The Advantages of Firebase as a Backend Solution for Mobile App
Building a great mobile app starts with the right idea, but quickly moves into the technical realm. Put simply, you need a backend solution to develop your app that includes anything from data storage to communication tools. And, when it comes to Android App Development, few options are better than Firebase.
According to a 2022 market share analysis, about 13% of app developers use Firebase as backend for their mobile app. But in reality, especially if your development focuses on building Android apps, there is no better choice to base your product on.
That's why in this guide, we'll cover the advantages of Firebase as a technical foundation for your mobile app. Keep reading to learn both the basics of the tool and its benefits, including the ways it can simplify your app performance, streamline testing and analytics, and enhance the user experience.
Just the Basics: Firebase as Backend for Your App
Before digging into the specific advantages of the tool, let's start with an overview of this backend solution. Originally developed as an independent platform, it's a software development platform that acts as the foundation of your mobile app.
Acquired by Google in 2014, it has grown to become a comprehensive development tool. Today, Firebase provides a whole-app foundation for anything from the initial build to its release, ongoing monitoring, and user engagement optimization.
Related: 9 Tips to Improve Your Mobile Applications Testing Strategy
Firebase offers flexible pricing that aligns with your app's scope and goals. Basic features like A/B testing and app indexing are always free, while data storage, cloud functions, and app hosting features scale in price with the amount of data needed.
Between its free and paid features, Firebase as backend for your Android app works so well specifically because of 8 core advantages developers can leverage to build better, more user-friendly apps.
1. Advanced, Real-Time Database Functionality
Mobile databases have become a crucial part of the app development process. They store and process the data that enables individual users to run the app, with a typical integration between cloud and embedded databases that synchronize the data to enable at least some functionality without the internet.
Databases, it turns out, is also where Firebase shines. This is its core functionality, and the reason it was founded in 2011 to begin with.
Firebase offers a noSQL database option that allows the app to connect with users in real-time. Apps developed across devices will share one synchronized set of data that can work both with and without internet connectivity. Known as Cloud Firestore, the database allows for flexible querying and structuring of data that is flexible enough for any depth of functionality and easily scales as your app and user base grows.
2. Powerful Cloud Storage
Beyond storing app data, Firebase also enables developers to leverage cloud storage options that link in directly with Google Cloud Development. This feature is especially relevant for apps that leverage user-generated content, including large-size file types like images, videos, and PDF files.
In most apps, sharing and storing these types of files takes up valuable real estate. Thanks to Firebase's cloud storage integration, uploading and transferring these types of file is quick and straightforward, won't impact app performance, and won't add significant cost to the development process.
For developers looking to create versatile and user-friendly apps, this cloud storage integration removes significant obstacles. Features no longer have to be constrained by limited user capabilities when using the app. Instead, the product can be built entirely with the user experience in mind, especially when it comes to using and interacting with files within the interface.
3. Fast and Secure Authentication Abilities
As concerns about data privacy and security continue to enter the mainstream, an app's ability to maintain a safe environment for its users becomes paramount. Firebase has a custom-built feature set for this specific problem, applying especially to apps for which a user login can or should become a core functionality.
Google calls it Firebase Authentication, and it's a ready-build SDK with multiple UI templates that allow any developer to include a straightforward login system in their app. User prompts can include anything from emails, passwords, and phone numbers to third-party account partnerships, like logging in with a Google or Facebook account.
Much like the cloud storage mentioned above, this authentication system primarily removes constraints for the developer. Instead of wasting valuable development time on a custom-built solution or piecing the app experience together through multiple vendors, it's a singular, integrated system that can be implemented on your app with minimal effort.
4. Comprehensive Pre- and Post-Launch Testing Abilities
The importance of testing your app is difficult to overstate. Testing can benefit the development process from the first MVP all the way until after the app is launched for ongoing performance and user optimization. Recognizing this importance, Firebase includes a number of testing services specifically built for your app.
First is Firebase Test Lab, a system specifically designed to test your mobile product in a real-time environment. Users can connect to a device physically and virtually to test it, with straightforward and visual reports that help you find bugs and potential crashes to fix. Test Lab seamlessly integrates into Android Studio to make fixes easy and straightforward.
