Daria Orlova

Going solo as a Flutter developer can be empowering—but also overwhelming. From coding and design to backend and store compliance, indie developers wear every hat, and the road to launching even one app can be full of surprises. In this roundtable, we’ll share real experiences and lessons learned from building and releasing Flutter apps solo. Whether you’ve published apps or are still deep in development, this is a space to trade tools, mistakes, growth tips, and inspiration. We’ll talk about publishing pitfalls, managing everything without a team, using AI as your co-pilot, and staying motivated when things get hard. What’s been your biggest challenge (or surprise) as a solo Flutter developer trying to ship an app? What do you wish you knew before publishing your first app to the Play Store or App Store? How do you handle tasks like backend, analytics, or monetization when you're working solo? Which AI tools or automations have saved you the most time or stress as an indie dev? What strategies or routines help you stay motivated, focused, and avoid burnout as a one-person dev team?

Firebase has been around for many years with its well-known NoSQL databases, Firestore and Realtime Database. But until 2024, SQL wasn’t part of the picture. That changed with the introduction of Firebase DataConnect, a new SQL-based database solution. Now, you don’t have to cross Firebase off your list just because you need a relational database. In my Bunny Search app, NoSQL wasn’t a fit, so I chose DataConnect. In this talk, I’ll walk you through what Firebase DataConnect is and how to use it. I’ll share when it’s a good idea, when you should consider other options, and what it’s like to adopt a brand-new product. From initial excitement to moments of frustration (we even considered pulling it from production), I’ll share the full story of how we made it work. By the end of the talk, you’ll have a clear answer to whether Firebase is the solution to your SQL vs NoSQL dilemma.