Build in Public: GoKiddo [Part 5]

It’s been quite a while since I wrote a post about GoKiddo and my journey of building the app in public.

If you missed Part 4 , you can check it out here, it was quite a bummer and part of the reason for me taking over a month to write another post.

Flutterflow is a GO

Last time I decided that I was going to build GoKiddo using an open-source language, called Flutter and I must say it has been excellent.

Learning any new coding language, there is quite a learning curve at the beginning. But my experience with Flutter and Flutterflow (a platform that gives you a really friendly interface to build mobile and web apps in a single code base using Flutter) has been amazing and I have realised that there is nothing that can be done in Bubble.io that cannot be done using Flutterflow. In truth, you can probably achieve more using Flutterflow, and you don’t have the vendor lock-in that you experience while using Bubble.io

Here is what I have rebuilt so far. Click here.

Simpler is better

In the process of rebuilding GoKiddo on a new codebase, I was forced to re-evaluate many of my features. When building something an end-user will be using, it’s easy to convince yourself that a part is needed or will help your users, but sometimes features make your app difficult to use and understand.

Progress has been slow

I need to be honest, my progress on GoKiddo has been much slower than I would like, but the truth is, it’s a side project for me.

I have bills to pay and therefore I need to focus on my other business that is actually bringing in some money. If you would like to see what I am currently working on now, check out this page. It’s called a NOW page and I keep it updated with the latest things I am working on.

Current TECH STACK for GoKiddo

What is a tech stack? A tech stack refers to the combination of programming languages, frameworks, libraries, tools, and technologies used to develop and deploy a software application or system.

Front End

For my front end, I am using Flutter via Flutterflow which allows me to build a web app + iOS App + Android App using a single code base. This is more impressive than I can describe using words.

Database/Backend

For my backend, I am using Supabase an open-source Firebase alternative for building secure and performant Postgres backends with minimal configuration.

Transactional + Marketing Emails

I have not implemented email yet, but for some of my other projects I have used Postmark and I am extremely happy with their ease of use, performance and pricing.

Payments + Subscriptions

For processing payments and subscriptions I am still using LemonSqueezy. The speed at which they are expanding their offering is incredible. They are currently working on a billing dashboard which makes a lot of billing and invoice pages, which I would need to build myself, redundant and much easier to implement.

Landing Page

At the moment Flutterflow does have some limitations regarding SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) and I am probably going to build a landing page using Framer, which I have been watching very closely and they have been enabling people to build lightning-fast landing pages.

Quick Update

The last post I wrote was about going old school again and getting a Casio watch. Ever since getting my Casio watch and wearing in proudly, I have been extremely aware of how I interact with technology (my phone in particular).

• Now I don’t need to take out my phone to check the time anymore, which helps me avoid being pulled into open another app on my phone.
• It has reminded me to make an effort with relationships around me and to be present.
• It has also sparked a few conversations with people I interact with.

People mostly think I am weird for wearing such an outdated watch, but I believe it has sparked some reflection here and there. Mission accomplished.

That’s all for now

That’s all I am going to share for now. Thank you very much for reading this post and stick around if you would like to stay updated on my progress on GoKiddo.

When simplification is no longer possible, you have found the solution.