Firebase also offers A/B testing that can help to test any updates, changes, or refinements to the UI, individual features, and even engagement campaigns. Test your elements against key metrics for help in understanding which version your users prefer, and continue your testing for ongoing refinements long after launch.
Firebase A/B Testing helps you improve your app by making it easy to run, analyze, and scale product and marketing experiments. It gives you the power to test changes to your app's UI, features, or engagement campaigns to see if they actually move the needle on your key metrics (like revenue) before you implement them widely.
5. Internal and Integrated Analytics
Firebase's insights tools, of course, don't stop at testing. The software also integrates directly with Google Analytics, helping you understand how your users are finding, using, and taking action on your app. That integration, in turn, also allows you to track more in-depth advertising metrics on platforms like Google Ads.
In addition to that integration, the platform also offers a few core internal reporting options that benefit developers. The most important ones include:
- Firebase Crashlytics, which helps you find the causes of app crashes, from version to operating system and simple bugs. Intuitive reports make it easy to group errors and find their sources for quick (and comprehensive) fixes.
- Firebase Performance Monitoring, which allows you to provide user behavior insights that don't slow down your app. You can segment your reporting based on user location, OS systems, device types, and even app versions.
Related: What Is an MVP in Agile and Why Do You Need It for Your Mobile App Development Process?
From the first MVP until long after launch, you have to make sure that your users use the app as intended—and love doing it. Firebase's analytics opportunities provide quantitative data to help you answer that question and optimize your app over time.
6. Integrated Cloud Messaging Capabilities
Mobile apps are incomplete without push notifications and other types of outreach specifically designed to reach your users through their device. Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) offers an integrated solution specifically for this purpose.
At its core, it's a delivery mechanism for your push notifications. But it also goes further, allowing developers to send pushes on behalf of their clients, target the pushes based on nuanced segmentation that draws from both user demographics and behavior, and even send messages to single devices.
For developers building apps for multiple operating systems, FCM creates a streamlined opportunity to send a single message across devices. It also allows for message scheduling, integrates with Google Analytics, and can even leverage Firebase's above-mentioned A/B testing tool to optimize your messaging over time.
7. Enhanced Search and Web Integrations
Even the best apps can only go so far if your users won't find them. Comprehensive app development treats them as part of a complex communications ecosystem, integrated with other core channels for a unified and consistent user experience. Getting there becomes much more straightforward with solutions like the below:
- App indexing—allowing developers to optimize the app for search engine rankings—including an install button in search results that more efficiently guides users from discovery to download
- Dynamic linking—through smart URLs that automatically redirect website users to the mobile app for a more in-depth experience and enhanced user-to-user app content sharing.
Both of these features are as straightforward as they are core to a great user experience. Combined, they can help developers ensure that the app is never isolated, and always part of the larger cross-channel user journey.
8. Advanced Machine Learning Opportunities
Finally, and in keeping with a rapid move toward AI in mobile app development, Firebase offers developers the ability to integrate machine learning into both the development process and the final product's functionality. The feature, aptly named ML Kit, both helps developers build their own machine learning processes and offers ready-made solutions for easy integration into the build.
For example, developers can easily use the platform's developed APIs to add functionality like recognizing text, labeling images, and recognizing landmarks. These APIs run on Google Cloud, using global data to improve the accuracy of both inputs and outputs.
Meanwhile, more custom applications are possible as well. Whether you're looking to build a custom image classification model or any other type of machine learning, you have the foundation in place to do so. The platform even offers A/B testing for different ML models to ensure you use the most relevant and accurate version.
Develop Better Mobile Apps with Firebase as Backend
There's a reason that more than 3 million apps today use Firebase as a backend platform. It may just be the most feature-rich, scalable, and user-friendly solution you can find, offering development benefits that affect every part of the development process.
Of course, you still need a reliable partner to make the most out of Firebase. That's where we come in. Partner with us on your mobile app, and we'll offer anything from strategic guidance to the technicalities of agile development and app store optimization. Ready to get started? Schedule your 30-minute consultation today to get started on creating a mobile app your users will love.
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