Firebase Realtime Database
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Store and sync data with our NoSQL cloud database. Data
is synced across all clients in realtime, and remains available when your
app goes offline.
The Firebase Realtime Database is a cloud-hosted database. Data is stored as JSON
and synchronized in realtime to every connected client. When you build
cross-platform apps with our Apple platforms, Android, and JavaScript SDKs, all of your
clients share one Realtime Database instance and automatically receive updates with
the newest data.
Alternatively, consider trying
Cloud Firestore
for modern
applications requiring richer data models, queryability, scalability and higher
availability.
iOS+
setup
Android setup
Flutter setup
Web setup
REST API
C++ setup
Unity setup
Admin setup
Key capabilities
Realtime
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Instead of typical HTTP requests, the Firebase Realtime Database uses data
synchronization—every time data changes, any connected device receives
that update within milliseconds. Provide collaborative and
immersive experiences without thinking about networking code.
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Offline
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Firebase apps remain responsive even when offline because the
Firebase Realtime Database SDK persists your data to disk. Once connectivity
is reestablished, the client device receives any changes it missed,
synchronizing it with the current server state.
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Accessible from Client Devices
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The Firebase Realtime Database can be accessed directly from a mobile device
or web browser; there's no need for an application server. Security and
data validation are available through the Firebase Realtime Database
Security Rules, expression-based rules that are executed when data is
read or written.
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Scale across multiple databases
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With Firebase Realtime Database on the Blaze pricing plan, you can support
your app's data needs at scale by splitting your data across multiple
database instances in the same Firebase project. Streamline authentication
with Firebase Authentication on your project and authenticate users across
your database instances. Control access to the data in each database with
custom Firebase Realtime Database Security Rules for each database instance.
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How does it work?
The Firebase Realtime Database lets you build rich, collaborative applications
by allowing secure access to the database directly from client-side code. Data
is persisted locally, and even while offline, realtime events continue to fire,
giving the end user a responsive experience. When the device regains connection,
the Realtime Database synchronizes the local data changes with the remote updates
that occurred while the client was offline, merging any conflicts automatically.
The Realtime Database provides a flexible, expression-based rules language,
called Firebase Realtime Database Security Rules, to define how your data should be
structured and when data can be read from or written to. When integrated with
Firebase Authentication, developers can define who has access to what data, and how
they can access it.
The Realtime Database is a NoSQL database and as such has different optimizations
and capabilities compared to a relational database. The Realtime Database API is
designed to only allow operations that can be executed quickly. This lets you
build a great realtime experience that can serve millions of users without
compromising on responsiveness. Because of this, it is important to think about
how users need to access your data and then
structure it accordingly
.
Implementation path
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Integrate the Firebase Realtime Database SDKs
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Quickly include clients using Gradle, CocoaPods, or a script include.
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Create Realtime Database References
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Reference your JSON data, such as "users/user:1234/phone_number" to set
data or subscribe to data changes.
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Set Data and Listen for Changes
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Use these references to write data or subscribe to changes.
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Enable Offline Persistence
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Allow data to be written to the device's local disk so it can be available
while offline.
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Secure your data
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Use Firebase Realtime Database Security Rules to secure your data.
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Store other types of data
- Cloud Firestore
is a flexible, scalable database for
mobile, web, and server development from Firebase and Google Cloud.
To learn more about the differences between database options, see
Choose a database: Cloud Firestore or Realtime Database
.
- Firebase Remote Config
stores developer specified
key-value pairs to change the behavior and appearance of your app without
requiring users to download an update.
- Firebase Hosting
hosts the HTML, CSS, and
JavaScript for your website as well as other developer-provided assets like
graphics, fonts, and icons.
- Cloud Storage
stores files such as images,
videos, and audio as well as other user-generated content.
Next steps: