Using an image picker affects app performance mainly during image selection and loading. Large images can slow down rendering and increase memory use, risking app crashes on low-memory devices. Frame rate may drop if images are processed on the main thread. Battery usage rises slightly when accessing the camera or gallery.
Adding image picker libraries increases bundle size moderately, typically by 1-5MB depending on the package. Native dependencies may add to app size on iOS and Android. Startup time impact is minimal unless the picker initializes heavy native modules at launch. Use code splitting or lazy loading to reduce startup delays.
Likely causes include loading large images synchronously on the main thread, not resizing images before display, or initializing the image picker library too early. To fix, defer image processing to background threads, resize images on selection, and lazy load the picker module.