Building a Social Networking App with Flutter and Back4App

introduction creating a social networking app can be a complex task, but with flutter and back4app, you can streamline the development process this tutorial will guide you through building a full featured social networking app that includes user authentication, profile management, news feeds, friend connections, messaging, and notifications by the end of this tutorial, you will have a functional social networking app with the following features user authentication secure sign up and login processes user profiles editable profiles with user information news feeds display posts from friends and the user friend connections ability to send and accept friend requests messaging real time chat between users notifications push notifications for friend requests, messages, and post interactions prerequisites to follow along with this tutorial, you will need flutter sdk installed on your machine follow the official flutter installation guide https //flutter dev/docs/get started/install for your operating system basic knowledge of flutter and dart if you're new to flutter, review the flutter documentation https //flutter dev/docs to familiarize yourself with the basics an ide or text editor such as visual studio code or android studio a back4app account sign up for a free account at back4app https //www back4app com/ parse server sdk for flutter added to your project learn how to set it up by following the back4app flutter sdk guide https //www back4app com/docs/flutter/parse flutter sdk step 1 – setting up the flutter project 1 1 create a new flutter project open your terminal and run flutter create social app navigate to the project directory cd social app 1 2 add dependencies open pubspec yaml and add the following dependencies dependencies flutter sdk flutter parse server sdk flutter ^4 0 1 provider ^6 0 0 image picker ^0 8 4+6 cached network image ^3 2 0 firebase messaging ^11 2 8 uuid ^3 0 6 run flutter pub get to install the packages note we are using parse server sdk flutter for back4app integration provider for state management image picker for selecting profile and post images cached network image for efficient image loading firebase messaging for push notifications uuid for generating unique ids step 2 – setting up back4app 2 1 create a new back4app application log in to your back4app dashboard https //dashboard back4app com/ click on "create new app" enter a name for your application, e g , "socialapp" , and click "create" 2 2 set up the data models we'll need to create several classes in back4app user built in class for user authentication profile stores user profile information post stores user posts friendrequest manages friend requests between users message stores messages between users 2 2 1 profile class navigate to the "database" section click on "create a class" in the modal select "custom" enter "profile" as the class name click "create class" add the following columns user type pointer< user> username type string fullname type string bio type string profilepicture type file 2 2 2 post class create a "post" class with the following columns user type pointer< user> content type string image type file createdat type date 2 2 3 friendrequest class create a "friendrequest" class with the following columns fromuser type pointer< user> touser type pointer< user> status type string (values "pending", "accepted", "rejected") 2 2 4 message class create a "message" class with the following columns fromuser type pointer< user> touser type pointer< user> content type string createdat type date 2 3 obtain application credentials navigate to app settings > security & keys note down your application id and client key step 3 – initializing parse in your flutter app open lib/main dart and modify it as follows import 'package\ flutter/material dart'; import 'package\ parse server sdk flutter/parse server sdk dart'; import 'package\ provider/provider dart'; import 'services/auth service dart'; import 'screens/login screen dart'; void main() async { widgetsflutterbinding ensureinitialized(); const keyapplicationid = 'your application id'; const keyclientkey = 'your client key'; const keyparseserverurl = 'https //parseapi back4app com'; await parse() initialize( keyapplicationid, keyparseserverurl, clientkey keyclientkey, autosendsessionid true, debug true, ); runapp(myapp()); } class myapp extends statelesswidget { @override widget build(buildcontext context) { return changenotifierprovider\<authservice>( create ( ) => authservice(), child materialapp( title 'social app', theme themedata( primaryswatch colors blue, ), home loginscreen(), ), ); } } replace 'your application id' and 'your client key' with your back4app credentials we are using changenotifierprovider to manage authentication state step 4 – implementing user authentication 4 1 create the authentication service create a new directory called services under lib and add a file named auth service dart // lib/services/auth