Artists receive their own beautifully designed, custom-branded Android and iOS apps tailored with their own content and
Cloud Functions for Firebase & Auger Labs
Building a company in a 100% NoOps, serverless environment Company Auger (www.augerlabs.com) is a mobile apps-as-a-service company for the art community. Artists receive their own beautifully designed, custom-branded Android and iOS apps tailored with their own content and featuring advanced technologies such as image scanning and
recognition, augmented reality, GPS mapping, eCommerce, deeplinking, and beacon sensing.
AUGER LABS, INC. “We just get to focus on
Challenges As CEO/Founder, Brian Jenkin’s goal was to remain a completely NoOps, serverless
writing the functions that we
environment. Instead of following a traditional model Brian wanted a model that only required
need and that’s it, and
writing software and not configuring and managing backend infrastructure.
everything else is done for
us… Cloud Functions for
Solution
Firebase is just the model that
Brian chose Cloud Functions for Firebase because he wanted a solution that was easy to
everyone should be using.”
setup, easy to develop, and scaled effortlessly. Moreover, he wanted a solution backed by an
innovative yet financially stable company like Google that wouldn’t shut down the service. - Brian Jenkins, Founder & CEO
Implementation was easy enough that junior developers were able to rapidly prototype solutions. Moreover, development time was dramatically reduced due to availability of Node.js sample code for many common implementations. Firebase architecture now provides all of Auger’s mobile and cloud services without requiring servers, VMs, or containers and without the associated human capital required to stand-up and maintain backend systems. Brian has not hired a DevOps team, and doesn’t plan to.
Learn more at: http://g.co/firebas e/functions
Use cases Requirements: ●
a solution that provides traditional server-based, backend services but without requiring traditional DevOps;
●
the ability to write backend code without managing servers, VMs, or containers;
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a modern technology stack like Node.js to leverage a breadth of JavaScript expertise;
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an event-driven service that allows us to automate the operations of backend functions;
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a service that easily integrates with our front-end web app, our realtime cloud database, and our cloud storage services;
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a service that scales on-demand;
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a service that integrates with our Continuous Integration (CI) service;
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a service that works well with our staging and production environments.
Which event providers trigger functions? ●
Firebase Realtime Database
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Firebase Storage (image processing)
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HTTPS endpoints (payment processing from our front-end web app [Firebase Hosting])
Auger’s use cases: ●
Image Processing for Performance: provide unlimited cloud storage for high resolution art images, so every time an image is uploaded to Firebase Storage, a Cloud Function executes to create thumbnails for enhanced mobile app responsiveness.
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Image Processing for Scanning: provide mobile visual scanning and image recognition, so every time an image is uploaded to Firebase Storage, a Cloud Function executes to create a machine-recognizable image.
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Image Processing for Search: building a way for art lovers to search for interesting artwork, so every time an image is uploaded to Firebase Storage, a Cloud Function executes to find searchable labels for the image.
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Payment Processing for CMAaaS: every time a customer purchases their custom mobile app, a Cloud Function executes that sends the secure payment information for payment processing.
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Payment Processing for eCommerce: every time an art buyer purchases artwork through the customer’s custom app, a Cloud Function executes that sends the secure payment information for payment processing and directly pays the customer.
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Deferred Deeplinking: every time a new custom app is created, a Cloud Function is executed to create the configuration for deferred deeplinking, where shared links bring users directly to the app’s artwork or, if not already installed, will allow them to install the app prior to displaying the artwork.
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Location Processing: every time a customer adds a business or artwork location, a Cloud Function executes that processes the location for inclusion on maps.
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Slack Notifications: Cloud Functions send notifications to Slack so team members can monitor events.
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Email Notifications: Cloud Functions notify customers via email when their custom apps are available in Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store.
