React Native: ElevenLabs Provider Performance Fix

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React Native Architecture Issue: Provider Contains Too Much State, Causing Unnecessary Rerenders

Hey guys! Let's dive into a common React Native performance snag, specifically with the ElevenLabsProvider. The core issue? It's currently structured in a way that causes a lot of unnecessary rerenders, which can really bog down your app. This article will break down the problem, the proposed solution (which borrows a successful pattern from libraries like PostHog), and why this change is crucial for a smooth user experience.

The Problem: ElevenLabsProvider and Rerenders

So, what's the deal? The ElevenLabsProvider is currently designed to hold a bunch of state. Things like the user's authentication token, connection status, whether the system is speaking, and more, are all stored within the provider component. Now, here's the kicker: every time any of this state changes, the provider rerenders. And because of how React works, this means all of the provider's children also rerender. Think of it like a domino effect – one small change triggers a cascade of updates, even if those updates aren't actually needed. This is a fundamental React concept but can easily lead to performance bottlenecks, especially in complex UIs.

Imagine your app has a lot of components that rely on the ElevenLabsProvider. Every time the audio status changes, a bunch of those components needlessly re-render. This can lead to dropped frames, lag, and an overall sluggish feel. It's a classic case of over-rendering, and it's something we definitely want to avoid.

This architecture is also fundamentally different from how some other React Native libraries approach their providers. Let's explore how other libraries have tackled this issue, particularly PostHog, React Query, and Redux, to see how they manage to wrap entire apps without causing performance issues.

Current Architecture (Problematic) Deep Dive

Let's get into the nitty-gritty. This is what the current ElevenLabsProvider looks like, architecturally speaking:

export const ElevenLabsProvider = ({ children }) => {
  // ❌ These state changes cause provider to rerender
  const [token, setToken] = useState('');
  const [connect, setConnect] = useState(false);
  const [status, setStatus] = useState('disconnected');      // Changes during call
  const [conversationId, setConversationId] = useState('');
  const [isSpeaking, setIsSpeaking] = useState(false);       // Toggles constantly
  const [canSendFeedback, setCanSendFeedback] = useState(false);
  const [serverUrl, setServerUrl] = useState(DEFAULT_SERVER_URL);
  const [tokenFetchUrl, setTokenFetchUrl] = useState(undefined);
  
  // When any state changes, provider rerenders → all children rerender
  return (
    <ElevenLabsContext.Provider value={contextValue}>
      <LiveKitRoomWrapper {...props}>
        {children}  {/* ← Rerenders on every state change */}
      </LiveKitRoomWrapper>
    </ElevenLabsContext.Provider>
  );
};

As you can see, the ElevenLabsProvider holds eight or more pieces of state that are constantly changing. Each setState call forces the provider to rerender, which then causes all its children to rerender. This is inefficient, as only the components that actually depend on those state changes need to update. This is why you need to carefully wrap only the necessary portions of your UI with the provider and add memoization to child components to prevent unnecessary re-renders. It's a lot of manual work to achieve what should be a straightforward setup.

The Solution: A PostHog-Inspired Approach

The good news is, there's a better way! The proposed solution takes inspiration from libraries like PostHog, which avoid this problem entirely.

PostHog's Strategy: A Stable Provider

Let's look at a simplified example of PostHog's approach:

// PostHog's approach (simplified)
export function PostHogProvider({ children, apiKey, options }) {
  // ✅ Creates client ONCE on mount - stable reference
  const client = useMemo(() => new PostHog(apiKey, options), [apiKey]);
  
  // ✅ Context value is stable - doesn't change during usage
  const value = useMemo(() => ({ client }), [client]);
  
  // ✅ No state = no rerenders = wrapping entire app is fine
  return (
    <PostHogContext.Provider value={value}>
      {children}
    </PostHogContext.Provider>
  );
}

Notice how PostHog's provider doesn't have any internal state. Instead, it creates a client once on mount using useMemo. The context value is a stable reference to this client. This means that the provider never rerenders after its initial render. This is a game-changer! It means you can wrap your entire app with the PostHogProvider without worrying about performance issues.