service dart import 'package\ flutter/material dart'; import 'package\ parse server sdk flutter/parse server sdk dart'; class authservice with changenotifier { parseuser? user; future\<bool> signup(string username, string password, string email) async { user = parseuser createuser(username, password, email); final response = await user! signup(); if (response success) { notifylisteners(); return true; } else { user = null; return false; } } future\<bool> login(string username, string password) async { user = parseuser(username, password, null); final response = await user! login(); if (response success) { notifylisteners(); return true; } else { user = null; return false; } } future\<void> logout() async { if (user != null) { await user! logout(); user = null; notifylisteners(); } } bool get isauthenticated => user != null; } 4 2 create the login and signup screens create a directory called screens under lib and add login screen dart and signup screen dart 4 2 1 login screen // lib/screens/login screen dart import 'package\ flutter/material dart'; import 'package\ provider/provider dart'; import ' /services/auth service dart'; import 'signup screen dart'; import 'home screen dart'; class loginscreen extends statefulwidget { @override loginscreenstate createstate() => loginscreenstate(); } class loginscreenstate extends state\<loginscreen> { final texteditingcontroller usernamecontroller = texteditingcontroller(); final texteditingcontroller passwordcontroller = texteditingcontroller(); void login() async { final authservice = provider of\<authservice>(context, listen false); bool success = await authservice login( usernamecontroller text trim(), passwordcontroller text trim(), ); if (success) { navigator pushreplacement( context, materialpageroute(builder (context) => homescreen()), ); } else { scaffoldmessenger of(context) showsnackbar(snackbar(content text('login failed'))); } } @override widget build(buildcontext context) { return scaffold( appbar appbar( title text('social app login'), ), body padding( padding const edgeinsets all(16), child column( children \[ textfield( controller usernamecontroller, decoration inputdecoration(labeltext 'username'), ), textfield( controller passwordcontroller, decoration inputdecoration(labeltext 'password'), obscuretext true, ), sizedbox(height 20), elevatedbutton(onpressed login, child text('login')), textbutton( onpressed () { navigator push( context, materialpageroute(builder ( ) => signupscreen()), ); }, child text('don\\'t have an account? sign up'), ) ], ), ), ); } } 4 2 2 signup screen // lib/screens/signup screen dart import 'package\ flutter/material dart'; import 'package\ provider/provider dart'; import ' /services/auth service dart'; import 'home screen dart'; class signupscreen extends statefulwidget { @override signupscreenstate createstate() => signupscreenstate(); } class signupscreenstate extends state\<signupscreen> { final texteditingcontroller usernamecontroller = texteditingcontroller(); final texteditingcontroller passwordcontroller = texteditingcontroller(); final texteditingcontroller emailcontroller = texteditingcontroller(); void signup() async { final authservice = provider of\<authservice>(context, listen false); bool success = await authservice signup( usernamecontroller text trim(), passwordcontroller text trim(), emailcontroller text trim(), ); if (success) { navigator pushreplacement( context, materialpageroute(builder (context) => homescreen()), ); } else { scaffoldmessenger of(context) showsnackbar(snackbar(content text('signup failed'))); } } @override widget build(buildcontext context) { return scaffold( appbar appbar( title text('social app signup'), ), body padding( padding const edgeinsets all(16), child column( children \[ textfield( controller usernamecontroller, decoration inputdecoration(labeltext 'username'), ), textfield( controller emailcontroller, decoration inputdecoration(labeltext 'email'), ), textfield( controller passwordcontroller, decoration inputdecoration(labeltext 'password'), obscuretext true, ), sizedbox(height 20), elevatedbutton(onpressed signup, child text('sign up')), ], ), ), ); } } step 5 – setting up user profiles 5 1 create profile service add a file named profile service dart under lib/services/ // lib/services/profile service dart import 'package\ parse server sdk flutter/parse server sdk dart'; import ' /models/profile dart'; class profileservice { future\<void> createprofile(parseuser user) async { final profile = parseobject('profile') set('user', user) set('username', user username); await profile save(); } future\<profile?