#BubbleCon24 was awesome!

#BubbleCon24 was bigger and better, here are my thoughts on it and the direction of Bubble going forward.

My concerns coming in

I came into #BubbleCon24 quite concerned:

1. I felt bubble was slow releasing upgrades, compared to other tools. Why is this happening?
2. I felt Bubble finally started listening to users. Thanks to Sam, Andrew and huge thanks to Fede, who’s the real revelation of this year for me. However, I felt we’re still missing something in the processes and the feedback gets lost in the trenches. The infamous 40x40+fit width story says it all.
3. Cursor, Replit and other tools made me question where does nocode and AI stand going forwards. Are AI tools going to replace bubble as the next logical iteration of building apps? Is the nocode movement going to lose steam before it even gains mainstream popularity, and be overtaken by a new wave of tools?
4. Where do I as a power user stand in Bubble’s priorities? Am I the target market? Are we going to go upwards in market with Bubble to be able to reach higher ground, more serious projects, more difficult builds, or dumb it down (”Wix’ify”) to reach more people? Can we do both?

After #BubbleCon24, some of these have been addressed and I’m much calmer now.

Fundamentals

First of all, I’d like to address a few things I saw, which might not even make the headlines:

1. Last year in Paris NoCode event, as well as in BubbleCon, Emmanuel said Bubble don’t view other nocode tools as competitors. I was concerned specifically about this. I saw this as a missed opportunity (maybe a bit arrogant too?) to take what’s already figured out, interpret in “in the Bubble way” and just go with it. We know Bubble is on a league of it’s own on certain parts, but why not solve your users’ issues with just taking what works and what people love from the market? It’s easier, faster, cheaper to do than trying to constantly reinvent the wheel.
2. Speaking about reinventing the wheel, I was ecstatic Josh said they are trying really hard to thread that line between inventing something of their own (”if nothing gets invented, why do it at all?” - I totally agree), and interpret the best solutions, already made in the industry. Inventing something new takes more time, effort and resources, can lead to your product to being the best, but also results in more mistakes and features sunsetted. I’d like to see more successful launches, fundamental improvements (editor, mobile, AI) introduced, and less expression editor or table element fiascos or perpetual beta tests (expression parenthesis).
3. Also, I was really happy to hear Emmanuel getting back closer to Product. I feel him getting a bit farther away from the product was a natural stage of company building. But, just in time with Founder mode getting popular, I am happy to see both founders fully focussed on Product.

I feel this is exactly what’s needed. Bubble has a MOAT, that is great, that’s why I love it. But then, we need Bubble to add the best practices from the market on top of that. The new workflow editor is a step in that direction, as it takes an approach already present and proven in the market.

But we need more speed. Faster shipping, provided it’s successful, and good features being introduced.

Direction

I feel we are at the pivotal place in Bubble’s development. Sort of a “darkest before the dawn” moment, where the speed is just about to increase. Just to get it out of the way, I mean PERCEIVED lack of speed. Hear me out:

1. Bubble raised a bunch of money a while back. Maybe some people thought that would mean Bubble would start shipping features left and right, but I thought Emmanuel said it best (I am, of course, paraphrasing): It will actually be slower, because there needs to be a lot of hiring done, then team cohesion etc.
2. So we had to go through a period where the company had to hire a lot, and got slower in the places we could feel, them actually launching features.
3. Then, the team needed to gel and mingle. All natural and understandable. That meant both the speed was slower, as well as a few failed launches came, also we got some stability problems, which we never had before.
4. Then, the team needed to first work on foundations, do the work below the surface. Especially since as we know, Bubble has (had?) a lot of technical debt.
5. And now, we are getting the first glimpses into the results of the foundational work done. I believe the best symbol of this type of development is Native Mobile. Bubble trying to get the foundations right, and then build features on top of it is exactly what’s needed. I love it.

All of this meant we had to wait longer for results. Again, the perceived speed was slower, not necessarily the real one. And we are now comparing the perceived speed of development to what’s happening in the AI sphere, where one can’t even keep up with what’s going on this week, let alone since last year. As well as other tools, which seem to be shipping like crazy.

And also, you know what would really help with the perceived speed? #BubbleBoosts being a monthly occurrence, and getting real final feedback (”would this solve your issue before we release it?”) from the community members (no 40x40 & fit width because Bubble thought that’s a good idea). Just a thought. Feed the dragon that is the Bubble community, while you focus on the foundational work. If Bubble needs it, the community can organise itself to make it easier for the Bubble team. The issues those boosts are addressing are annoying THAT much.

By the way, BubbleCon MUST be an annual event, no exceptions. Don’t know if anybody has any doubts about its viability, but it needs to be there. No skipped years, no “let’s not do it, we don’t have anything new to show”.

I hope the next BubbleCon we can speak about the crazy amount of features Bubble introduced during the year, on top of the foundations already in place. I seriously hope we are not still talking about the foundational work being done in a year, or the main launches being delayed. Or the launches being unsuccessful, chaotic and stressful. Or the same “new” stuff being introduced to the community 3rd year in a row.

