Android Firebase Auth Crash on KitKat

Question

my app using Firebase Anonymous Auth is crashing on API19 (4.4).

E/AndroidRuntime: FATAL EXCEPTION: main
          Process: com.author.example, PID: 2191
            


        

Answer 1

The device or emulator you are testing with does not have a version of Google Play services installed that is compatible with Firebase SDK 11.8.0. At the time the app initializes the logcat will contain this message:

W/GooglePlayServicesUtil: Google Play services out of date

If the error occurs on a real device, you need to update Google Play services on the device. If the error occurs on an emulator, you need to use the SDK manager to download the latest emulator images and pick one the includes Google API.

Because Firebase requires Google Play services, it's good practice to confirm that it is available using GoogleApiAvailability as explained in the documentation.