Accessing SQLite database from Assets Folder without copying to user's data folder

In my iOS app I have a large (270MB), pre-populated, read-only sqlite database. I keep the data in the app bundle and query it with no problems. I do not copy the database to the user's documents folder, because it would be pointless in this situation to take up more space with a duplicate database. I have a separate much smaller database I copy to the user's documents folder to store the user's preferences. The app works just fine.

Now I'm trying to port my app to Android using Android Studio, but it does not seem possible to access the database from the assets folder. I have found plenty of documentation on database helper classes for Android, which I have tried, but the approach always seems to be to copy the database from the assets folder to the user's data folder. This would be a waste of space and also in my experience the app is unable to copy the database without crashing (maybe because of the size? I had no problems copying a smaller test database).

Is there a way to access the database without copying it to the user's data folder? If not can anyone think of another way of approaching this?