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Firebase for Xamarin.Forms Apps — Introduction

2 min read
Firebase for Xamarin.Forms Apps — Introduction

The goal of this series is to introduce Firebase, explore some of its features, and walk through how to integrate it into cross-platform apps built with Xamarin.Forms.

What is Firebase?

Firebase is Google’s cloud platform. It includes a range of services: authentication, database, analytics, and more. You can find the official site at https://firebase.google.com.

The Firebase console and documentation are excellent for native platforms (Android, iOS, web). The cross-platform story — especially for Xamarin.Forms — is much thinner. That gap is exactly what this series addresses.

Why Firebase?

The biggest appeal for me is offloading the server side entirely. Building a mobile app solo in your spare time is already a lot. Having to also design, build, and host a backend API on top of that is too much. Firebase lets you skip that entirely — and with Google’s infrastructure backing it, your users’ data is in reliable hands.

Is it free?

Firebase has a free tier with certain limits that you can expand as your needs grow. The pricing page at https://firebase.google.com/pricing/ breaks down what each plan includes.

What we’ll build in this series

The plan is to build a small but fully functional Xamarin.Forms app that demonstrates the key Firebase services:

  • Cross-platform app for Android and iOS using Xamarin.Forms
  • MVVM architecture pattern
  • Firebase authentication:
    • Email and password login
    • Google account sign-in
  • Firebase database integration

There’s very little up-to-date documentation for Xamarin.Forms + Firebase online. My goal with this series is to explain which plugins to use and how to wire everything together — so that by the end you have a working base to build on.

See you in Part 1.

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