Dynamic banners in FlutterFlow with Firebase Remote Config

Banners are an effective way to grab the attention of your users and display important information, promotions, or updates. Whether you want to showcase a limited-time offer or notify your users of a new feature, dynamic banners can be the perfect solution. By integrating Firebase Remote Config with FlutterFlow, you can update and control these banners in real time without needing to republish your app every time you want to change them.

In this blog, we’ll walk through how to set up and display banners that can be dynamically controlled via Firebase Remote Config. We’ll also explore how to add timers, spinning banners, and activate discounts, all from your Firebase console.

Why use dynamic banners?

Dynamic banners give you the flexibility to change what is being displayed on the frontend of your app without having to update the entire application. This is particularly useful for:

• Promotions - you can control flash sales or limited-time offers.
• Announcements - share new features or upcoming events with your users.
• Personalized offers - tailor the banners based on the user’s preferences or behavior.

With Firebase Remote Config, you can adjust the content, visibility, and functionality of banners directly from your Firebase console, allowing for greater control and faster updates.

Example use cases for dynamic banners

Here are some real-world examples where dynamic banners can be extremely helpful:

1. E-commerce flash sales - display a banner for a limited-time sale, and when the user clicks, redirect them to the sale page. The banner can disappear after the sale ends, with no need to push an app update.
2. Event reminders - remind users of upcoming events with countdown timers on banners. As the event gets closer, the banner can dynamically change to reflect the urgency.
3. Product announcements - when a new product is launched, you can display a banner to notify users. After a week, you can easily swap the banner for another announcement.

Step 1: setting up Firebase Remote Config

Before we dive into the banner setup, you’ll need to configure Firebase Remote Config in your FlutterFlow app.

1. Set up Firebase: If you haven’t already connected your app to Firebase, head over to Firebase’s website and create a new project (or you can do this inside of FlutterFlow). Make sure to add your FlutterFlow app to this Firebase project.
2. Enable Remote Config: In your Firebase console, go to the Remote Config section under Run. Here, you can define parameters that your app will fetch and display. For our banners, we’ll define a parameter like bannerText, bannerImage, and bannerDiscount.
3. Create Remote Config parameters
   1. Add a parameter named banner_text (text) and set a default value like “Welcome to our flash sale!”
   2. You can also add parameters like banner_image_url (text) and banner_active (boolean) to control the banner’s image and whether it is shown.
   3. Save and publish your changes.

Step 2: displaying banners in FlutterFlow

Now that Remote Config is set up, let’s display the dynamic banner in your FlutterFlow app.

1. Create a new banner component

• In your FlutterFlow app, add a container that will serve as the banner. This can be at the top or bottom of your screen, depending on where you want the banner to appear.

2. Create variables inside FlutterFlow

• Create variables inside FlutterFlow's Remote Config section with the same names as the ones created inside the Firebase console.

2. Bind Firebase Remote Config to the banner

• Use the Remote Config value in FlutterFlow to pull in the parameters you created earlier (e.g., banner_text, banner_image_url).
• Display the text in a Text widget and use an Image widget to show the banner image fetched from Remote Config.
• You can also conditionally display the banner based on the banner_active parameter, which controls whether or not the banner is visible.

3. Customize the Banner

• Add styles like background colors, gradients, and padding to ensure your banner stands out.
• You can make the banner dismissible by adding a button that hides the banner once clicked, or once an "X" is pressed, etc.

Step 3: spinning banners and timers

To make your banner more dynamic and engaging, you can add features like spinning banners or countdown timers.

Spinning banners:

• If you want your banner to rotate or animate in some way, you can use FlutterFlow’s Animation actions.
• Apply the animation to the banner image or text to create a spinning effect. You can adjust the speed and duration of the rotation to fit your app’s design.
• Or you can simply add more banners and set them in a carousel widget that will make them automatically animated.

Countdown Timer:

• Adding a countdown timer can create urgency for promotions or limited-time offers. Use a Text widget to display the remaining time.
• Fetch the end time of the offer from Remote Config (e.g., offer_end_time), then calculate the remaining time using a custom function.

Example of the custom function:

DateTime now = DateTime.now();
DateTime offerEndTime = DateTime.parse('2023-10-15 23:59:59'); // You can fetch this from Remote Config
Duration remaining = offerEndTime.difference(now);

Display this countdown in the banner to create a sense of urgency.

Step 4: activating discounts via the banner

Dynamic banners can also be used to trigger discounts or special offers. Here’s how to make your banners actionable:

1. Trigger discounts

• Add a button to your banner that, when clicked, applies a discount or redirects the user to a specific page with a special offer.
• You can track clicks on the banner by using Google Analytics or Firebase Analytics, which will allow you to monitor how well the banner performs.

2. Set up dynamic discounts

• Use Firebase Remote Config to update discount codes dynamically. For instance, you could have a parameter discount_code that updates every few hours.
• When the user clicks the banner, the app retrieves the latest discount code and applies it during checkout.

Step 5: regularly updating banners

One of the key benefits of using Firebase Remote Config is the ability to update your banners regularly without having to republish your app.

Automate banner updates

Set up automatic checks on your backend (e.g., via Firebase Cloud Functions or Make.com) to update banner content. For example, if you want the banner to switch every day, you can update the parameters accordingly using Firebase Cloud Functions.

Conclusion

By leveraging Firebase Remote Config in FlutterFlow, you can take full control of your banners and update them dynamically without needing to push updates through the app stores. This not only saves time but also enhances the user experience by delivering relevant content at the right time.

Whether it’s a promotion, a notification, or an event reminder, dynamic banners provide a powerful tool to keep your users engaged and informed.

If you need help integrating Firebase Remote Config or setting up dynamic banners in your FlutterFlow app, feel free to reach out—we’re always here to assist!