What is Firebase: The Good and the Bad of Firebase Backend Services

Today’s digital age is witnessing extensive disruption with technologies like ‘Cloud’ and ‘Mobile Application’. Each day rolls out a novel app in the market with a promising potential to satisfy user intent. Thanks to Firebase development services that are helping businesses to build a better development infrastructure. But how are these services making a difference? Let’s take a look.

What is Firebase?

Launched in 2011 as an independent company and acquired by Google in 2014, Firebase has emerged as a popular flagship offering for app development. Earlier known as a real-time database, the technology now has dedicated APIs and many services under its ambit. It’s a Backend-as-a-Service (BaaS) solution for web as well as mobile apps catering to all requirements of testing, development, and app management.

The solution successfully helps your business in avoiding the hassle of obtaining corresponding hardware and backend database management. Developers can align it to your custom business app via dedicated APIs for each distinct service. As a software development platform, Firebase outlines all the gamut of backend technologies for an application. Some of the key integrations include Unity, Web, iOS, and android.

However, there’s a lot to know about this technology and how it supports app development with an effectively managed backend. Staring with its uses would be a great idea.

What is the use of Google Firebase?

Google Firebase offers your company the below utility.

• The platform helps to manage all the real-time data in the database thereby, promoting a seamless and quicker exchange of data. If you’re planning to build messaging or live streaming mobile apps, Firebase should be a good option to opt for
• It enables real-time data syncing across various mobile devices (web, iOS, and Android) without refreshing the screen
• Firebase development services provide integration to Play Store, Google Ads, Data Studio, DoubleClick, Slack, AdMob, and BigQuery. These imperatives initiate better app building and management
• Be it comprehensive reports, analytics, or databases, Google Firebase shall satisfy all your app development requirements and let you focus on your core business practices and goals

What sort of apps is Firebase good for?

Firebase platform is much flexible and productive for developing highly scalable mobile apps. It shall help your business with the following categories of applications:

• Web
• Android
• iOS

For the record, you can develop any type of app with Firebase SDKs. The platform is also making every possible move to increase support for Flutter, C++, web, and Unity. While developing any kind of app, you shall also get the privilege of an Admin SDK available for a variety of languages. This toolkit can be used with any backend components as per your requirements.
Apart from these SDKs, Firebase includes a library known as ‘FirebaseUI’ that offers an array of functionalities to make your mobile app development easier and more fun. Last but not the least, projects such as AngularFire are also available to cover the web SDKs and to be utilized with Angular.

Why select firebase as a BAAS for mobile apps? (Comparison with others)

Here’s a comparison of Firebase development services with some of the other services in the form of this below table.

The table shows that Firebase is user-centric, cross-platform, allows easier price bundling, and is backed by Google which makes it one of the best BaaS for mobile applications. Now, as you have gone through the comparison above, it’s time to check out the upsides and downsides of this technology to establish a better app development environment.

The Good and the Bad of Firebase Backend Services

The Pros of Firebase

• Database Competencies: It totally depends on your development budget but Google supports high-end databases that can be used with your applications. Firestore, as well as Real-time, can be scaled according to the size. This offers a completely secure app management solution allowing your developers to easily access data via the Firebase console. On the other hand, offline accessibility and smooth data updates make multiple databases operational for real-time app development and in sync.
• Wide-range of Services: Google Firebase has a good series of products onboard to make your apps work efficiently. You get enough room to select between Firestore and Real-time databases. With services inducing integrated Cloud Functions, your business can simply store media in the cloud. It also helps in serverless application development.
• Start for Free: You can start your Firebase journey and enjoy using most of its services without making any kinds of payments. This shall help your team in understanding all the basics, how it supports your app-building process and adheres to specific requirements. You have the best plans to choose from when you seek satisfaction from a unique service or set of services. You can also select a plan with a price calculator regulated by various parameters.
• Concise Documentation: The platform exemplifies dedicated documentation. Including such diligent technical documentation, you also have SDK references and API documentation that helps to develop easy-to-use applications and products. You can gain all the necessary information regarding technology stacks, integrations, support, and available platforms via the Firebase product page. On top of that, the Firebase YouTube channel shall never cease to amaze you with its regular news and innovative video releases.
• Accessible User Interface: In most cases, Firebase development services need minimal knowledge and information about the programming languages and assist easier integrations through its UI. Without seeing it as a disadvantage for flexibility, your business can avoid the use of complex configurations. Any of your team members can set up the app with ease.
• Static Hosting Competencies: Firebase hosting brings in an in-built Content Delivery Network (CDN) with the Google Cloud Platform. Concretely, this CDN is a system of distributed servers that assists faster content delivery across the world. With Firebase, you can use its static hosting capabilities to develop prolific single-page as well as web-based applications.

But as you know any technology platform that offers utmost advantages also brings in a set of weaknesses to the table.

The Cons of Firebase

• Real-time Database Limitations: You shall use Real-time Database as key storage for most of your tasks that prove to be a disadvantage. Its limited querying abilities are one of the most dominant issues. Real-time DB offers no facility to filter competencies as it’s made up of a huge JSON file. This file creates more difficulties to type complex queries.Other than that, you need to consider issues related to this DB and its data modeling. Due to its ‘database as a single file’ structure, implementing relations between data items is not possible.
• Vendor Lock-in: Firebase as an app development platform stimulates no association with vendor lock-in. This is one of the main issues that comes into the picture when you choose to practice the Firebase backend service. Moreover, as this technology limitation offers no migration tools for switching data to another platform it proves to be a major con.
• Less Support for iOS: Firebase is well-known for its cross-platform nature, but the fact that it focuses more on the Android mobile platform also cannot be denied. Test Lab can be easily aligned with Android Studio and assists testing on an array of Android devices. When it comes to iOS, team Test Lab declared closed beta provision for iOS devices in 2018 which comprises basic UI and some test devices.Acknowledging all the good and bad about Firebase SDKs, you can now decide whether it’s a good fit for your development process and move forward to start using it.

How to get started with Firebase?

For understanding the Firebase platform in a better manner and using it to develop your commercial apps, here are some significant points you should count on.

• Console: You can manage all your Firebase projects from a one-stop Firebase Console. It’s an all-inclusive management panel by which you can observe every application connected with Firebase development services. Besides, the projects work as vessels containing server settings and codes that duplicate to Google Cloud Platform.
• Command Line Interface (CLI): Leveraging Firebase CLI, your developers can deploy projects efficiently. Reaching server configurations and interacting with data stored in databases also becomes quite easy.
• Documentation: It’s an overall reference to the mobile backend as a service the platform offers to its users. It also involves the platform availability, libraries, and API documentation.
• Pricing: You can clear all costing doubts through the pricing page. This page showcases 3 different plans for small, medium, and enterprise-size applications – Spark (free), Flame (static), and Blaze (pay-as-you-go). However, the pricing details are different for each unique service and you can find more info related to this on the same page.