Build a chat app using flutter

Flutter is a Google product. It’s an open-source, portable, and free UI toolkit. It can be used to create native mobile apps for different operating systems (like Android and iOS) using code reuse and one codebase.

Why do we prefer Flutter?

Flutter is the preferred choice of many top mobile app development companies. Flutter development is more cost-effective and productive.

Flutter is a great choice for app development because of many other factors.

Rapid UI Coding

Ready-made widgets

Dart- A simple object-oriented language

Learning curve:

There is a lot of documentation

Hot reload for real-time updates

Four Steps to Create a Chat App in Flutter With Firebase

Firebase allows you to create a project

Firebase can be connected to your Flutter App

Install plugins

Make the Screen Layouts

Log in Screen

Home Screen

Profil Page

Chat Screen

1. Firebase – Create a Project

A Google account is the first step in working with Firebase. To sign in to Firebase console and create new projects, you will need one.

Once you’re there, click the ‘Create a Project’ button. Next, type in the ‘Project name’ and click on ‘Continue’

Next, register your Firebase app. You will be asked for your iOS bundle ID and Android package name. This information can be found in Android Manifest and Source Stream.

Firebase must be registered for all apps that you intend to make available your chat app across multiple platforms, such as iOS and Android. Firebase allows you to add multiple applications.

Remember, the goal is to create authentication and storage via Google Firebase. Cloud FireStore will be used for this purpose.

You can also learn flutter chat app with firebase, from experts

Create a new database. You can either start in production or testing mode.

You are now ready to create collections. Now you have a working backend. We now need to connect it to Flutter to create a seamless, active connection.

2. Flutter and Firebase can be connected

Add the Cloud Firestore plugin into your Flutter app. To do that, we’ll get back to the configuration files named google-services.json.

Navigate to the Flutter project source. Place the config file into the android/app directory.

After that, you can open the build.gradle file. You can add one line of code in the dependency section.

classpath ‘com.google.gms:google-services:3.2.0’

Next, open the build.gradle at the app level. Add another line of code at its bottom.

apply plugin:’com.google.gms.google-services

You now need to create the final link. Open the pubspec.yaml Flutter file. This is where Flutter stores project metadata, dependencies, and more. Add cloud_firestore to the dependencies section. Next, click on Tools, Flutter, and Get Flutter Packages.

That’s it! It has been successfully imported. Now, your Flutter app project is ready to communicate with Firebase.

3. The Chat App requires the right plugins

Let’s return to the time we talked about the Flutter and Firebase chat apps. Ask yourself: How can I use a real time chat app?

Sign up or log in

All open chats available on your home page

Click here

Type a message

Send an image

Go back and read old texts

Create profile pictures and usernames

Check out other users’ profiles and see their usernames

Developers need permission to perform each of these actions in Flutter, and Firebase permission to fetch, record, and use data. Plugins are used to accomplish this.

These are the ones that I am referring to.

firebase_auth — To access the Firebase Authentication API

google_sign_in – A plugin that allows you to sign in with your Google account on Android and iOS

cloud_firestore — This is for Google Firestore (we have already used this one).

firebase_storage

XYou can easily get all of these plugins via this trick.

4. Flutter & Firebase Screen Layout Design Using Plugins & Widgets

So far, so good?

Let’s discuss screens and the backend database. We will also be discussing plugins that can connect them.

Conversions about screen layouts include how they look and behave. How do you add a chatbox to Flutter?

You create code and design a UI that includes a textbox, background and a button to send. You also link it with a database to define where the text goes or the location of the image when a user sends a message.

Firebase storage should be able to record data from users who log in. This should also happen when users modify their avatars. The backend should store URLs and image names. Firebase should allow two users to chat at once. Data should be read/written from the same Firebase node.

When we connect Flutter to Google Firebase, and perform tests by signing in or logging in, sending text or images, it should reflect on the database.

We use plugins depending on the screen to create the functionality of your layout. Firebase then channels the data to the plugins. This reduces errors in the database and speeds up your work.

Follow the steps shown, do some research, and then build it yourself.

Flutter App Development Company offers mobile app developers to hire.

This is because the cost of creating a Flutter chat application varies depending on the method chosen. Both phases are not without their ups or downs.

DIY learning is a great way to learn. You may find some gaps in my tutorial. We’ve covered the steps for building a chat app with Flutter, Firebase, and the internet. However, I am focusing more on Google Firebase. A more detailed guide is required to learn more about how to create a chat app using Flutter.

To help you understand the cost of a Flutter chat app, please take a look at the following cost structure.

And, We’re Done!

You have created a functional, but naive Flutter chap app with Firebase. Congratulations!