Case Study: Scalable iOS Social Platform with Firebase + SwiftUI

June 30, 2025

Overview

A founder approached us to build a scalable, media-rich iOS social app for creators to share short-form content (videos, images, GIFs) and connect in curated interest groups. Our job was to stabilize their early codebase, add robust media features, and deploy a scalable Firebase backend with real-time functionality.

What We Delivered

• Dynamic Feed System: Engineered real-time curated feeds using Firebase Cloud Functions and Firestore queries that adapt to user preferences and trending content.
• Video + GIF Support: Enabled animated video clips with caching via AVKit, Nuke, and a custom CachingPlayerItem class.
• Notifications: Integrated Firebase Functions to push real-time updates for content drops and interactions.
• Toolkit Architecture: Built modular SwiftUI components for profile, post creation, and feed rendering.
• Backend Integration: Node.js Functions handled batching, post-processing, and analytics.
• Analytics Dashboard: Built a React dashboard to monitor usage by day, week, and month with BigQuery data.

Technical Highlights

• Tech Stack: SwiftUI, Firebase (Auth, Firestore, Functions), AVKit, Nuke, Node.js, React
• ViewModel Rework: Refactored SwiftUI state logic to remove lag and inconsistencies.
• Error Logging: Added structured logging to support easier debugging and crash reporting.
• Performance Optimizations: Optimized reads/writes with Firestore batching for lower costs.

Results

• Launched to 3000+ early access users in the creator space
• Stabilized media upload and playback for iOS
• Reduced backend costs with efficient use of Firebase Functions
• Improved engagement via real-time notifications and clean UI

Looking to Build Something Similar?

If you're working on a media-driven MVP and want real-time performance, clean UI, and a team that understands Firebase inside and out, contact us.

Have questions? Drop me a message, and let’s chat.

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