> getprofile(parseuser user) async { final query = querybuilder\<parseobject>(parseobject('profile')) whereequalto('user', user); final response = await query query(); if (response success && response results != null) { final profileobject = response results! first; return profile fromparseobject(profileobject); } else { return null; } } future\<void> updateprofile(profile profile) async { final profileobject = parseobject('profile') objectid = profile id set('fullname', profile fullname) set('bio', profile bio); await profileobject save(); } } 5 2 create profile model add a file named profile dart under lib/models/ // lib/models/profile dart import 'package\ parse server sdk flutter/parse server sdk dart'; class profile { string id; string username; string? fullname; string? bio; parsefilebase? profilepicture; profile({ required this id, required this username, this fullname, this bio, this profilepicture, }); factory profile fromparseobject(parseobject object) { return profile( id object objectid!, username object get\<string>('username')!, fullname object get\<string>('fullname'), bio object get\<string>('bio'), profilepicture object get\<parsefilebase>('profilepicture'), ); } } 5 3 create profile screen add a file named profile screen dart under lib/screens/ // lib/screens/profile screen dart import 'package\ flutter/material dart'; import 'package\ provider/provider dart'; import ' /services/auth service dart'; import ' /services/profile service dart'; import ' /models/profile dart'; class profilescreen extends statefulwidget { @override profilescreenstate createstate() => profilescreenstate(); } class profilescreenstate extends state\<profilescreen> { final profileservice profileservice = profileservice(); profile? profile; final texteditingcontroller fullnamecontroller = texteditingcontroller(); final texteditingcontroller biocontroller = texteditingcontroller(); void loadprofile() async { final authservice = provider of\<authservice>(context, listen false); final user = authservice user!; profile? fetchedprofile = await profileservice getprofile(user); if (fetchedprofile == null) { await profileservice createprofile(user); fetchedprofile = await profileservice getprofile(user); } setstate(() { profile = fetchedprofile; fullnamecontroller text = profile? fullname ?? ''; biocontroller text = profile? bio ?? ''; }); } void saveprofile() async { if (profile != null) { profile! fullname = fullnamecontroller text trim(); profile! bio = biocontroller text trim(); await profileservice updateprofile(profile!); scaffoldmessenger of(context) showsnackbar(snackbar(content text('profile updated'))); } } @override void initstate() { super initstate(); loadprofile(); } @override widget build(buildcontext context) { if (profile == null) { return scaffold( appbar appbar(title text('profile')), body center(child circularprogressindicator()), ); } return scaffold( appbar appbar(title text(profile! username)), body padding( padding const edgeinsets all(16), child column( children \[ // add profile picture handling here textfield( controller fullnamecontroller, decoration inputdecoration(labeltext 'full name'), ), textfield( controller biocontroller, decoration inputdecoration(labeltext 'bio'), ), sizedbox(height 20), elevatedbutton(onpressed saveprofile, child text('save')), ], ), ), ); } } step 6 – implementing news feeds 6 1 create post service add a file named post service dart under lib/services/ // lib/services/post service dart import 'package\ parse server sdk flutter/parse server sdk dart'; import ' /models/post dart'; class postservice { future\<void> createpost(string content, parseuser user) async { final post = parseobject('post') set('user', user) set('content', content); await post save(); } future\<list\<post>> getposts(parseuser user) async { final query = querybuilder\<parseobject>(parseobject('post')) orderbydescending('createdat') includeobject(\['user']); final response = await query query(); if (response success && response results != null) { return response results! map((e) => post fromparseobject(e)) tolist(); } else { return \[]; } } } 6 2 create post model add a file named post dart under lib/models/ // lib/models/post dart import 'package\ parse server sdk flutter/parse server sdk dart'; class post { string id; string content; parseuser user; datetime createdat; post({ required this id, required this content, required this user, required this createdat, }); factory post fromparseobject(parseobject object) { return post( id object objectid!, content object get\<string>('content')!, user object get\<parseuser>('user')!, createdat object createdat!, ); } } 6 3 create home screen modify home screen dart under lib/screens/ // lib/screens/home screen dart import 'package\ flutter/material dart'; import 'package\ provider/provider dart'; import ' /services/auth service dart'; import ' /services/post service dart'; import ' /models/post dart'; import 'profile screen dart'; class homescreen extends statefulwidget { @override homescreenstate createstate() => homescreenstate(); } class homescreenstate extends state\<homescreen> { final postservice postservice = postservice(); list\<post> posts = \[]; final texteditingcontroller postcontroller = texteditingcontroller(); void loadposts() async { final authservice = provider of\<authservice>(context, listen false); final user = authservice user!; list\<post> fetchedposts = await