Our ongoing journey from REST to GraphQL on Android
summary
Company migrates a large REST monolith to a federated GraphQL layer using AppSync backend and an Android client built with Apollo Kotlin, first rolled into messaging in 2020–21. Implementation specifics: lazy‑load the Apollo client behind a feature flag, monitor requests with OkHttp + Chucker, automate nightly schema pulls in CI, and expect wonky error surfaces. Pain points that get fixed: a nested query jumps from milliseconds to ~10 seconds until backend exposes a dedicated lastMessage field, and subscriptions require a custom AppSync websocket flow — a contributed fix to Apollo resolves dynamic URL/auth refresh.
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chapters (17)
- 0:00Introduction and context
- 1:07Why migrate to GraphQL
- 6:30Choosing Apollo for Android
- 8:20Setting up Apollo in Android
- 15:39First GraphQL feature experience
- 16:01Lessons from REST to GraphQL
- 19:59Apollo Kotlin benefits
- 21:28Performance and lazy loading
- 23:14Monitoring GraphQL requests
- 27:11Beware of nested queries
- 30:28Challenges with subscriptions
- 34:45WebSocket connection issues
- 38:00Contributing to Apollo Kotlin
- 39:06Error handling in GraphQL
- 41:14Automating GraphQL schema updates
- 43:22Apollo community and future
- 44:07Conclusion and key takeaways
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