I really hope we are about to get a huge speed increase and this is the “quiet before the storm”.

Announcements

Bubble made a few announcements, which most of you already know about:

1. Native mobile going into beta testing. I am extremely excited for this one. I will build an app the first time I get my hands on beta, it will be a page for the drivers for my Logistics app. Native mobile will also hopefully open a new market to target for us, Bubble studios. I am kinda salty I still didn’t get an invite to Bubble mobile beta testing though, while most of my friends got in last Friday. But I will play around with it and from what I saw in BubbleCon, it is good (although limited). Again, Bubble is trying to get the fundamentals right, and I appreciate that. There will of course need to be a robust feature shipping schedule on top of those foundations, but this is the way to go.
2. New workflow editor. I love it and hope we’ll be seeing more improvements coming to the WF editor. I am especially waiting for Conditional branching and more control on Sequential processing, which are in the pipeline. Had some serious trouble this year with sequences. What I would love to see, but what was not talked about, is the workflow editor (and other tabs too) getting a free flowing canvas. Sort of like Figma, where you could pan with two fingers, pinch to zoom etc. I feel with branching and other improvements to the workflow editor, there won’t be enough horizontal space on the screen to see properly. And this free flowing canvas would be used on the Design tab first and foremost too. I really feel it would be a great addition. I am also looking forward to other editor UX improvements: The top bar. Backend workflows getting their own tab. Database tab. Next - APIs need their own tab too. It’s kinda sad the way they are right now. Also, custom states, and maybe even global (app level) states? If that was a thing in Bubble, this would have saved me months this year.
3. AI builder, which will help create the first version of a very simple app in 10 minutes of prompting. Honestly, not too interested in the AI builder, even missed the introduction of the tool, but I understand why the company needs to go that route. One of the problems which this will definitely help to solve was best described by Sam Morgan on the “Build with” podcast: the infamous “empty screen” problem, where the users, who first opened the editor, get an empty canvas and don’t know where to start. AI can help get more people in, and I can appreciate it.
4. Bubble acquihires Flusk. I called it! I said way back Bubble needs to acquire Flusk. Bubble did one better - they not only acquired the product, but also hired Wesley and Victor. I believe it will help Bubble tremendously. In addition to security being improved, I also think Bubble can improve with the logs, improve testing etc.

Experience

Some other random experiences in BubbleCon:

1. My guy Gediminas Skebas winning a nomination was a crazy surprise. I was beyond proud and ecstatic to see this. I saw the whole journey, from zero, coming from another industry and hustling days, nights and weekends to get to one of the best in the world. It also reassures me what I’ve been saying is true: we’re trying to create world-class level here in the studio. Pumps me up to continue introducing more people to Bubble.
2. Xano event was a nice reroute. Awesome location, wonderful people, great tool. I will continue using it whenever we need to supercharge the backend. I am excited to go deep into it, learn intricacies, learn to build way faster than I do that now and integrate it fully into the studio repertoire.
3. Met Rokas Jurk?nas from Idealink finally. It’s funny, it’s just like us, Lithuanians, to live in the same country, sometimes work in the same city, and only meet in New York for the first time after a few years. Congratulations to him on the release of the first ever Bubble Native Mobile app to the App Store! Crazy to think Lithuanians were the first ones to create a native Bubble app! And we figured out I was actually the very first Bubbler in Lithuania!
4. Unofficial Bubblehouse in sketchy Brooklyn. Awesome experience to meet people on a more personal level, have trips late at night with the train, walk through sketchy Brooklyn. Although it was a great experience, I think I will go back to staying in Manhattan next time. Would like to spend more time in the Central Park, not the trains.
5. And last of all, I think I will never ever go back to the US just for a couple of days again. Jet lag was hella rough! I spent the whole BubbleCon jet lagged, and just as I was getting used to it - got smacked in the face again because I went back home! This extra pressure on the body was rough, I even fell ill. Never doing that again. A week at least, maybe even 1.5 weeks in the US at the minimum in the future.

Closing thoughts

“Meet the founders” was very welcome. It helps to build trust with the community and adds a human touch to our relationship with the company. I was really appreciative of the people working for Bubble before, but even more now! I can now fully see Bubble sees and knows our problems, and it’s more a problem of resource allocation, and not “not knowing problems”.

Also, meeting the community again (I feel I see them more than parts of my own family), as well as Bubble folks is just what I need a few times per year. Helps me feel a part of this community, helps me feel connected to the company and it’s product, helps me recommend it to the clients.

It also helps me issue an honest appreciation for everything the Bubble team does every day. I believe we nag and complain to them a bit too often, and appreciate them a bit too rarely. The product they build enables chaps like me, who came to Bubble not from development, but from business, to make a great living, doing what we absolutely love. While having the freedom we’ve never even dreamt of.

I came into #BubbleCon24 with a lot of concerns. BubbleCon itself, conversations with people, as well as “Meet the founders” addressed most of my concerns and made me way calmer about Bubble’s direction and my own business. My team will continue delving into more tools when it’s needed for the projects, but Bubble will remain our main tool.