 <p>Firebase stores a sequence of values in this format:</p> <pre><code>"-K-Y_Rhyxy9kfzIWw7Jq": "Value 1" "-K-Y_RqDV_zbNLPJYnOA": "Value 2" "-K-Y_SBoKvx6gAabUPDK": "Value 3" </code></pre> <p>If that is how you have them, you are getting the wrong type. The above structure is represented as a <code>Map</code>, not as a <code>List</code>:</p> <pre><code>mFirebaseRef = new Firebase(FIREBASE_URL); mFirebaseRef.addValueEventListener(new ValueEventListener() { @Override public void onDataChange(DataSnapshot dataSnapshot) { Map&lt;String, Object&gt; td = (HashMap&lt;String,Object&gt;) dataSnapshot.getValue(); List&lt;Object&gt; values = td.values(); //notifyDataSetChanged(); } @Override public void onCancelled(FirebaseError firebaseError) { } }); </code></pre>