Case Study: Scalable iOS Social Platform with Firebase + SwiftUI
June 30, 2025Overview
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.
