ApparenceKit Review - Create mobile App in a few day with this Flutter template

Welcome to this ApparenceKit review!

What is ApparenceKit ?

ApparenceKit is a Flutter boilerplate that allows developers to quickly and easily create apps for Android, iOS, or the web. Within just a few days, you can have a fully functional app connected to a backend, with features like authentication management, push notifications, and monetization through RevenueCat.

Let’s explore all the functionalities of this boilerplate 🚀

ApparenceKit Templates

ApparenceKit provides an excellent starting template with a robust codebase once the setup is complete.

It includes all the essential features for your app, such as:

• Onboarding screens
• Push notification management
• Sign-in/Sign-up and authentication flows
• API call management
• Ad display
• Rating and reviews
• Internationalization of pages
• In-app payments
• Subscriptions management

Connecting to a Backend

In most cases, mobile apps need to communicate with a backend. ApparenceKit offers three methods for connecting your app to a backend:

1. Use your own backend
2. Use Firebase services
3. Use Supabase

In this review, we’ll test all three methods to determine which one is the most optimal and efficient, allowing developers to focus on features rather than backend setup.

App Maintenance Tools

To help maintain your app, the boilerplate also includes:

• Error tracking via Sentry
• Management of multiple environments (e.g., dev, prod, etc.)
• Remote configuration management via Firebase

These tools are essential for efficient mobile development and responsiveness to changes or issues.

ApparenceKit also comes with a CLI that simplifies project setup based on your preferences. The installation process is fast, well-documented, and user-friendly.

Documentation and Support

The documentation provided by ApparenceKit is crucial for ensuring the proper use of the boilerplate. It is comprehensive and covers everything from initializing your Flutter app to deploying it on app stores, including setting up CI/CD pipelines. The steps are clearly outlined, with command-line instructions where necessary.

However, I found the documentation lacking in visuals, especially when configuring third-party services like Firebase or Supabase.

In addition to written documentation, ApparenceKit provides a series of YouTube videos to guide you step-by-step through the setup process. There’s also a Discord community where you can ask questions, typically receiving answers within a few hours.

This combination of documentation, video tutorials, and community support is excellent 🔥

Installation

In all cases, ApparenceKit depends on Firebase for push notifications. Even if you choose to use your own backend, you’ll need to create a Firebase project and link it to your mobile app.

Some knowledge of Firebase services is required, as well as tools like npm for setting up the project. Since backends are essential for managing users, access, and subscriptions, the faster you can set up the backend, the sooner you can focus on app development.

In mobile project backend are required to manage users, access and subscription, the more the installation backend task is fast you can focus on the App

A good mobile boilerplate must therefore be able to connect easily and quickly to a backend. That's what we'll be looking at in the next few steps.

Using your own backend

Execute the following command in a terminal

dart pub global run apparence_cli setup .

Follow the instructions and choose the third option (REST API) for the backend. Within a few minutes, your app will be ready to communicate with your backend. For testing, I set up a workflow using n8n as a backend.

Unfortunately, the communication between the app and the backend is not well-documented. I had to review the code to understand which API calls are made and the expected JSON formats. Despite this, the code is well-structured, making it easy to understand.

Here’s an example workflow:

And the following Json

signin call api
{
  "id": "15158884",
  "token": "xyxyzzz"
}

user info call api
{
  "id": "15158884",
  "email": "[email protected]",
  "name": "test",
  "avatarPath":"",
  "onboarded": true
}

So easy to link your backend to ApparenceKit App. Some minutes are required !!

Using firebase

You’ll need some knowledge of Firebase, and your project must use the Blaze plan to unlock all the boilerplate’s features.

If you’re familiar with Firebase, setup takes only 5–10 minutes. The documentation is clear and guides you step-by-step through the installation process.

For those less familiar, you may need to refer to Firebase’s general documentation or debug the app while adjusting the Firebase configuration.

Once setup is complete, you can create an account and log in, landing on this page:

Firebase is an industry-standard solution, and ApparenceKit leverages it effectively, making it a strong choice for mobile apps.

Using Supabase

Supabase has been a trending backend solution for years. Its integration with ApparenceKit is straightforward: follow the step-by-step documentation, and within minutes, your demo project will be functional.

You’ll even see users appearing in your Supabase dashboard! The boilerplate provides a suite of SQL scripts and functions for rapid backend setup, making it ideal for developers with limited backend experience.

What I love about this solution 🤩:

• Clear documentation for Supabase integration
• Supabase is easy to learn and use
• A minimal backend GitHub repository is available for reference

Bonus 🔥 :

A new feature is currently being developed: it will be possible to have a custom interface administration to manage users, notification campaigns, subscriptions, etc.

So here we have a complete ecosystem between Apparence and Supabase, which provides all the tools you need to maintain and manage a mobile application in production.

ApparenceKit therefore offers a wide range of communication possibilities, all using proven backend technologies, or uplink/hyped technologies such as Firebase. That's another plus! 🚀

Focus on app functionnality

Let's take a look at the boilerplate content to create a mobile application in a few weeks instead of a few months. Let's take a look at what ApparenceKit has to offer. Here are the key points that caught my attention:

1. Easier onboarding management

ApparenceKit offers 3 templates.

Thanks to the proposed architecture and the components/widgets, it's very easy to create your own onboarding.

2. Managing internationalisation

In all projects, it is necessary to manage several languages. You therefore have to redo the necessary configurations for each new project. ApparenceKit already offers all the necessary configurations, so all that's left to do is fill in the language file!

3. Theme management

The proposed theme is based on Material Design and the whole boilerplate has been designed to make it easy to handle these aspects. The documentation is very comprehensive and includes key examples.

4. Monetisation

ApparenceKit relies on RevenueCat to manage mobile subscriptions and offers connectors and UI components to facilitate the implementation of monetisation in mobile applications. The ‘Subscription’ module is ready to use, and the kit includes a 2 paywall templates easily customizable.

I’d like to see more prebuilt pages or components, such as:

• Form pages
• Chat pages
• App settings pages (not account settings)
• Product listing pages

What if we talked a bit about the price?

The boilerplate ranges between €149 and €215 (with lifetime updates), which is quite affordable considering the amount of functionality that ApparenceKit offers. This is roughly equivalent to half a daily rate (a small day’s work), yet this boilerplate will save you several hours on every project.

So, it’s an excellent investment for mobile app development.

Conclusion

That's the end of this ApparenceKit review! It is a fantastic solution for Flutter developers looking to streamline app creation and connect to different backends like Firebase or Supabase. Its documentation and YouTube tutorials make it easy to get started, though it may not be suitable for beginners, as some prior knowledge is required to fully leverage its features that is the thing to consider to fully enjoy the kit ! 🌱

This boilerplate reflects years of experience, offering essential features for quickly bringing an app to production. The founder is active on Discord, providing timely support to the community.

If I were to build a mobile app tomorrow with requirements like monetization, internationalization, onboarding, and backend integration, ApparenceKit would save me days of unnecessary work.