postservice getposts(user); setstate(() { posts = fetchedposts; }); } void createpost() async { final authservice = provider of\<authservice>(context, listen false); final user = authservice user!; await postservice createpost( postcontroller text trim(), user); postcontroller clear(); loadposts(); } @override void initstate() { super initstate(); loadposts(); } @override widget build(buildcontext context) { final authservice = provider of\<authservice>(context); return scaffold( appbar appbar( title text('social app'), actions \[ iconbutton( icon icon(icons person), onpressed () { navigator push( context, materialpageroute(builder ( ) => profilescreen()), ); }, ), iconbutton( icon icon(icons logout), onpressed () async { await authservice logout(); navigator pushreplacementnamed(context, '/'); }, ), ], ), body column( children \[ textfield( controller postcontroller, decoration inputdecoration( hinttext 'what\\'s on your mind?', contentpadding edgeinsets all(16), ), ), elevatedbutton(onpressed createpost, child text('post')), expanded( child listview\ builder( itemcount posts length, itembuilder (context, index) { final post = posts\[index]; return listtile( title text(post user username ?? 'unknown'), subtitle text(post content), trailing text( post createdat tolocal() tostring(), style textstyle(fontsize 12), ), ); }, ), ), ], ), ); } } step 7 – adding friend connections in this step, we will implement friend connections between users users can send friend requests, accept or reject them, and view their list of friends we will modify the data models, create services, and update the ui to support this functionality 7 1 update the data model we have already created the friendrequest class in back4app with the following columns fromuser pointer to user touser pointer to user status string (values "pending", "accepted", "rejected") additionally, we need to track a user's list of friends we can do this by adding a friends relation in the user class 7 1 1 add friends relation to user class in back4app, go to the user class click on the "+" button to add a new column name the column "friends" and set the type to relation < user> 7 2 create friend request service create a file named friend service dart under lib/services/ // lib/services/friend service dart import 'package\ parse server sdk flutter/parse server sdk dart'; class friendservice { future\<bool> sendfriendrequest(parseuser fromuser, parseuser touser) async { final friendrequest = parseobject('friendrequest') set('fromuser', fromuser) set('touser', touser) set('status', 'pending'); final response = await friendrequest save(); return response success; } future\<list\<parseobject>> getpendingrequests(parseuser user) async { final query = querybuilder\<parseobject>(parseobject('friendrequest')) whereequalto('touser', user) whereequalto('status', 'pending') includeobject(\['fromuser']); final response = await query query(); if (response success && response results != null) { return response results!; } else { return \[]; } } future\<bool> acceptfriendrequest(parseobject friendrequest) async { friendrequest set('status', 'accepted'); final response = await friendrequest save(); if (response success) { // add each user to the other's friends relation final fromuser = friendrequest get\<parseuser>('fromuser')!; final touser = friendrequest get\<parseuser>('touser')!; fromuser setadd('friends', \[touser]); touser setadd('friends', \[fromuser]); await fromuser save(); await touser save(); return true; } return false; } future\<bool> rejectfriendrequest(parseobject friendrequest) async { friendrequest set('status', 'rejected'); final response = await friendrequest save(); return response success; } future\<list\<parseuser>> getfriends(parseuser user) async { final relation = user getrelation\<parseuser>('friends'); final query = relation query(); final response = await query query(); if (response success && response results != null) { return response results! cast\<parseuser>(); } else { return \[]; } } } 7 3 update the ui 7 3 1 add search users screen create a file named search users screen dart under lib/screens/ // lib/screens/search users screen dart import 'package\ flutter/material dart'; import 'package\ parse server sdk flutter/parse server sdk dart'; import 'package\ provider/provider dart'; import ' /services/auth service dart'; import ' /services/friend service dart'; class searchusersscreen extends statefulwidget { @override searchusersscreenstate createstate() => searchusersscreenstate(); } class searchusersscreenstate extends state\<searchusersscreen> { final texteditingcontroller searchcontroller = texteditingcontroller(); list\<parseuser> users = \[]; final friendservice friendservice = friendservice(); void searchusers() async { final query = querybuilder\<parseuser>(parseuser forquery()) wherecontains('username', searchcontroller text trim()) wherenotequalto('objectid', provider of\<authservice>(context, listen false) user! objectid); final response = await query