Firebase Auth `auth/network-request-failed` on Expo + Hermes + React Native

[mmaxwell22]

I'm facing a persistent issue when using firebase/auth/react-native with Expo and Hermes in a React Native app.

What I’m trying to do:

• Sign up or log in a user via createUserWithEmailAndPassword or signInWithEmailAndPassword.

What happens:

• On real iOS devices, the request fails with the error: auth/network-request-failed.

Environment:

• Firebase SDK: 9.16.0
• Expo SDK: 53
• React Native: 0.73
• Hermes enabled
• Device: iPhone 15 Pro (iOS 16+)
• firebase.js uses getReactNativePersistence with @react-native-async-storage/async-storage
• Network is online and working for all other requests (e.g., Firestore and Storage)

What I’ve already tried:

• Verified correct Firebase config and .env
• Ensured app is initialized properly (no double calls)
• Tried switching between tunnel, LAN, and localhost
• Rebuilt app cleanly (npx expo start -c, eas build, etc.)
• Followed official docs for React Native Firebase and Expo

Logs:

❌ Firebase ping failed: [TypeError: Network request failed]

[MichaelVerdon]

Hey there 👋 can you please show me a snippet so I can see how you are using the sign-in functions? Are you also saying that you only get the network errors on a real device as opposed to simulator?

[mmaxwell22]

Thanks for the follow-up.

To clarify: I am currently only testing on the iOS simulator (iPhone 15), and I'm consistently getting the following error when calling createUserWithEmailAndPassword from Firebase Auth:

FirebaseError: Firebase: Error (auth/network-request-failed).

Everything is working fine in terms of Firestore and Storage, so the network is clearly available and functional. Here's the sign-up code I'm using:

import { createUserWithEmailAndPassword } from 'firebase/auth';
import { auth } from '../firebase'; // initialized with getReactNativePersistence(AsyncStorage)

const handleSignUp = async () => {
  try {
    const email = 'testuser@example.com';
    const password = 'test12345';

    console.log('Email:', email);
    console.log('Password:', password);

    const userCredential = await createUserWithEmailAndPassword(auth, email, password);
    console.log('Success:', userCredential.user);
  } catch (error) {
    console.log('❌ Firebase Auth Error:', error.message);
  }
};

My Setup:

Expo SDK 53
firebase@9.23.0
@react-native-async-storage/async-storage
Using getReactNativePersistence
Hermes enabled**
Running on: iOS simulator only (not a real device)
Firestore and Storage operations succeed
No VPN, proxy, or network restrictions

Let me know what additional logs or config you need I’ll send them over.

Thanks again!

[thanhlongnguyen140499]

Yeah, me too. I am having same issue with some Chinese Android when signing in/up on our app. It was working fine until the last few days, when a lot of people encountered it.

[MichaelVerdon]

Hi just to confirm, by firebase@9.23.0 you mean thats your React Native Firebase version? If so please upgrade as that is a really old version, we are currently on 22.3.0. Should definitely fix your issue.

[mmaxwell22]

Thanks for the reply! Just to clarify — I'm actually using the firebase/auth/react-native SDK (version 9.23.0) with Expo and Hermes, not @react-native-firebase/auth.

Is there a newer version of the web SDK (firebase/auth/react-native) compatible with Expo that fixes the auth/network-request-failed issue? I've been using the Hermes-compatible version and followed all React Native Auth setup steps with getReactNativePersistence(AsyncStorage).