Firebase Remote Config
Change the behavior and appearance of your app without publishing an app update, at no cost, for unlimited daily active users.
Key capabilities
| Quickly roll out changes to your app's user base | You can make changes to your app's default behavior and appearance by changing service-side parameter values. For example, you could change your app's layout or color theme to support a seasonal promotion, with no need to publish an app update. |
| Customize your app for segments of your user base | You can use Remote Config to provide variations on your app's user experience to different segments of your user base by app version, by Google Analytics audience, by language, and more. |
| Run A/B tests to improve your app | You can use Remote Config random percentile targeting with Google Analytics to A/B test improvements to your app across different segments of your user base so that you can validate improvements before rolling them out to your entire user base. |
How does it work?
Remote Config includes a client library that handles important tasks like fetching parameter values and caching them, while still giving you control over when new values are activated so that they affect your app's user experience. This lets you safeguard your app experience by controlling the timing of any changes.
The Remote Config client library get methods provide a single access
point for parameter values. Your app gets service-side values using
the same logic it uses to get in-app default values, so you can add the
capabilities of Remote Config to your app without writing a lot of code.
To override in-app default values, you use the Firebase console or the Remote Config REST API to create parameters with the same names as the parameters used in your app. For each parameter, you can set a service-side default value to override the in-app default value, and you can also create conditional values to override the in-app default value for app instances that meet certain conditions. This graphic shows how parameter values are prioritized in the service and in your app:
To learn more about parameters, conditions, and how Remote Config resolves conflicts between conditional values, see Remote Config Parameters and Conditions.
Implementation path
| Instrument your app with Remote Config | Define which aspects of your app's behavior and appearance you want to be able to change using Remote Config, and translate these into the parameters that you will use in your app. | |
| Set default parameter values |
Set the in-app default values for Remote Config parameters using
setDefaults().
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| Add logic to fetch, activate, and get parameter values |
Your app can safely and efficiently fetch parameter values from the
service and activate those fetched values. So, you can write your app
without worrying about the best time to fetch values, or even whether any
service-side values exist. Your app uses get methods to
get the value of a parameter, similar to reading the value of a local
variable defined in your app.
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| (As needed) Update service-side default and conditional parameter values |
You can define values in the Firebase console or the Remote Config
REST API to override in-app
default values. You can do this before or after you launch your app,
because the same get methods access in-app default values
and values fetched from the service.
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Policies and limits
Note the following policies:
- Don't use Remote Config to make app updates that should require a user's authorization. This could cause your app to be perceived as untrustworthy.
- Don't store confidential data in Remote Config parameter keys or parameter values. It is possible to decode any parameter keys or values stored in the Remote Config settings for your project.
- Don't attempt to circumvent the requirements of your app's target platform using Remote Config.
Remote Config parameters and conditions are subject to certain limits. To learn more, see Limits on parameters and conditions.
Note the following limits:
A Firebase project can have 2000 Remote Config parameters, which are subject to length and content limits detailed in Limits on parameters and conditions.
Firebase stores up to 300 versions of your Remote Config template, with a 90 day maximum lifetime for any stored template. See Templates and versioning.
Looking to store other types of data?
- Cloud Firestore is a flexible, scalable database for mobile, web, and server development from Firebase and Google Cloud Platform.
- Firebase Realtime Database stores JSON application data, like game state or chat messages, and synchronizes changes instantly across all connected devices. To learn more about the differences between database options, see Choose a database: Cloud Firestore or Realtime Database.
- Firebase Hosting hosts global assets, including 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
- See what you can do with Remote Config by reviewing typical use cases.
- Start your design. Review the key concepts and strategies such as Remote Config parameters and conditions and loading strategies.
- Get started integrating Remote Config with your app. See the setup guides for Android, iOS, and Web.
- Learn how to read and modify Remote Config parameter values programmatically using the REST API.
- Learn how to create Remote Config experiments with A/B testing.