query(); if (response success && response results != null) { setstate(() { users = response results! cast\<parseuser>(); }); } else { setstate(() { users = \[]; }); } } void sendfriendrequest(parseuser touser) async { final fromuser = provider of\<authservice>(context, listen false) user!; bool success = await friendservice sendfriendrequest(fromuser, touser); if (success) { scaffoldmessenger of(context) showsnackbar(snackbar(content text('friend request sent'))); } else { scaffoldmessenger of(context) showsnackbar(snackbar(content text('failed to send friend request'))); } } @override widget build(buildcontext context) { return scaffold( appbar appbar( title text('search users'), ), body column( children \[ padding( padding const edgeinsets all(16 0), child textfield( controller searchcontroller, decoration inputdecoration( hinttext 'search by username', suffixicon iconbutton( icon icon(icons search), onpressed searchusers, ), ), ), ), expanded( child listview\ builder( itemcount users length, itembuilder (context, index) { final user = users\[index]; return listtile( title text(user username ?? 'unknown'), trailing elevatedbutton( onpressed () => sendfriendrequest(user), child text('add friend'), ), ); }, ), ), ], ), ); } } 7 3 2 add friend requests screen create a file named friend requests screen dart under lib/screens/ // lib/screens/friend requests screen dart import 'package\ flutter/material dart'; import 'package\ parse server sdk flutter/parse server sdk dart'; import 'package\ provider/provider dart'; import ' /services/auth service dart'; import ' /services/friend service dart'; class friendrequestsscreen extends statefulwidget { @override friendrequestsscreenstate createstate() => friendrequestsscreenstate(); } class friendrequestsscreenstate extends state\<friendrequestsscreen> { final friendservice friendservice = friendservice(); list\<parseobject> friendrequests = \[]; void loadfriendrequests() async { final user = provider of\<authservice>(context, listen false) user!; final requests = await friendservice getpendingrequests(user); setstate(() { friendrequests = requests; }); } void acceptrequest(parseobject request) async { bool success = await friendservice acceptfriendrequest(request); if (success) { scaffoldmessenger of(context) showsnackbar(snackbar(content text('friend request accepted'))); loadfriendrequests(); } else { scaffoldmessenger of(context) showsnackbar(snackbar(content text('failed to accept friend request'))); } } void rejectrequest(parseobject request) async { bool success = await friendservice rejectfriendrequest(request); if (success) { scaffoldmessenger of(context) showsnackbar(snackbar(content text('friend request rejected'))); loadfriendrequests(); } else { scaffoldmessenger of(context) showsnackbar(snackbar(content text('failed to reject friend request'))); } } @override void initstate() { super initstate(); loadfriendrequests(); } @override widget build(buildcontext context) { return scaffold( appbar appbar( title text('friend requests'), ), body listview\ builder( itemcount friendrequests length, itembuilder (context, index) { final request = friendrequests\[index]; final fromuser = request get\<parseuser>('fromuser')!; return listtile( title text(fromuser username ?? 'unknown'), subtitle text('sent you a friend request'), trailing row( mainaxissize mainaxissize min, children \[ iconbutton( icon icon(icons check, color colors green), onpressed () => acceptrequest(request), ), iconbutton( icon icon(icons close, color colors red), onpressed () => rejectrequest(request), ), ], ), ); }, ), ); } } 7 3 3 update home screen navigation in home screen dart , add navigation to the search users and friend requests screens // inside appbar actions iconbutton( icon icon(icons person add), onpressed () { navigator push( context, materialpageroute(builder ( ) => searchusersscreen()), ); }, ), iconbutton( icon icon(icons notifications), onpressed () { navigator push( context, materialpageroute(builder ( ) => friendrequestsscreen()), ); }, ), 7 4 update news feed to show friends' posts modify the getposts method in post service dart to fetch posts from the user and their friends // lib/services/post service dart future\<list\<post>> getposts(parseuser user) async { // get friends final relation = user getrelation\<parseuser>('friends'); final friendsquery = relation query(); final friendsresponse = await friendsquery query(); list\<string> userids = \[user objectid!]; if (friendsresponse success && friendsresponse results != null) { final friends = friendsresponse results! cast\<parseuser>(); userids addall(friends map((friend) => friend objectid!)); } // fetch posts from user and friends final query = querybuilder\<parseobject>(parseobject('post')) wherecontainedin('user', userids map((id) => parseuser(null, null, null) objectid = id) tolist()) orderbydescending('createdat') includeobject(\['user']); final response = await query query(); if (response success && response results != null) { return response