The Definitive Guide to Firebase : Build Android Apps on Google's Mobile Platform

Plan how to build a better app, grow it into a business, and earn money from your hard work using Firebase. In this book, **Laurence Moroney**, Staff Developer Advocate at Google, takes you through each of the 15 Firebase technologies, showing you how to use them with concrete examples. You’ll see how to build cross-platform apps with the three pillars of the Firebase platform: technologies to help you develop apps with a real-time database, remote configuration, cloud messaging, and more; grow your apps with user sharing, search integration, analytics, and more; and earn from your apps with in-app advertising. After reading __The Definitive Guide to Firebase__, you'll come away empowered to make the most of this technology that helps you build better cross-platform mobile apps using either native Android or JavaScript-based web apps and effectively deploy them in a cloud environment. **What You'll Learn** * Use the real-time database for a codeless middleware that gives online and offline data for syncing across your users’ devices * Master Firebase Cloud Messaging, a technology that delivers to connected devices in less than 500ms * Grow your app organically with technologies such App Indexing, App Invites, and Dynamic Links * Understand problems when they arise with crash reporting * Fix user problems without direct access to users’ devices * Tie it all together with analytics that give you great intelligence about how users interact with your app **Who This Book Is For** Experienced Android, mobile app developers new to Firebase. This book is also for experienced web developers looking to build and deploy web apps for smartphones and tablets, too, who may be new or less experienced with mobile programming. Contents at a Glance......Page 4 Contents......Page 5 About the Author......Page 10 About the Technical Reviewer......Page 11 Chapter 1: An Introduction to Firebase......Page 12 Firebase: An Overview......Page 13 Cloud Storage for Firebase......Page 14 The Grow Technologies......Page 15 Earning with AdMob......Page 16 Install Android Studio......Page 17 Create Your First Firebase Application......Page 20 Step 1. Connect to Firebase......Page 23 Step 2. Add the Realtime Database......Page 25 Step 3. Configure Data Access Rules......Page 27 Step 4. Write to the Database......Page 30 Step 5. Reading from the Database......Page 33 Reference......Page 35 Chapter 2: Using Authentication in Firebase......Page 36 FirebaseUI......Page 37 Create and Configure the App......Page 39 Code the Main Activity......Page 43 Create and Code the Signed-In Activity......Page 46 Explore the Sign-In Flows......Page 48 Adding Sign Out......Page 51 Resetting the Password......Page 53 Adding Smart Lock for Passwords......Page 55 Adding Sign-In with Google......Page 58 Summary......Page 61 Getting Started......Page 62 Write Your First Data......Page 66 Read Your First Data......Page 69 Write Structured Data with a Stock Portfolio......Page 72 Reading Structured Data......Page 78 Querying the Data......Page 79 Updating Data......Page 80 Deleting Data......Page 81 Summary......Page 82 Building an App with Cloud Storage for Firebase......Page 83 Enable Anonymous Authentication......Page 84 Set Storage Rules......Page 85 Editing the Layout......Page 86 Editing the Code for Anonymous Sign-In......Page 87 Taking a Photo with the Onboard Camera......Page 88 Uploading the Image to Cloud Storage......Page 89 Running the App......Page 91 Edit the Layout File......Page 94 Coding the App......Page 95 Update the Layout File......Page 100 Summary......Page 102 Installing the Firebase CLI......Page 103 Creating a Site for Firebase Hosting......Page 106 Using the Firebase Console to Manage Your Site......Page 108 Preparing the Image......Page 109 Creating the Page......Page 110 Mapping a Domain Name to Your Site......Page 113 Summary......Page 116 Getting the App......Page 117 Enabling Authentication......Page 118 Using Friendly Chat......Page 119 First Steps: Testing Your APK......Page 120 Creating Custom Tests......Page 124 Testing from Android Studio......Page 128 Recording and Scripting a Test with Espresso......Page 132 Summary......Page 136 Getting Started with Crashlytics......Page 137 Installing Crashlytics......Page 138 Using Firebase Crash Reporting......Page 146 Summary......Page 148 Building a Test App......Page 149 The Firebase CLI and Functions......Page 153 Realtime Database Triggers......Page 158 Storage Triggers......Page 162 Authentication Triggers......Page 164 Using Http Triggers......Page 166 Http Triggers with Hosting......Page 169 Summary......Page 171 Building an App to Receive Notifications......Page 172 Receiving Notifications in the Foreground......Page 175 Implementing the Notification Activity......Page 177 Implementing the sendNotification Method......Page 179 Understanding Topics......Page 183 Building a Custom App Server for FCM......Page 186 Creating the Database......Page 188 Updating the App......Page 193 Next Steps......Page 196 Summary......Page 197 Public Content Indexing......Page 198 Create an App That Receives Incoming Links......Page 199 Personal Content Indexing......Page 203 Summary......Page 210 Chapter 11: Remote Configuration......Page 211 Building an App for Remote Config......Page 212 Using Default Values......Page 215 Using Conditions with Remote Config......Page 217 Remote Config Life Cycle......Page 220 Summary......Page 221 Dynamic Links......Page 222 Editing the App......Page 226 Creating a Dynamic Link Within the App......Page 230 Dynamic Links and Analytics......Page 234 Using Firebase Invites......Page 235 Summary......Page 238 Getting Started......Page 239 Signing Up for AdMob......Page 241 Using Interstitial Ads......Page 246 Using a Rewarded Video Ad......Page 250 Connecting AdMob with Firebase......Page 253 Summary......Page 256 Automatically Gathered Analytics......Page 257 Exploring the Analytics Console......Page 259 Creating Audiences......Page 268 Logging Events......Page 269 Logging User Properties......Page 275 Summary......Page 276 Index......Page 277 Plan how to build a better app, grow it into a business, and earn money from your hard work using Firebase. In this book, Laurence Moroney, Staff Developer Advocate at Google, takes you through each of the 15 Firebase technologies, showing you how to use them with concrete examples. You'll see how to build cross-platform apps with the three pillars of the Firebase platform: technologies to help you develop apps with a real-time database, remote configuration, cloud messaging, and more; grow your apps with user sharing, search integration, analytics, and more; and earn from your apps with in-app advertising. After reading The Definitive Guide to Firebase, you'll come away empowered to make the most of this technology that helps you build better cross-platform mobile apps using either native Android or JavaScript-based web apps and effectively deploy them in a cloud environment. You will: Use the real-time database for a codeless middleware that gives online and offline data for syncing across your users' devices Master Firebase Cloud Messaging, a technology that delivers to connected devices in less than 500ms Grow your app organically with technologies such App Indexing, App Invites, and Dynamic Links Understand problems when they arise with crash reporting Fix user problems without direct access to users' devices Tie it all together with analytics that give you great intelligence about how users interact with your app