authenticating users through a verify of identity providers and rapid development of a backend service.
Firebase provides following features.
- Analytics.
- Cloud Messaging.
- Authentication.
- Real-time Database.
- Storage.
- Hosting.
- Test Lab.
- Crash Reporting.
- Notifications.
- Remote Config.
- App Indexing.
- Dynamic Links.
- Invites.
- AdWords.
- AdMob.
You can learn more about Firebase by reading the following book. It covers most of the features provided by the Firebase platform.
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