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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.