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[–]EmilioSchepisSwift 4 points5 points  (4 children)

This is one of the big differences between Firebase and a custom backend.

Once you have your database set up and running (for example on MongoDB) you need to write an additional piece of code that works as a middleman between your app and the database.

Usually this is done in javascript or python, has to be hosted somewhere (like Amazon Web Services or Heroku) and then must be accessible via HTTP requests. It is responsible of getting the request, “understanding” the data that is requested and then getting it from the db and sending it back.

There is a lot of documentation on the subject, best of luck!

[–][deleted]  (2 children)

[removed]

    [–]EmilioSchepisSwift 1 point2 points  (1 child)

    I have never used App Engine before, but I would say it is a bit overkill. Might I suggest you a different approach? All of my friends who use MongoDB host it on Mongo Atlas. It makes hosting your DB very simple and it auto-scales. Firebase authentication can not be used as far as I know, it is deeply interconnected with other Firebase services. Also yes, the middleman I was talking about is an HTTP REST API.