Abdullahi Mohamed // Engineering Home Base

I wanted to see how difficult it is to build a real-time logistics app, so I tried making this DoorDash-style delivery app. It was a great way to learn about state management and how to keep a mobile app in sync with a database.

Why I built this

I was curious about Flutter and how it handles complex animations and real-time data. Building a delivery app allowed me to experiment with both, plus I got to work with the Google Maps API for the first time.

How it works

Flutter & Dart: I used Flutter for the cross-platform UI. I really like how easy it is to make smooth transitions.
Provider: This is what I used for state management. It handles everything from the user's cart to their authentication state.
Firebase: I used Firebase for the backend because its real-time listeners are perfect for tracking driver locations without any manual refreshing.

A technical challenge

The hardest part was keeping the driver's location updated on the map without lagging the app. I had to learn how to throttle the updates so I wasn't sending data to Firebase every single second.

// Throttling the location updates
void _updateDriverLocation(Position position) {
  final latLng = LatLng(position.latitude, position.longitude);
  _mapController?.animateCamera(CameraUpdate.newLatLng(latLng));

  // Sync with Firebase
  FirebaseDatabase.instance.ref('deliveries/${orderId}/location').set({
    'lat': position.latitude,
    'lng': position.longitude,
    'timestamp': ServerValue.timestamp,
  });
}

Things I learned

I realized that high-accuracy GPS can really drain a phone's battery. I had to experiment with the distanceFilter setting in the Geolocator plugin to find a balance between accurate tracking and battery life.

What's next

I want to try adding a dashboard for drivers so they can see their earnings over time, and maybe implement a better routing algorithm for multi-stop deliveries.