[🐛] Slow write/read operations

[Feras532]

🔥 Firestore getDocs() Takes 25+ Seconds on Android

Issue

Firestore queries with getDocs() are taking 25-53 seconds to return just 2 documents on Android. The delay is in the SDK call itself, not in data processing. Performance is inconsistent and unpredictable.

Query Code

import { collection, query, where, orderBy, limit, getDocs } from '@react-native-firebase/firestore';

const collectionRef = collection(db, 'clients/{clientId}/branches/{branchId}/orders');

const constraints = [
  where('isPaid', '==', true),
  where('order_date', '>=', startDate),
  where('order_date', '<=', endDate),
  orderBy('order_date', 'desc'),
  limit(9)
];

const q = query(collectionRef, ...constraints);
console.time('getDocs');
const snapshot = await getDocs(q); // Takes 25+ seconds!
console.timeEnd('getDocs');

Performance Metrics

⏱️ getDocs: 25,991ms (26 seconds!)
📊 Returned: 2 documents

Observed timings on different executions:

• First query: 53 seconds, returned 0 documents
• Second query: 26 seconds, returned 2 documents
• Third query: 377ms, returned 1 document (occasionally fast)

What We've Ruled Out

✅ No composite index errors in Firebase Console
✅ Not a data processing issue (processing takes < 5ms)
✅ Not a network issue (other Firebase operations are fast)
✅ Query is simple (1 equality filter + 1 range filter + orderBy)

Steps to Reproduce

1. Configure Firestore with persistence enabled and large cache size (see firebase.json below)
2. Execute a query with multiple where clauses + orderBy + limit
3. Measure time taken by getDocs()
4. Observe 20-50+ second delays inconsistently

Expected Behavior

Query should complete in < 500ms

Actual Behavior

Query takes 25-53 seconds inconsistently, sometimes fast (~377ms), making the behavior unpredictable.

Additionally, sometimes a simple setDoc() with a single field takes 20+
seconds, while normally it completes in less than 500ms.

---

Project Files

Javascript

Click To Expand

package.json:

{
  "dependencies": {
    "react": "19.1.0",
    "react-native": "0.80.2",
    "@react-native-firebase/app": "^23.8.6",
    "@react-native-firebase/firestore": "^23.8.6",
    "@tanstack/react-query": "^5.56.2"
  }
}

firebase.json for react-native-firebase v6:

{
  "react-native": {
    "firestore_settings": {
      "persistence": true,
      "cache_size_bytes": 524288000,
      "ignore_undefined_properties": true
    }
  }
}

iOS

Click To Expand

ios/Podfile:

• I'm not using Pods / Not tested on iOS yet
• I'm using Pods and my Podfile looks like:

# N/A

AppDelegate.m:

// N/A

---

Android

Click To Expand

Have you converted to AndroidX?

• my application is an AndroidX application?
• I am using android/gradle.settings jetifier=true for Android compatibility?
• I am using the NPM package jetifier for react-native compatibility?

android/build.gradle:

// Standard RN 0.80.2 configuration

android/app/build.gradle:

// Standard RN 0.80.2 configuration with Firebase dependencies

android/settings.gradle:

// N/A

MainApplication.java:

// Standard RN setup

AndroidManifest.xml:

<!-- Standard RN setup -->

---

Environment

Click To Expand

react-native info output:

System:
  OS: Windows
  Node: v18.x
  npm: v9.x
  
React Native:
  react-native: 0.80.2
  react: 19.1.0

• Platform that you're experiencing the issue on:
  • iOS
  • Android
  • iOS but have not tested behavior on Android
  • Android but have not tested behavior on iOS
  • Both
• react-native-firebase version you're using that has this issue:
  • 23.8.6
• Firebase module(s) you're using that has the issue:
  • @react-native-firebase/firestore
• Are you using TypeScript?
  • Yes & 5.x

---

Additional Questions

1. Is this a known issue with persistence enabled on Android?
2. Should cache_size_bytes: 524288000 (500MB) be reduced for better performance?
3. Any recommended Firestore settings for Android performance optimization?

[mikehardy]

This will mostly like be an issue in firebase-android-sdk - they have quickstarts that let you create a reproduction extremely quickly, that will be critical to seeing this addressed I think - if as you indicate the problem is in the SDK you'll need to reproduce natively (without the react-native-firebase layer) in order to seek attention in the firebase-android sdk repo:

https://github.com/firebase/quickstart-android/tree/master/firestore

[Feras532]

We rolled back to "@react-native-firebase/app": "20.5.0" and now it’s working smoothly.

[fracico-tech]

We rolled back to "@react-native-firebase/app": "20.5.0" and now it’s working smoothly.

Had the same problem: #8887

Reverting to 23.7.0 is enough.

Probably an issue on firebase-android-sdk 34.8.0, so the RNF 23.8.5 should work, but I didn't have time to test it

[MichaelVerdon]

Hi there, I would encourage you to bring up this issue on the firebase-android-sdk. I believe have seen a ticket like that on there before over a year ago.

[github-actions]

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