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App Distribution With Firebase

Firebase App Distribution provides a simple platform for managing beta testing and distributing Android and iOS apps. Key features include fast distribution of beta releases without complex SDK configurations, cross-platform management of Android and iOS releases from the same dashboard, and tester management including adding testers by email and organizing them into groups. For Android, developers integrate the Firebase SDK and Google Services plugin and upload an APK. For iOS, they add the GoogleService-Info.plist file and Firebase pods, then build and upload an IPA file signed with the proper provisioning profile. Testers receive invitation emails and can access release notes and download test builds from the Firebase console.

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Ashan Kaushalya
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237 views14 pages

App Distribution With Firebase

Firebase App Distribution provides a simple platform for managing beta testing and distributing Android and iOS apps. Key features include fast distribution of beta releases without complex SDK configurations, cross-platform management of Android and iOS releases from the same dashboard, and tester management including adding testers by email and organizing them into groups. For Android, developers integrate the Firebase SDK and Google Services plugin and upload an APK. For iOS, they add the GoogleService-Info.plist file and Firebase pods, then build and upload an IPA file signed with the proper provisioning profile. Testers receive invitation emails and can access release notes and download test builds from the Firebase console.

Uploaded by

Ashan Kaushalya
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 14

App Distribution

with Firebase
Content

Why Firebase? 3

Manage Testers 4

Get Started 6

Android Configuration 6

IOS Configuration 10

Distribute Android Apps 13

Distribute IOS Apps 14


Why Firebase?
Firebase is a platform that gives us a simple method to build up our applications, admitting the
fact that there are different types of platforms for dealing with the beta deliveries, similar to
Google Play Internal Test Platform for Android, TestFlight for iOS, Diawi or AppBox etc.But all of
these mechanisms are more complicated & time consuming. Also it provides a better platform
for publishing the app as beta releases. that helps to enhance the app testing process(can
make builds within a short period of time). you can get feedback before and after. And if you
enable Crashlytics in your application builds, you’ll automatically get stability reports for all your
releases, so you can track the status of the app and can make sure when you’re fit to publish.
And the main advantage is it’s cross-platform support, which means that developers can
manage their android and ios beta releases distribution in the same platform as well as it
doesn’t need a custom SDK because it's an instant app delivery.

Key Features

● Fast distribution
○ Publish beta releases to your testers devices without any serious sdk
configurations.
● Cross Platform
○ Can manage both android/ios beta releases on the same platform.
● Tester management
○ Deal with your QA teams by getting them sorted into tester groups. Effectively add
new testers with email invitations, that navigate them through the onboarding cycle.
Can determine the status of the testers engagement with the application by looking
at the dashboard statistics. (who has accepted/rejected a testing invitation and
downloaded the application.)
● Works with Crashlytics
○ When the app is linked with Crashlytics, developers can observe the stability of the
beta releases.
Manage Testers

Firebase provides a perfect tester management for app distribution service, it allows you to add
testers by their valid emails without complex configurations and also you can create tester
groups from the added testers to manage the testing process.

Add testers
1. Open the firebase console and navigate to App Distribution -> Testers & Groups.
2. This section allows you to,
○ Add testers by valid email.

○ Add testers from csv files. This file needs to introduce the tester’s valid email and
name(optional) in the same row.
To add groups: select groups -> add group and give a group name, then select the testers.

Note : Firebase App Distribution has their own limits for testers & groups. You can only add
maximum 500 testers to a project, 200 testers to a tester group and 200 testers per distribution.
Get Started

As the first step you need to create an app on firebase.

Android Configuration
Prerequisites
● Install or update Android Studio to the latest version. (not required)
● Make sure that your project meets the following requirements:
○ Targets API level 16 (Jelly Bean) or later
○ Uses Gradle 4.1 or later
○ Uses Jetpack (AndroidX), which includes meeting these version
requirements:
i. com.android.tools.build:gradle v3.2.1 or later
ii. compileSdkVersion 28 or later
○ Set up a physical device or use an emulator to run your app. Emulators
must use an emulator image with Google Play.
Step 1 : Register android app in firebase console.

● Navigate to the Project Overview section and click the android icon.

● Register the android app details.


Step 2 : Add the configuration file to your android application.

● Download google-services.json file and move it to your android app’s app level module
directory.

● Enable firebase services in your app.


a. Add following code lines to your app level gradle file (/app/build.gradle) to apply
Google Services gradle plugin.
b. Add firebase dependencies in app level gradle file.

c. Add rules to enable Google Services gradle plugin in root level build.gradle file.
IOS Configuration
Prerequisites

● Xcode 11.0 or later


● CocoaPods 1.9.0 or later
● Make sure that you project meets the following requirements:
○ Targets Ios 10 or later.

Step 1 : Register ios app in firebase console.

● Navigate to the Project Overview section and click the ios icon.

● Register the application.

Step 2 : Add the configuration file to your ios application.


● Download GoogleService-Info.plist file and move it to your xcode projects root directory.

● Configure firebase SDK with your app.


a. Initialize pod file using pod init if it’s not available.
b. Add firebase pods to your pod file and run pod install.
c. Import firebase in UIApplicationDelegate and configure FirebaseApp inside
application:didFinishLaunchingWithOptions method.
Distribute Android Apps
1. Build the app
○ When you’re ready to publish the beta release to your testers, you need to build
an APK of your application and make sure to bind with the debug key or sign key.
2. Distribute to testers
○ Open up the firebase console and select the App Distribution section.
○ Select the android app -> Get started -> Releases and it will show you to
upload an APK file.

○ Drag and drop the APK that has the latest code of your application to upload.
○ After the upload completes, Select the testers and test groups that you’re willing to
test your app and also you can put a release note about the build.

○ Click distribute to publish the build.


Distribute IOS Apps

1. Build the app


○ Build an ipa file with your latest code and make sure that your build meets the
following requirements.
i. To publish your ios build over your development team. you need to use an
enterprise or ad hoc provisioning profile.
ii. If your app using extra features like APN, icloud or Game Center , make
sure that the provisioning profiles use a correct app Id instead of wild card
id.
iii. If you’re using an Ad Hoc profile, make sure to register the tester’s device
id’s (UDID) on the profile. Any testing device which was not registered in
the provisioning profile will not able to test the app on their apple devices.
2. Distribute app (Same as the android flow)

Note :
Once it completes the distribution, the selected testers will receive an email about the new build with
basic instructions about the app testing with firebase. The build will be available for five months (150
days) on the Distribution Dashboard and it will expire for testing within 30 days with an expiration
notice for testers.

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