Firebase CocoaPods are too large (70mb)

Question

I have finished writing an IOS app and I used Firebase Database, auth, instance, messaging and core modules.

when I archived the app for deployment the size of the IPA file was 110mbs.

I checked my project files. the main project file including all assets is around 4mb, but the pods file is 67mb in size. does that get compressed ? or how do I reduce its size ?

this is the content of my podfile:

pod 'Firebase'
pod 'Firebase/Core'
pod 'Firebase/Auth'
pod 'Firebase/Database'
pod 'Firebase/Storage'
pod 'Firebase/Messaging'

thanks

this is normal checkout this question https://stackoverflow.com/questions/32588757/after-switching-to-xcode-7-app-size-grew-from-9-mb-to-60-mb-is-there-a-fix — Ali Faris, Jan 20 '18 at 19:01
still the size is very large, even with bitcode turned off the size is 65mb. the application does not have a lot of assets or large docs, pics etc so that it would remotely reach that size. I am not sure if the download size would be different in the App Store. — K.A.Q, Jan 20 '18 at 21:33

score 14 · Accepted Answer · edited Jan 21 '18 at 09:23

Each Firebase SDK is distributed as a precompiled universal binary containing multiple architectures: i386, armv7, x86_x64 and arm64, as well as bitcode. Additionally, the frameworks ship with module maps and header files, which contribute to the Pods size.

If the IPA is uploaded to the App Store or Test Flight, Apple will ensure that only relevant architecture is downloaded when the user installs the app on their device.

One way to test this is to upload the app to Test Flight and install it on your device - it should be way smaller.

If you want to get an idea of what your app size will be on a user device without uploading to Test Flight, try building in Xcode for one architecture only (normally arm64) while disabling bitcode.

If I try the pods mentioned in the question with the latest Firebase iOS release (4.8.1), the total size impact should be just over 3MB if measured with arm64 and no bitcode.

Thank you so much. I did try what you suggested and the IPA size was 10mbs only. Thanks a lot again! — K.A.Q, Jan 21 '18 at 14:33

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 01 '18 at 16:13

In Addition to Mr. Airapetyan's answer I found another way of finding out the real download and install size of the application on App Store and After Installation.

Login to itunes connect.
Go to my apps.
Select the Activity tab.
You will see a list of builds you uploaded and their current status (in review/ waiting for review / approved etc...).
Select the build you want to check.
Under General Information you will find "compressed file size"
Click on the " App Store File Sizes " link which will show you your application size on the App Store for all IOS devices as well as the install size of your app.

Firebase CocoaPods are too large (70mb)

2 Answers2