Solving Flickering Images in Android Jetpack Compose with Firebase Storage

Discover how to eliminate flickering images in your Android Jetpack Compose app when fetching photos from Firebase Cloud Storage.
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This video is based on the question https://stackoverflow.com/q/74397755/ asked by the user 'Yuki' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/19503557/ ) and on the answer https://stackoverflow.com/a/74398756/ provided by the user 'z.g.y' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/19023745/ ) at 'Stack Overflow' website. Thanks to these great users and Stackexchange community for their contributions.

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Solving Flickering Images in Android Jetpack Compose with Firebase Storage

When building Android applications, developers often need to retrieve images from cloud storage. However, a common problem arises—flickering images in Jetpack Compose. This issue can disrupt the user experience, making the app appear unresponsive or glitchy. In this guide, we will explore why this flickering occurs when fetching images from Firebase Cloud Storage and how to resolve it cleanly.

Understanding the Problem

In our specific case, the flickering happens due to the continuous updates from Firebase listeners. When invoking the Firebase function to retrieve image bytes, every time the listener responds, it updates the bitmap state. This triggering of updates results in Jetpack Compose re-composing the UI every time a new value comes through from Firebase. Consequently, users see a constant flicker as the images refresh repeatedly.

Initial Code Snippet

Here's an overview of the initial setup that leads to flickering:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Solution: Using LaunchedEffect

To eliminate the flickering, we can use LaunchedEffect. This allows us to run side effects in a composable function without causing unnecessary recompositions. By ensuring that Firebase listeners are properly scoped within LaunchedEffect, we can stop the image fetch from causing repeated updates.

Steps to Implement the Solution

Wrap Firebase Call with LaunchedEffect:
By placing the image loading logic inside a LaunchedEffect, we ensure that the Firebase call is executed only once when the composable is first composed. This prevents the function from being retriggered with every composition.

Utilize a Stable Key:
Use a key that does not change—such as Unit—to ensure the effect does not re-execute after the bitmap is set.

Revised Code Example

Here’s how you can refactor the UserInfo function to apply the solution:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Key Benefits of the Solution

No More Flickering: By managing when the image data is fetched, the UI remains stable, providing a smooth user experience.

Efficient Resource Use: Reducing unnecessary re-compositions helps with app performance, making your application lighter and faster.

Cleaner Code Structure: It encapsulates logic within LaunchedEffect, improving readability and maintainability of code.

Conclusion

By following the steps outlined above, you'll successfully resolve flickering issues when displaying images fetched from Firebase Cloud Storage in your Jetpack Compose application. This not only enhances the application's user experience but also demonstrates the power of effective state management in Kotlin.

For more tips and tricks on Android development, be sure to stay tuned to our blog!

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