What is DataStore in Android SDK?

DataStore is a data persistence library in the Android SDK that provides a robust and efficient way to store key-value pairs and structured data. It is designed to replace SharedPreferences and offers asynchronous and type-safe data handling.

DataStore Types

  • Preferences DataStore: For storing key-value pairs.
  • Proto DataStore: For storing typed objects using Protocol Buffers.

Advantages of Using DataStore

  • Asynchronous API for better performance.
  • Type safety, which minimizes runtime errors.
  • Data consistency with a transactional model.

Example of Preferences DataStore

// Gradle Dependency implementation "androidx.datastore:datastore-preferences:1.0.0" // Create a DataStore instance val Context.dataStore: DataStore by preferencesDataStore(name = "settings") // Saving Data suspend fun saveToDataStore(key: String, value: String) { context.dataStore.edit { preferences -> preferences[stringPreferencesKey(key)] = value } } // Reading Data val valueFlow: Flow = context.dataStore.data .map { preferences -> preferences[stringPreferencesKey("example_key")] ?: "default_value" }

DataStore Android SDK Preferences DataStore Proto DataStore key-value storage asynchronous data handling type-safe data