Implement ListenSource / SnapshotListenOptions for firestore (new SDK feature March 2024)

[mikehardy]

Discussed in #8124

^{Originally posted by cSieves November 10, 2024}
Hi,
I was wondering if there are any plans to allow a user to specify where to get the listener data from. At the moment as far as I understand when setting up a listener data data will be pulled from both the cache and server as changes occur. However, from what I can tell, (correct me if I am wrong) doing it this way creates a number of issues;

• It drives up costs as every change to a query/doc results in you being charged for a read. This is bad for a few reasons, but if you manage and situation like a social media app where lots of users are updating a single doc e.g. liking a post, the cost grows exponentially.
• Frequent updates can cause re-renders in react if you are storing the new state in a react hook. This can mess with the user experience

I noticed in the other SDK's there is an option to specify where the data is coming from, is this feature going to become available in the react-native sdk soon too?

In the meantime is there some other way I can achieve the same thing i.e. get realtime updates for changes in my local cache?