How nocode became a blocker for my first mobile app
The nocode world might be against this post. I just want to be transparent and not harm anyone, pinky promise.
Why did I do this app?
MyIdealLife ( android, iOS ) was released yesterday. This came to life because I wanted to learn how to launch a native mobile application.
The objective is to analyze your ideal life, how you would want your life to be if you wouldn't have any boundaries. There are a set of questions that you will need to answer. This will set up the direction you want to take.
My rule. First write. Then reread the last times I did the exercise. I realized that I was at the same point for a long time and that I wasn’t moving in the direction I wanted. This helped me change my path.
My aim is to create solutions in the area of health. This one is related to mental well-being. From what I know and experienced, it is important to live a life with purpose. A book that inspired me for writing these lines is Man’s Search for Meaning from Viktor Frankl.
Unique features
Before developing this app, I searched around to see if there was something similar in a mobile format. I didn't find any, so I decided to go on and create it. Hoping it can help others the same way it has helped me.
It doesn't cost any money to use it. It only costs your time to anlyze your life.
Planning vs. reality
Let's share some failures here. The release didn't meet the date I had planned.
A friend of mine, Alex, recommended me to write a press release before starting to do the project. He told me they use this method in Amazon before they build any software, I decided to give it a go.
https://twitter.com/juliaalvarez23/status/1580504254774583297
Do you see the date written in this tweet? November 1st. Yesterday was February 16th. Shame on me. That's it, no excuses, it was my responsibility and I failed myself. This reminded me of the Instant Gratification Monkey that Tim Urban talks about in his famous Ted talk.
Fun fact: the project was developed in different locations in Europe and Asia.
Technologies used
To bootstrap the project, I used FlutterFlow. It is a nocode solution. Coming from the development world this seemed like going doing a lot of clicking and nothing code related. This was my biggest blocker for the project.
I started with the mentality "how cool, this is going to be amazing and super fast". The end result was that I was frustrated. While I was clicking, I was thinking how easy it would be to do a map for some component or how slow it was to run flutter to interact with the software in the web.
Warning for the haters: I am not saying that FlutterFlow is bad. I just enjoy coding more. I understand better how things work when I feel they are more accessible and I don't have to pay $70 every month to have full access to what I am developing.
After having bootstrapped the app, I went on to download the code and continued with flutter on my own.
List of the technologies used:
- Flutter
- Firebase Authentication
- Firebase Firestore as DB
Costs
It was the first time that I was uploading something in both Google Play Store and App Store so I had to pay fees for both.
Google Play Store
There is a cost of $25 to open the developer account. After you have all the info set up, you can upload your application for Android.
App Store
Uploading to the App Store is more expensive, there is a cost of $99 per year.
For being able to download the code from FlutterFlow, I used their free trial so I didn't have to pay for it. Otherwise, it would cost $70 per month.
Total costs: $124
Team Members
There were many quality testers that made this app possible. These are mainly friends and family.
🥷 Some friends want to stay in the shadow, like Batman, one of them is the best quality tester but the identity won't be revealed here.
🫂 My mastermind buddies are always there supporting me, giving me good advice and telling me when something doesn't work Alba, Laura and Celia also known as Ms. Robot Juggler.
🏄♂️ My brother and family.
👨💻The biggest support for this app to see the light was Alberto. He has taken the time to give me many ideas, told me truths that one needs to hear which are not necessarily pleasant and offered me a lot of help.
Happy to receive any feedback. Thanks!
