Backend requirements

[oscarb]

In order to allow users sharing links with each other, a backend is needed to support storage and communication.

Requirements for the backend are:

• Free, at least to begin with
• APIs for Android and web to allow for users to access Flowlist from both mobile and desktop devices
• Push notifications so users can be notified of shared links when they're not using the app
• A database
  • so lists are saved "in the cloud", to avoid loss of data
  • so lists are synced and available from different devices
  • so statistics for links can be calculated
  • preferably in real-time so lists are updated as links are shared with you
• Offline support, to allow the user have changes made without network automatically synced on connection
• Authentication, to allow the user to connect a social login to make it easier to access the web version
• No vendor lock in, for less dependencies, limitations and ability to choose servers and platforms based on how the app scales
• Support, so it's easy to find help when things go wrong

[oscarb]

The best alternatives so far seems to be:

• Firebase
• Parse Server

Also worth looking into:

• Realm Mobile Platform
• RethinkDB
• GUN - Graph Database

[oscarb]

Another alternative would be to build a backend similar to that of WhatsApp, i.e. that it only stores shared linkes until they're sent to the users device.

Pro's

• Less space required for database

Con's

• In order to access Flowlist from the web, the web version will need to access the mobile device, which will require more development than simple API calls to a central database

[oscarb]

Relevant links:

• Re-Architecting a Firebase app to work with Node.js and MongoDB
• Firebase vs. Parse Server

[oscarb]

Decided on Parse Server hosted at Back4App which makes for the most flexibility and least vendor lock-in for the best price.