UPDATED 2024
A long time ago at Droidcon Berlin, we noticed a lot of questions around databases. Many people weren’t aware of SQLite alternatives and the differentiation between databases and Object-Relational Mappers (ORMs). Therefore, we followed up with an overview of the local database landscape (Edge Databases / On-device Databases), which we maintain ever since. We just updated the comparison table in October 2024 to reflect the recent deprecation of MongoDB Realm Atlas Device Sync, which also entails the end of maintenance for the open source Realm database.
Why use a local database on Mobile?
There are some advantages associated with using a local database (Edge Database):
- It always works: full offline modus for apps that depend on stored data
- Manageable costs: Frugal on bandwidth and cloud costs as most data can reside on the phone
- Speed: fast and predictable performance independent from network availability
- Data Privacy: personal data can be stored with the user, where some say they belong)