Proposed Architecture for ElevenLabs

Here’s how we can apply a similar pattern to ElevenLabs:

// Provider only provides stable client instance (no state)
export function ElevenLabsProvider({ children }) {
  // ✅ Client is stable - doesn't change
  const client = useMemo(() => new ElevenLabsClient(), []);
  
  return (
    <ElevenLabsContext.Provider value={client}>
      {children}
    </ElevenLabsContext.Provider>
  );
}

// State managed by consumers via hooks
export function useConversation(options) {
  const client = useContext(ElevenLabsContext);
  
  // ✅ State is local to the component using the hook
  const [status, setStatus] = useState('disconnected');
  const [isSpeaking, setIsSpeaking] = useState(false);
  const [canSendFeedback, setCanSendFeedback] = useState(false);
  
  // ✅ Only components using this hook rerender when state changes
  useEffect(() => {
    // Setup LiveKit connection using client
    // Update local state as needed
  }, [client]);
  
  return { 
    status, 
    isSpeaking, 
    canSendFeedback,
    startSession, 
    endSession,
    // ...
  };
}

In this proposed architecture:

  • The ElevenLabsProvider becomes a simple wrapper that provides a stable ElevenLabsClient instance. It doesn’t manage any of the dynamic state.
  • The dynamic state (status, isSpeaking, etc.) is managed within a custom hook, like useConversation. This hook uses useContext to access the client, and then manages its own internal state. Critically, only components that use this hook will rerender when the state changes within the hook.

Benefits of the Proposed Approach

This shift offers some serious advantages, making the library more performant and developer-friendly:

  • Provider Never Rerenders: The ElevenLabsProvider is now stable, avoiding the cascading rerenders that plague the current implementation.
  • Isolated Rerenders: Only the components that need to update (i.e., the ones using the hook and its state) will rerender. This keeps updates targeted and efficient.
  • Wrap the Entire App: You can wrap the entire app with the ElevenLabsProvider without any performance concerns. This simplifies usage and eliminates the need for manual wrapping and memoization.
  • Better Separation of Concerns: The provider's sole responsibility is providing the client. The hook handles all the state-related logic. This separation makes the code cleaner and easier to reason about.
  • Follows Best Practices: This approach aligns with React's recommendations and the patterns used by many successful React Native libraries.

Comparison: ElevenLabs vs. Other Libraries

Let's see how this approach stacks up against the existing architecture in a simple comparison.

Library Provider Has State? Can Wrap Entire App?
PostHog ❌ No ✅ Yes
React Query ❌ No ✅ Yes
Redux ❌ No ✅ Yes
ElevenLabs ✅ Yes (8+ pieces) ❌ No (performance issues)

As you can see, the proposed architecture would bring ElevenLabs in line with these other high-performing libraries.

Current Workarounds and Breaking Changes

Right now, developers have to jump through some hoops to mitigate the performance issues:

  1. Limited Wrapping: Only wrapping the minimal UI with the provider.
  2. Manual Memoization: Using React.memo on direct child components to prevent rerenders.
  3. Context Value Memoization: Applying patches to memoize the context values. (See PR #340).

While these workarounds provide some relief, they add complexity and cognitive load. The goal is to make the library as easy to use and performant as possible!

This proposed change would require a major version bump (v2.0) since it would change the API. However, the migration path would be pretty straightforward. The main change is that ElevenLabsProvider would no longer need to be carefully positioned – it could wrap the entire app.

Related

  • PR #340: This provides a partial fix via memoization, which should be merged for immediate improvements.
  • This issue is tracking the long-term architectural improvement for v2.0.

Conclusion

By adopting the pattern of a stable provider with state managed by hooks, ElevenLabs can significantly improve performance, simplify usage, and align with React best practices. This is a crucial step towards making the library even more powerful and user-friendly. Hope you guys found this useful!

References