React Native is a popular cross-platform mobile development framework that has gained significant traction in recent years. One of the critical components of any mobile application is the ability to store and retrieve data efficiently. React Native provides two main libraries for data storage – React Native MMKV and React Native Async Storage.
In this blog, we will compare these two libraries and explore the benefits of using React Native MMKV.
React Native Async Storage
React Native Async Storage is a popular library for storing data in React Native applications. It offers a simple key-value storage API and uses the AsyncStorage module to save data. AsyncStorage is a persistent, unencrypted, and asynchronous key-value storage system that stores data in a global file system. One of the main drawbacks of AsyncStorage is that it can be slow, especially when dealing with large amounts of data. Additionally, AsyncStorage is asynchronous, which means that you need to use async/await or Promises to access the stored data.
React Native MMKV
React Native MMKV is a more recent addition to the React Native ecosystem. MMKV stands for Mabinogi Mini Key Value, and it was originally designed as a lightweight and efficient key-value storage system for the WeChat app. React Native MMKV brings this efficient and user-friendly storage system to the React Native platform, with direct bindings to the native C++ library through a simple JavaScript API. One of the main benefits of React Native MMKV is its performance. It is up to 30 times faster than AsyncStorage, thanks to its use of C++ code. Additionally, React Native MMKV provides encryption support, which makes it more secure than AsyncStorage.
Comparison of React Native MMKV and React Native Async Storage
Now let’s compare the features of React Native MMKV and React Native Async Storage:
- Performance: React Native MMKV is much faster than AsyncStorage, thanks to its use of C++ code. This makes it an excellent choice for applications that require fast and efficient data storage.
- Encryption: React Native MMKV provides encryption support, making it a more secure storage solution than AsyncStorage.
- API: React Native MMKV offers a more user-friendly API than AsyncStorage, with fully synchronous calls, making it easier to use without async/await or Promises.
- Support for objects: React Native MMKV offers support for object storage, making it easier to store complex data structures.
- Integration with state management libraries: React Native MMKV integrates seamlessly with popular state management libraries such as jotai, redux-persist, mobx-persist, and zustand-persist-middleware, making it easy to use with existing state management solutions.
Zustand middleware-persist and React Native MMKV
React Native MMKV can integrate with popular state management libraries like Zustand middleware-persist, making it easier to manage and persist application data. With this integration, developers can leverage the power of MMKV’s efficient, fast, and easy-to-use storage capabilities with their existing state management solutions.
Using React Native MMKV with Expo
React Native MMKV is compatible with Expo, but since it is built on top of native modules, it will not work in a typical Expo app. Instead, we need to generate native code, or we can leverage the prebuild feature of Expo.
Conclusion
React Native MMKV is an excellent choice for developers looking for a fast, secure, and user-friendly data storage solution for their React Native applications. With its fully synchronous API, support for object storage, encryption support, and seamless integration with state management libraries, React Native MMKV provides a significant advantage over AsyncStorage. We highly recommend React Native MMKV for any React Native application that requires fast and efficient data storage.