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I want to link an Android App to Firebase to use Firestore database, Analytics, and crashlytics. I am attempting to use FirebaseApp.initializeApp() to set the credentials.

Setting the credentials directly in the code allows for the possibility of obfuscating the credentials instead of leaving them in google-services.json.

I found the following article on medium which addresses this: https://medium.com/nerd-for-tech/secure-your-firebases-google-services-json-file-in-android-16680f8e5fb4

However, trying to implement calling FirebaseApp.initializeApp() results in the app crashing with no apparent errors or exceptions in logcat. I'm doing the following (credentials X'ed out for obvious reasons)

FirebaseApp.initializeApp(context, new FirebaseOptions.Builder()
    .setApplicationId( "XXXXXXXXX")
    .setGcmSenderId("XXXXXXXXX")
    .setApiKey("XXXXXXXXX")
    .setStorageBucket("XXXXXXXXX")
    .setProjectId("XXXXXXXXX")
    .build());
db = FirebaseFirestore.getInstance();

  • The value in setApplicationId() is set to the mobilesdk_app_id in google-services.json

  • The value in setGcmSenderId() is set to the project_number in google-services.json

  • The value in setApiKey() is set to the current_key inside the api_key object in google-services.json

  • The value in setStorageBucket() is set to the storage_bucket in google-services.json

  • The value in setProjectId() is set to project_id in google-services.json.

Note that the medium article includes one more function call .setDatabaseUrl(). This was a problem as there is apparent database URL in google-services.json file, I've been told I can get the database URL from the Realtime Database section of the Firebase console, but I'm not using the realtime database, I'm using Firestore database, so I don't include it.

With the call to FirebaseApp.initializeApp() the app crashes, commenting out the call and the app runs.

I also tried FirebaseApp.initializeApp(context); as I was told that that would initialize using the google-services.json file, it doesn't crash but the data still goes to the old Firebase project.

I also tried storing the return value of the FirebaseApp.initializeApp() call in a FirebaseApp variable and passing it to the FirebaseFirestore.getInstance(app) call, but it still crashes with no errors in logcat.

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated!

Frank van Puffelen
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WarrenD
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  • When an app crashes, it writes an error message and stack trace to its logcat. Please find those, and add them to your question by clicking the `edit` link under it. Also see https://stackoverflow.com/questions/23353173/unfortunately-myapp-has-stopped-how-can-i-solve-this and https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3988788/what-is-a-stack-trace-and-how-can-i-use-it-to-debug-my-application-errors – Frank van Puffelen May 27 '22 at 21:00
  • Please edit your question and add the information Frank asked for, and please also respond with @. – Alex Mamo May 28 '22 at 07:59
  • Hello, Thank you for responding to my question, please see the fourth paragraph, one of the issue that mystifies me is the absence of any error messages in logcat. – WarrenD Jun 02 '22 at 00:23

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