What I Learned Giving My First Fluttercon Europe Talk

By Simon Eckerstorfer, Head of Mobile at LEAN-CODERS and co-organizer of Flutter Vienna Meetup

Right before I walked on stage at Fluttercon Berlin (September 24–26, 2025), my brain tried to open 37 tabs at once. The heart rate monitor suggested a nice stroll through Tiergarten. I took one deep breath, looked up, and saw familiar faces from the Flutter community—people I’ve met across meetups and conferences, folks who ship real mobile apps and web applications with the same code base, and who still have the energy to cheer you on. Suddenly it wasn’t a “big stage moment.” It was a conversation with friends.

Why Fluttercon hits different

Call it cliché, but this community really has a rare kind of magic. It’s open, welcoming, and genuinely supportive—the kind of space where “work contacts” turn into actual friends who’ll either help debug your background service or go out for a drink at midnight. Flutter conferences like Fluttercon Berlin don’t feel like trade shows; they feel like reunions. You can feel it in the hallway track, the coffee-line architecture debates, and the “oh hey, I know your package” encounters. That vibe? It’s why I keep coming back—and why I wanted to step onto the stage this year.

Getting on stage

The talk title says it all: “What I wish I knew before working with background location.” Background location sounds deceptively simple until you meet permissions nuance, battery life management, platform quirks, and API differences. Here are the hits I wish past-me had learned sooner:

• Start with intent, not code. Don’t add background location because it sounds cool. Define the value, the frequency, and the guardrails. “Every five seconds forever” is not a strategy; it’s a battery-draining cry for help.

• Use appropriate database integrations like PostGIS. It offers geospatial data types, indexing support for them and awesome SQL functions. You can futureproof the efficiency of most operations this way.

• Permission is a UX, not just an API. Ask at the right moment with human-language justification. If users say no, handle it gracefully and keep the experience useful. This is how you avoid one-star reviews and Apple review rejections.

• Battery life is an important resource, try to minimize the drain you put on it. Make sure to test in real life scenarios across OS versions and device brands.

• Observability is life support. Capture the signals you need to debug weird edge cases without turning your app into a black box—or a surveillance plane.

• Create a comfortable location mocking setup with Lockito on Android and RocketSim on iOS. But also touch some grass - you need to test in real life scenarios to avoid problems your users would otherwise face.

 I have to be honest - I was pretty nervous when I went on stage. But seeing familiar faces—many friends I met along the way at different conferences—made all the difference. To everyone who supported me (you know who you are 💙): thank you. Your nods were perfectly timed. ;)

Moments that stayed with me

The speaker dinner at the Video Game Museum was pure joy. Nothing like button-mashing through retro classics to get into the conference mood. Volunteering at the Flutter community booth turned out to be a highlight—talking to tons of new people, swapping stories, and handing out awesome Flutter merch. Then there was the moment after the talk—the exhale. Relief, gratitude, and the realization that the nervousness is finally behind me. This post really sums it up: https://x.com/sssecki/status/1971560671759466770
And of course the Widgetbook afterparty—just good vibes all around. Laughter, music, a bonfire and that easy flow of conversation, buzzing from a few days of learning and connection.

Trends I’m excited about

Each year, cross-platform development with Flutter feels a little more… grown-up. You could sense it throughout the keynotes—three days of forward-looking energy and a clear vision for where our favorite framework (and its tooling) is heading next.

One talk that caught me off guard—in the best way—was about testing of all things. Pascal Welsch demoed his “testing robots” approach and the spot package he built. It looks like a genuine time-saver for keeping Flutter apps solid without drowning in boilerplate.

And while it might not qualify as a trend yet, Simon Auer’s “Frankenstein-esque” experiments with server-side rendering in Flutter Web were easily among the most refreshing sessions of the week. Bold, curious, and just the right amount of chaotic. Big recommendation.

Vienna → Berlin → back again

As a co-organizer of the Flutter Vienna Meetup, my favorite part of conferences like this is talking shop with other organizers. We’re all wrestling with similar challenges, and comparing notes—what’s worked, what hasn’t—keeps us sharp. It’s also great to see how many top speakers are genuinely excited to come to Vienna. The pipeline for upcoming meetups looks strong, and the energy is real. And watching the Flutter Vienna Hackathon winners—who earned free conference tickets—roam the venue with huge grins? Pure joy. Full-circle moments like that make the organizing hours worth it.

Photos, posts, and proof I actually left the stage

Conferences always end up with a ton of photos, and this one was no exception. I put a few of my favorites and some impressions over on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/simon-eckerstorfer-55247b209_for-me-fluttercon-is-always-a-very-spec…

Gratitude where it’s due

Special thanks to everyone who nudged me to submit, reviewed drafts, and came to the talk. LEAN-CODERS deserves a big shout-out too. Our culture is very much “let’s just do it,” and we mean it: we support people with time and budget to share with the community, speak at events, and grow as leaders and experts. Community engagement isn’t a side quest for us—it’s part of how we build better software for clients and make sure our teams keep learning.

Why this matters for teams

If you lead teams building mobile apps or web applications, conferences like Fluttercon Berlin aren’t just inspiration boosters. They’re risk reducers. You validate patterns, meet the humans behind the packages you rely on, and keep your “same code base” promise honest. When production gets spicy (it will), relationships forged at events like this are the DM away that saves your sprint. This is the compounding effect of community—knowledge spreads faster, decisions get saner, and your bus factor improves.

Takeaways I’m bringing home

Treat background location as a product decision first, a technical decision second. Design the consent and fallback UX with care. Invest in observability early; it’s cheaper than guessing later. Share what you learn—teaching is the fastest way to find blind spots. And remember: community compounds. Attend, contribute, mentor, repeat.

What’s next (come say hi)

Come to the next Flutter Vienna Meetup. If you’ve got an idea to share, we’ll gladly hand you the mic. If you want to jam on a prototype or explore building your next Flutter project together, reach out. At LEAN-CODERS, we’re serious about quality, pragmatic about Crossplattform Development, and very into shipping things that users actually want to use. Consider this your friendly Fluttercon Berlin 2025 recap—and your invitation to keep the conversation going.