Till now I was using service account to connect to my Firestore database (Firebase is not enabled) from within Google products like Cloud Functions or Colab.
Now I need to connect to Firestore from html page opened in my browser. Is it possible without enabling Firebase?
Yes, the Google Cloud Firestore NodeJS SDK is meant to be used on server side only. You can use Firebase Web SDK along with Firebase Authentication and Firebase Security Rules to support serverless app architectures where clients connect directly to your Firestore database.
You don't necessarily have to use Firebase Auth. However, it might be a good idea to restrict access and allow only public content to be accessible without authentication.
You can follow the quickstart in the documentation to setup the client SDK.
Are all of the Firebase services for Android unable to work on Huawei or is it just the cloud messaging service that does not work? Do all of the firebase services rely on Google Play Services?
Firebase SDKs can be divided into three categories:
Play services required — These SDKs require Google Play services, otherwise they have no functionality.
Play services recommended — These SDKs require Google Play services to have full functionality, but they still offer most functionality even without Google Play services.
Play services not required — These SDKS do not require Google Play services to have full functionality.
List of Firebase SDKs that don't require Google Play services
List of Firebase SDKs that you need to include Google Play services
Remote Config SDK com.google.firebase:firebase-config:20.0.0 doesn't require Google Play Services.
Realtime Database SDK com.google.firebase:firebase-database:19.5.1 doesn't require Google Play Services.
But keep in mind that Realtime Database depends on Firebase Auth (it needs an authenticated user to work) which depends on Google Play Services. For that you can use Firebase Auth REST API instead of Firebase Auth SDK.
For more info Use Firebase Authentication without Google Play services
Update 27 Oct 2020:
Firebase Auth SDK v20.0.0 com.google.firebase:firebase-auth:20.0.0 doesn't require Google Play Service.
Official Dependencies of Firebase Android SDKs on Google Play services
The following Firebase products depend on Firebase Authentication.
Firebase Realtime Database
Cloud Firestore
Cloud Functions
Cloud Storage
You just need to replace Firebase Authentication with Firebase Auth REST SDK. Using this SDK, you don't need to change your existing Firebase Realtime Database code. It will start working on Huawei devices and also GMS devices as well.
Docs: Firebase Auth REST SDK - How to use Firebase Authentication on HMS phones
Firebase official stance is that all Firebase services require Google Play Services to work. Yes, some Firebase services actually work without GPS currently, however this can change at any time without prior notice.
Firebase services will not work on the new Huawei Phones.
For Huawei devices you can take a look to HMS and App Gallery Connect Services
Remote config: https://developer.huawei.com/consumer/en/doc/development/AppGallery-connect-Guides/agc-remoteconfig-introduction
Cloud DB: https://developer.huawei.com/consumer/en/doc/development/AppGallery-connect-Guides/clouddb-apply
Push Notifications: https://developer.huawei.com/consumer/en/doc/development/HMS-Guides/push-introduction
To make your app compatible with all devices, you can use the G+H solution:
https://forums.developer.huawei.com/forumPortal/en/topicview?tid=0201200435859940059&fid=0101187876626530001
We have deployed a flask api running Google Cloud Run and have a RESTful HTTP endpoint. We intend this to be called by our iOS app which integrates with firebase (we want writes to go through a REST request instead directly to collection, for business logic).
Is there way that we can make it secure/leverage gcloud authentication capabilities?
I see firebase has no server authentication API's added in the Firebase Admin but has only user management (CreateUser and UpdateUser).
Firebase only offers signin through client libraries where it depends on Google Identity Platform (https://www.googleapis.com/identitytoolkit/v3/relyingparty/verifyPassword)
After exploring further I ended up finding Firebase Auth REST API over (Implemented it too and works great) here.
This API reference is great for implementing Auth through REST API and avoiding dependency on client libraries. As this helps in having complete server side authentication through cloud functions.
Coming to the pricing, Firebase mentions that Auth costs nothing where as Google Identity platforms has really high pricing.
So would like to know what Firebase team has to say on this or any one who explored this.
Is it possible to setup a firebase A/B testing with both android/ios or android-release/android-debug ?
I could only select one of the app I registered with firebase