Thread

1. alex_suzuki · 1790673037 · focus · HN ↗

   I remember first learning about Firebase when working on Android push notifications, a loooooong time ago (~2011 i think). Over time it grew into this full-featured app development platform, after an aquisition (don’t remember the name).

   These days however it feels a bit neglected, and somehow poorly bolted on to GCP. I still have a few production apps running on it and news like this reinforces my belief that it’s in decline.

   What are folks using these days that (ideally) is open source and self-hostable? I don’t want to lock in with another platform. Some of these apps use the offline sync feature of Firestore (apps used in basements and other low-connectivity areas).

   1. wilsynet · 1790692959 · focus · HN ↗

      I was a new employee at Google when we started talking to Firebase. The founders are super smart and get stuff done.

      However, I remember saying to the VP who was leading the acquisition, “shouldn’t we decide what market we want to be in, then evaluate if we should build, buy, or partner?”

      He said “no, we should buy it first then figure out what to do”.

      I’m not surprised Firebase feels like it’s bolted on. They never really knew what they wanted to do with it. That was true then and it’s true now.

Unofficial Hacker News client; not affiliated with Y Combinator.