Pulse is a lightweight social app for creators: photo and short-video posts, follower feeds, direct messaging, and a tipping flow for monetization.
The client is a single Flutter codebase for iOS and Android, backed by a Node.js API and Firebase for auth, storage, and real-time updates.
Key contributions
- Built a single Flutter codebase shipping to both iOS and Android.
- Implemented an infinite, paginated feed with optimistic UI for likes and comments.
- Added push notifications and deep links for re-engagement.
- Integrated an in-app tipping flow for creator monetization.
The challenge
Feed scrolling felt janky on mid-range Android devices once images and video thumbnails were mixed in.
The solution
Pre-fetched and cached media with a tiered thumbnail strategy, and moved feed pagination to cursor-based queries so scroll position never triggers a full re-fetch.