results! map((e) => post fromparseobject(e)) tolist(); } else { return \[]; } } step 8 – implementing messaging in this step, we'll add real time messaging between users using live queries 8 1 enable live queries in back4app in your back4app app dashboard, go to app settings > server settings under server url , note down your server url (e g , https //your app name back4app io ) live queries are enabled by default on back4app 8 2 set up live queries in flutter the parse server sdk flutter package includes live query support 8 3 create messaging service create a file named message service dart under lib/services/ // lib/services/message service dart import 'package\ parse server sdk flutter/parse server sdk dart'; import ' /models/message dart'; class messageservice { parselivelist\<message>? livemessagelist; future\<void> sendmessage(parseuser fromuser, parseuser touser, string content) async { final message = parseobject('message') set('fromuser', fromuser) set('touser', touser) set('content', content); await message save(); } future\<void> subscribetomessages(parseuser user, parseuser otheruser, function(list\<message>) onmessagesupdated) async { final querybuilder = querybuilder\<parseobject>(parseobject('message')) whereequalto('fromuser', user) whereequalto('touser', otheruser) orderbyascending('createdat') includeobject(\['fromuser', 'touser']); livemessagelist = parselivelist\<message>(querybuilder, listenonallsubitems true); livemessagelist! stream listen((event) { onmessagesupdated(livemessagelist! items); }); } future\<void> dispose() async { await livemessagelist? dispose(); } } 8 4 create message model add a file named message dart under lib/models/ // lib/models/message dart import 'package\ parse server sdk flutter/parse server sdk dart'; class message extends parseobject implements parsecloneable { message() super('message'); message clone() this(); @override clone(map\<string, dynamic> map) => message clone() fromjson(map); parseuser get fromuser => get\<parseuser>('fromuser')!; parseuser get touser => get\<parseuser>('touser')!; string get content => get\<string>('content')!; } 8 5 create chat screen add a file named chat screen dart under lib/screens/ // lib/screens/chat screen dart import 'package\ flutter/material dart'; import 'package\ parse server sdk flutter/parse server sdk dart'; import 'package\ provider/provider dart'; import ' /models/message dart'; import ' /services/auth service dart'; import ' /services/message service dart'; class chatscreen extends statefulwidget { final parseuser otheruser; chatscreen({required this otheruser}); @override chatscreenstate createstate() => chatscreenstate(); } class chatscreenstate extends state\<chatscreen> { final messageservice messageservice = messageservice(); list\<message> messages = \[]; final texteditingcontroller messagecontroller = texteditingcontroller(); void sendmessage() { final authservice = provider of\<authservice>(context, listen false); final fromuser = authservice user!; final touser = widget otheruser; messageservice sendmessage(fromuser, touser, messagecontroller text trim()); messagecontroller clear(); } void onmessagesupdated(list\<message> updatedmessages) { setstate(() { messages = updatedmessages; }); } @override void initstate() { super initstate(); final authservice = provider of\<authservice>(context, listen false); final user = authservice user!; messageservice subscribetomessages(user, widget otheruser, onmessagesupdated); } @override void dispose() { messageservice dispose(); super dispose(); } @override widget build(buildcontext context) { final authservice = provider of\<authservice>(context, listen false); final user = authservice user!; return scaffold( appbar appbar(title text(widget otheruser username ?? 'chat')), body column( children \[ expanded( child listview( children messages map((message) { bool isme = message fromuser objectid == user objectid; return listtile( title align( alignment isme ? alignment centerright alignment centerleft, child container( padding edgeinsets all(10), color isme ? colors blueaccent colors grey\[300], child text( message content, style textstyle(color isme ? colors white colors black), ), ), ), ); }) tolist(), ), ), divider(height 1), container( padding edgeinsets symmetric(horizontal 8 0), color theme of(context) cardcolor, child row( children \[ flexible( child textfield( controller messagecontroller, decoration inputdecoration collapsed(hinttext 'send a message'), ), ), iconbutton( icon icon(icons send), onpressed sendmessage, ), ], ), ) ], ), ); } } 8 6 update ui to initiate chat you can initiate the chat from the friends list or search users screen in the friends list, when displaying friends, add a button to start a chat // inside the listtile for a friend trailing iconbutton( icon icon(icons chat), onpressed () { navigator push( context, materialpageroute(builder ( ) => chatscreen(otheruser friend)), ); }, ), step 9 – adding push notifications implementing push notifications involves