Issue with app on Play Store connecting to internet, works on local builds

[FizixTiramu]

have a weird issue, from a google it appears to be a bug.

I submitted this as a bug report as I believe it may be a bug, but posting here also for guidance.

I have an app that uses the Firebase SDK, on local builds it can connect to our server fine, but on the PlayStore some users are reporting that the app cannot connect to our server, which we have checked and is occurring.

From a Google it appears that it might be due to Firebase causing a ProGuard issue unless "minifyEnabled" and "shrinkResources" are disabled. But there doesnt appear to be a way to set these that I can find and I don't even know where to begin. Either way, this shouldnt happen and I need a solution.

Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated because I need to resolve whatever it is urgently.