Replaced My App's Database With A Google Drive Folder
I wanted to track my daughter's music progress. She gets audio clips and notes from her teacher every week. I wanted to listen to her practice sessions over time. I did not want new recordings to overwrite the old ones.
I built an app to solve this. It has no backend. It has no database. It costs zero dollars.
Most developers overlook a feature in Google Drive. It is the revision history.
When you upload a new version of a file with the same name and ID, Drive keeps the old version. It stays timestamped and browsable.
Instead of building a complex database with tables and foreign keys, I simply overwrite the file. Drive handles the versioning. My app uses two API calls to show the history. I wrote no versioning logic.
The folder structure acts as my database schema:
• Each song has its own folder. • Files use prefixes like teacher-audio or student-practice. • I do not use JSON to describe the structure. • Adding a new folder automatically updates the app.
I also needed a way to tag songs. I did not use a JSON file for this. I used Drive metadata properties. You can add key-value pairs directly to a folder. This keeps everything in one API call.
The setup:
• Hosting: GitHub Pages (Free) • Auth: Google Identity Services (Client-side only) • Storage: Google Drive • Database: None. The folder structure is the model. • Total cost: $0.
One tip: Drive purges old revisions after 30 days. You must set the keepRevisionForever flag to save them.
This is not a product for the public. It is a personal tool for my family.
The goal was not just to save money. The goal was to ensure that in two years, I can tap a button and hear how my daughter sounded today. The architecture makes this possible without extra maintenance.
Have you used Drive's revision history or properties field for infrastructure?
Source: https://dev.to/vankadn/replaced-my-apps-database-with-my-daughters-google-drive-folder-1455