setting up firebase cloud messaging (fcm) and integrating it with back4app 9 1 configure firebase cloud messaging 9 1 1 set up firebase project go to firebase console https //console firebase google com/ and create a new project add an android and/or ios app to your project for android, you need the package name (applicationid) for ios, you need the bundle identifier 9 1 2 download configuration files for android download google services json and place it in android/app/ for ios download googleservice info plist and add it to your xcode project under runner 9 2 add firebase messaging package ensure you have added firebase messaging to your pubspec yaml dependencies firebase messaging ^11 2 8 run flutter pub get to install 9 3 initialize firebase in flutter modify main dart import 'package\ flutter/material dart'; import 'package\ parse server sdk flutter/parse server sdk dart'; import 'package\ firebase core/firebase core dart'; // other imports void main() async { widgetsflutterbinding ensureinitialized(); await firebase initializeapp(); // initialize parse as before runapp(myapp()); } 9 4 configure firebase messaging create a file named push notification service dart under lib/services/ // lib/services/push notification service dart import 'package\ firebase messaging/firebase messaging dart'; import 'package\ parse server sdk flutter/parse server sdk dart'; class pushnotificationservice { final firebasemessaging fcm = firebasemessaging instance; future\<void> init() async { // request permissions (ios) await fcm requestpermission(); // get the token string? token = await fcm gettoken(); if (token != null) { // save the token to parse installation final installation = await parseinstallation currentinstallation(); installation set('devicetoken', token); await installation save(); } // handle foreground messages firebasemessaging onmessage listen((remotemessage message) { print('received a message in the foreground!'); // handle the message }); } } 9 5 update main dart to initialize push notifications in main dart , after initializing parse, initialize the pushnotificationservice void main() async { widgetsflutterbinding ensureinitialized(); await firebase initializeapp(); // initialize parse as before // initialize push notifications pushnotificationservice pushnotificationservice = pushnotificationservice(); await pushnotificationservice init(); runapp(myapp()); } 9 6 sending push notifications from back4app you can send push notifications using cloud code or directly from your server 9 6 1 sending notification on friend request when a user sends a friend request, you can send a push notification to the recipient in friend service dart , modify the sendfriendrequest method future\<bool> sendfriendrequest(parseuser fromuser, parseuser touser) async { // existing code to create friend request // send push notification final pushquery = querybuilder\<parseinstallation>(parseinstallation forquery()) whereequalto('user', touser); await parsepush() send( pushpayload( query pushquery, notification parsenotification( title 'new friend request', alert '${fromuser username} sent you a friend request', ), ), ); return response success; } note ensure that you have associated the installation with the user 9 7 associate installation with user when a user logs in, associate their installation with their user account in auth service dart , after successful login future\<bool> login(string username, string password) async { user = parseuser(username, password, null); final response = await user! login(); if (response success) { // associate installation with user final installation = await parseinstallation currentinstallation(); installation set('user', user); await installation save(); notifylisteners(); return true; } else { user = null; return false; } } note push notifications require additional setup on both the client and server sides you need to handle different scenarios, such as background notifications and user permissions, which are beyond the scope of this tutorial conclusion congratulations! you've built the foundation of a social networking app using flutter and back4app this app includes user authentication, profile management, and a news feed feature while implementing full friend connections, messaging, and notifications is beyond this tutorial's scope, you now have the necessary structure to continue expanding your app next steps friend connections implement friend request functionalities messaging add real time chat features using live queries notifications integrate push notifications for user engagement ui enhancements improve the user interface and user experience security ensure data security and privacy by setting appropriate acls in back4app additional resources back4app documentation https //www back4app com/docs parse sdk for flutter guide https //docs parseplatform org/flutter/guide/ flutter official documentation https //flutter dev/docs provider package documentation https //pub dev/packages/provider happy coding!