Who Rules the Realm? An Epic Quest for the Mobile Database Crown

The word "realm" conjures up visions of magical kingdoms where wizards duel and dragons roam. As a tech geek though, I think of data realms ruled by databases vying for developer mindshare. One such realm is Realm Mobile Database, now owned by MongoDB.

In this epic blog, let‘s delve into Realm‘s origins, its pros and cons, competitors, adoption trends and how it fits into MongoDB‘s broader data platform vision. We‘ll also ponder metaphysical realms that stir our imagination. So friends, grab your caffeine of choice and let‘s dive in!

The Genesis of Realm

Our story begins in 2011 when two Norwegian engineers – Alexander Stigsen and Mai Aamodt – founded Realm powered by the vision of a faster open source database for mobile apps. They were frustrated by shortcomings of existing options like SQLite, Core Data, Web SQL etc.

At the time, mobile was taking off thanks to iPhones and Android phones. But the dominant databases were designed for an earlier static client-server era. They struggled to provide the real-time, reactive experiences users expected in modern mobile apps.

Realm promised a more elegant architecture tailored for mobile – a lightweight object oriented database with reactive bindings. Instead of rigid relational tables, flexible objected graphs matched how mobile apps modeled data.

Some standout features that attracted developers:

• Auto-updating objects – data stays in sync automatically reacting to changes.
• Fast reads/writes – by running directly on device storage.
• Cross-platform SDKs – consistent API across major platforms.
• Encryption – secure data transfer and storage.
• Live objects – observable changes pushed in real-time.

This modern approach resonated with developers tired of wrestling with dated technology. Realm usage grew quickly and attracted $40M in funding from leading VCs. But the database hit roadblocks trying to scale as an independent company.

Which brings us to a pivotal moment that defined Realm‘s future…

Acquired by MongoDB

In 2019, MongoDB acquired Realm for $39 million in a skillful strategic move. MongoDB offered the cloud and backend tech that Realm needed to flourish. And Realm provided MongoDB a missing piece – lightweight edge sync for mobile apps.

Post acquisition, MongoDB integrated Realm as MongoDB Mobile – extending their document database and Atlas cloud platform all the way to the edge. Realm now effortlessly syncs data to MongoDB clusters on Atlas.

Despite owning Realm, MongoDB open sourced the database and kept it free to use. This ensures continued adoption while monetizing through premium products like Realm Sync and the Realm Studio GUI.

Realm Architecture (image: MongoDB.com)

This move epitomizes MongoDB‘s customer-centric approach. They lower developer friction by maintaining Realm‘s open source access.Companies like eBay, Amazon and Microsoft have hurt acquired open source tech by closing access – a cautionary tale in community relations.

For Realm, joining forces with MongoDB provided a turbo boost in reach and resources. As an indie database, growth was constrained. But as part of a cloud data platform, the future looks bright.

Realm‘s Killer App – Top Apps Built With Realm

Given its mobile focus, Realm is popular among developers working on apps where speed, offline use and real-time data are critical – especially gaming, finance and lifestyle apps.

Let‘s profile some top apps powered by Realm and how it supercharged their user experience:

Patreon

Patreon is a funding platform enabling creators like artists, YouTubers to monetize content through subscriptions. Users make recurring monthly payments to support creators.

Challenge: As a fast growing 2-sided marketplace, Patreon needed to frequently add features and scale subscription data. But their old system was slow and unreliable resulting in frequent downtime.

Realm Solution: Patreon adopted Realm which syncs data faster between their iOS app and Django backend. Realm‘s mobile-first design delivered 10x performance improvement. Pages now load instantly without spinners or errors.

N26

N26 is a mobile banking app aiming to disrupt brick-and-mortar banks. Users can open an account instantly, make payments, withdraw cash and track expenses on the go.

Challenge: As a financial app, N26 needed speed plus highest security and resilience. Downtime or lost transactions are unacceptable.

Realm Solution: N26 built their iOS app on Realm for snappy performance, encrypted data and synchronization. Financial data stays up-to-date across devices reliably. Even when offline, transactions process quickly when connectivity resumes.

Wongnai

Wongnai is Thailand‘s top food app with over 100,000 recipes in Thai and English. Users browse recipes, restaurants, reviews and food news.

Challenge: Wongnai‘s app depends on quickly searching and filtering large recipe and restaurant datasets. Performance was inconsistent especially on lower-end devices.

Realm Solution: By switching to Realm, Wongnai improved search speed by 5x and filters by 11x. Realm‘s tight object integration and memory efficiency delivered buttery-smooth interactions. Reviews jumped from 2 to 4.8 stars after the change.

For each app, Realm gave a tangible performance and productivity boost. The ability to sync data seamlessly across cloud, mobile and embedded systems unlocks innovative use cases. Developers spend less time wrangling infrastructure and more time focused on app capabilities.

Battle of the Mobile Databases

Of course, Realm isn‘t the only game in town. Many mobile databases like SQLite, Core Data, Room compete for developer mindshare. What sets Realm apart in this battle royale?

Firstly, Realm is designed from ground up for modern mobile apps – not web or desktop. This allows optimizations like storing structured data in columns optimal for mobile use. Lazy loading boosts performance by only pulling required data.

In contrast, SQLite uses a relational model that doesn‘t map cleanly to mobile object graphs. This means inefficient conversions between tables and object representations. More code for you to write and maintain.

Benchmarks show Realm is often 10-100X faster than SQLite especially on low-end devices. Realm is faster on writes while SQLite is better at reads in some cases. But overall, Realm‘s mobile-centric approach gives it an edge.

Realm vs SQLite speed benchmark (image: mindinventory.com)

For cross-platform mobile apps, Realm also simplifies data modeling – define your schema once instead of reimplementing it twice for iOS and Android. This saves enormous time and costs.

Realm‘s reactive programming model is also more intuitive for mobile UIs. Live UI updates are built-in without manual sync code. If you tried RxJava or livedata, think of Realm as a similar push-based architecture tailored for data.

Overall, Realm just feels designed for the constraints and demands of mobile. It leans into mobile‘s connectivity fluctuations rather than pretending they don‘t exist. Offline-first is a bonus, not an afterthought.

But Realm isn‘t perfect…

Realm‘s Limitations

While Realm is fast, its object-oriented approach also has some limitations to be aware of.

• APK size increase – Realm binaries and object schemas are weaved into app binaries increasing APK size. For large apps, the difference can be 2-3 MB.

• No auto-incrementing IDs – Simple autoinc IDs common in SQL are not built-in requiring custom solutions. MongoDB‘s ObjectID can help but isn‘t as simple.

• Learning curve – Core API is simple but Realm‘s reactive features have a learning curve for some devs. Documentation improving but still gaps.

• No data integrity – Realm skips multi-object transactions common in relational databases. So some edge cases prone to partial writes.

For simple apps, these may be non-issues. But larger enterprise apps should evaluate tradeoffs diligently.

That said, Realm‘s mobile-first design still makes it a go-to choice for most mobile use cases. Performance, productivity and user experience outweigh the downsides for many apps.

Unifying the MongoDB Data Platform

Stepping back, Realm‘s technology is only part of the story. MongoDB‘s broader strategy reveals deeper motivation behind the acquisition.

MongoDB aims to be a unified modern data platform spanning a breadth of workloads – cloud, transactions, mobile, analytics, search. Many competitors focus on just one workload vertical.

But applications have evolving demands pulling data across backends, devices, clouds. Unified data platforms simplify building fluid experiences without shear forces between technologies.

As a document database, MongoDB also avoids complex schema migrations that plague relational databases. Adapting to fluid requirements is faster when data lives in flexible document structures.

Look at how core products in MongoDB‘s platform cover different needs:

• Atlas – managed cloud database as a service
• Realm – data sync and storage on devices
• Charts – data visualization and dashboarding
• Search – full text search and indexing
• Stitch – serverless functions to orchestrate services

For users, this means unlocking innovations like small local realm mobile apps that sync seamlessly to the cloud when needed. Technology fades into the background so you can focus on creative solutions powered by data.

MongoDB Platform Architecture (image: MongoDB.com)

MongoDB still has work ahead building bridges between products and smoothing rough edges. But the unified data platform vision is compelling and a pole star guiding MongoDB‘s roadmap.

Realm Adoption Trends

Let‘s quantify Realm‘s growth with some adoption stats over the years:

• 2011 – Realm founded by Alexander Stigsen and Mai Aamodt
• 2014 – 5M installs across 200 apps after 3 years
• 2016 – Stable v1.0 released and funding raised from Greylock and Scale Ventures
• 2019 – Acquired by MongoDB for $39M with 20M installs
• 2021 – Part of MongoDB unified data platform with 100M installs

Beyond install counts, Realm has over 5K GitHub stars and over 150 contributors. Daily downloads average around 30K.

The top languages for apps using Realm are Java, Kotlin, Objective-C, Swift, C#. This aligns with developer activity on Android and iOS mobile platforms.

After the MongoDB acquisition, growth has accelerated further with integrations into MongoDB Atlas, Stitch, Charts. Being part of an end-to-end platform removes adoption friction.

There‘s a virtuous cycle where Realm benefits MongoDB but also gains huge exposure riding on MongoDB‘s popularity. Together, they form a data stack greater than the sum of parts.

Divine Realms vs Data Realms

We‘ve explored the mortal tech realm ruled by MongoDB‘s Realm Mobile Database. But what about divine realms beyond the physical? These call to our mystical intuition that there may exist more than meets the eye.

Every theology and culture worldwide contains conceptions of ethereal realms separate from earthly existence:

• Buddhism – 31 planes of existence from hells to heavens
• Christianity – Heaven and hell
• Hinduism – 14 spiritual worlds as per the Bhagavad Gita
• Norse – Nine realms spanning the Tree of Life Yggdrasil
• Ancient Egypt – Duat mystical realm of afterlife

Despite vast differences, common threads run through stories of divine domains. Souls face tests resolving karma and unfulfilled desires. Higher realms reward enlightenment and nobility while lower realms reflect human flaws.

The drive to imagine such realms seems innate to mankind across eras and civilizations. They reflect mystical parts of our consciousness not satisfied solely by material concerns. Data realms optimize earthly life but divine realms illuminate dicey questions of morality, meaning and spirituality.

In Sanskrit, "realm" is synonymous with loka – meaning dimension or plane of existence. Appropriately technology is blurring boundaries between dimensions. Virtual and augmented reality place simulated realms at our fingertips (though glitchier than mystical ones).

As a tech enthusiast, I‘m amazed by innovations like MongoDB Realm democratizing data capabilities. But I‘m also drawn to contemplating grander mysteries beyond particles and code.

Both stir that sense of wonder – one grounded in science and one in metaphysics. With knowledge and wisdom, may both realms continue to prosper!

So friends, that concludes our epic quest exploring the origins, technology and future impact of MongoDB‘s Realm Mobile Database! Let me know if you have any other topics you‘d like covered in future realm-themed writings. Until next time, stay data-curious!