Introduction
In mobile development, persisting small pieces of data like user preferences, tokens, and app settings is vital. AsyncStorage provides a simple, reliable way to store that kind of data locally.
This library is a community-maintained solution that replaces the old AsyncStorage module from React Native core. It uses a key-value pair system, making it easy to use and ideal for lightweight storage needs.
🔧 Why Use It?
✅ Asynchronous, non-blocking storage
📱 Works across Android and iOS
🧠 Ideal for small, persistent data
⚙️ Simple API, like local Storage
💻 Installation
To get started :
npm install @react-native-async-storage/async-storage
# or
yarn add @react-native-async-storage/async-storage
✅ Best Practices
- Use consistent key names: Prefix keys with your app name or feature (e.g., @myapp_theme)
- Always handle errors: AsyncStorage can fail, especially on low storage devices
- Avoid storing sensitive data: It’s not encrypted
- Don’t use it like a database: Store only small pieces of data
✅ Advantages of Async Storage
🧠 Simple API
Easy to learn and use — just like localStorage on the web, but async-friendly.
📱 Cross-platform Support
Works seamlessly across both Android and iOS.
⚡ Asynchronous & Non-blocking
Won’t block the UI thread — ideal for mobile apps.
🔧 Community Maintained
Actively maintained and improved by the React Native community.
📦 Suitable for Small, Persistent Data
Perfect for tokens, flags, preferences, user settings, and other small data.
🔁 Support for Batch Operations
multiSet, multiGet, and mergeItem offer flexibility for managing multiple values
⚠️ Limitations of AsyncStorage
🔓 Not Encrypted
AsyncStorage is not secure for sensitive data like passwords or private tokens. Use SecureStore or Keychain for that.
📁 Not Ideal for Large Data
Designed for small bits of data. Storing large datasets or files can lead to performance issues.
🔌 No Built-in Sync or Offline Strategy
It's a simple key-value store — it doesn’t handle syncing or cache invalidation out-of-the-box.
📉 No Built-in Expiry
You need to manually implement expiry logic if data needs to be time sensitive.
🧪 Requires Manual Serialization
Objects must be manually converted to and from JSON strings.
📋 Debugging Can Be Tricky
Especially if you're storing deeply nested or complex objects.