Firebase initializing app on every app restart React Native

[NOxDriver]

I'm creating a react native app that connects to firebase.
However, when I started my app in slow internet speeds, it took a while to load, and the code showed me that this was due to the initialization with firebase taking long. On airplane mode, it works fine.
But, I have a function that should only call the initialization if it hasn't been initialized before.
It seems as though between each app restart, the initialization is triggered again and again.
How does one persist the initialization so that it only needs to be done once?

import { getApps, initializeApp } from 'firebase/app';
 
 // import 'firebase/compat/auth'
 import { getAuth, createUserWithEmailAndPassword, signInWithEmailAndPassword, onAuthStateChanged, signOut } from "firebase/auth";
 
 // import 'firebase//firestore'
 import { getFirestore, collection, addDoc, query, where, getDocs, deleteDoc, doc, setDoc, serverTimestamp } from "firebase/firestore"
 
 import AsyncStorage from '@react-native-async-storage/async-storage';
 
 
 
 
 // TODO: Add SDKs for Firebase products that you want to use
 // https://firebase.google.com/docs/web/setup#available-libraries
 
 // Your web app's Firebase configuration
 // For Firebase JS SDK v7.20.0 and later, measurementId is optional
 const firebaseConfig = {*****
 };
 
 
 
 // Initialize Firebase
 
 if (!getApps().length) {
     console.log('initializing firebase');
     const app = initializeApp(firebaseConfig);
 }

Packages:

{
   "name": "tut3",
   "version": "1.0.0",
   "main": "node_modules/expo/AppEntry.js",
   "scripts": {
     "start": "expo start",
     "android": "expo start --android",
     "ios": "expo start --ios",
     "web": "expo start --web",
     "eject": "expo eject"
   },
   "dependencies": {
     "@gorhom/bottom-sheet": "^4",
     "@react-native-async-storage/async-storage": "^1.17.2",
     "@react-native-community/datetimepicker": "4.0.0",
     "@react-native-community/google-signin": "^5.0.0",
     "@react-native-firebase/app": "^14.7.0",
     "@react-native-firebase/auth": "^14.7.0",
     "@react-native-google-signin/google-signin": "^7.2.2",
     "@react-navigation/bottom-tabs": "^6.2.0",
     "@react-navigation/material-bottom-tabs": "^6.1.1",
     "@react-navigation/native": "^6.0.8",
     "@react-navigation/native-stack": "^6.5.2",
     "@react-navigation/stack": "^6.1.1",
     "expo": "~44.0.0",
     "expo-camera": "^12.1.2",
     "expo-fast-image": "^1.1.3",
     "expo-file-system": "~13.1.4",
     "expo-google-app-auth": "~8.3.0",
     "expo-image-picker": "^12.0.2",
     "expo-location": "~14.0.1",
     "expo-status-bar": "^1.2.0",
     "expo-updates": "~0.11.6",
     "firebase": "^9.6.10",
     "moment": "^2.29.1",
     "react": "17.0.1",
     "react-dom": "17.0.1",
     "react-native": "0.64.3",
     "react-native-action-button": "^2.8.5",
     "react-native-dropdown-picker": "^5.3.0",
     "react-native-gesture-handler": "~2.1.0",
     "react-native-gifted-chat": "^0.16.3",
     "react-native-image-crop-picker": "^0.37.3",
     "react-native-keyboard-aware-scroll-view": "^0.9.5",
     "react-native-maps": "0.29.4",
     "react-native-onboarding-swiper": "^1.2.0",
     "react-native-paper": "^4.12.0",
     "react-native-reanimated": "~2.3.1",
     "react-native-safe-area-context": "^4.2.4",
     "react-native-screens": "^3.13.1",
     "react-native-skeleton-placeholder": "^5.0.0",
     "react-native-stars": "^1.2.2",
     "react-native-vector-icons": "^9.1.0",
     "react-native-web": "0.17.1",
     "reanimated-bottom-sheet": "^1.0.0-alpha.22",
     "shorthash": "^0.0.2",
     "styled-components": "^5.3.5"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
     "@babel/core": "^7.12.9"
   },
   "private": true
 }

Here is my routes folder that determines what to show on the app until the app initialization is done:

import React, { useContext, useState, useEffect } from 'react';
  import { NavigationContainer } from '@react-navigation/native';
  
  import { auth } from './AuthProvider';
  // import 'firebase/compat/auth'
  import { getAuth, createUserWithEmailAndPassword, signInWithEmailAndPassword, onAuthStateChanged, signOut } from "firebase/auth";
  
  // import 'firebase//firestore'
  import { getFirestore, collection, addDoc, query, where, getDocs, deleteDoc, doc, setDoc } from "firebase/firestore"
  
  
  import { AuthContext } from './AuthProvider';
  
  import AuthStack from './AuthStack';
  import AppStack from './AppStack';
  import AsyncStorage from '@react-native-async-storage/async-storage';
  
  
  
  const Routes = () => {
    const { user, setUser } = useContext(AuthContext);
    const [initializing, setInitializing] = useState(true);
  
    const onAuthStateChanges = (user) => {
      setUser(user);
      if (initializing) setInitializing(false);
      console.log(user)
    };
    
    useEffect(() => {
      
      const subscriber = onAuthStateChanged(auth, onAuthStateChanges);
      return subscriber; // unsubscribe on unmount
      
    }, []);
  
    if (initializing) return null;
  
  
    return (
      <NavigationContainer>
        {user ? <AppStack /> : <AuthStack />}
      </NavigationContainer>
    )
    
  };
  
  export default Routes;

Thanks!