The optional Firebase App Distribution iOS and Android SDKs let you display
in-app alerts to your testers when new builds of your app are available to
install. This guide explains how to use the App Distribution iOS and Android SDKs
to create and customize new build alerts for your testers.
Before you begin
If you haven't already,
add Firebase to your iOS project
.
Step 1
: Enable the App Distribution Tester API
Select your project in the
Google Cloud console
.
Under
Firebase App Testers API
, click
Enable
.
Step 2
: Add App Distribution to your app
Open the Podfile you created for the project (or run
pod init
to create
one), then add the following line inside the target section:
pod 'FirebaseAppDistribution'
In the directory of your podfile, run
pod install
, then open the
created
.xcworkspace
file.
Import the Firebase module in your
App
struct or
UIApplicationDelegate
:
Swift
import FirebaseCore
import FirebaseAppDistribution
Objective-C
@import FirebaseCore;
@import FirebaseAppDistribution;
Configure a
FirebaseApp
shared instance in your app delegate's
application(_:didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:)
method:
Swift
// Use Firebase library to configure APIs
FirebaseApp.configure()
Objective-C
// Use Firebase library to configure APIs
[FIRApp configure];
If swizzling is disabled, pass any opened URLs to the App Distribution SDK in
your implementation of
application(_:open:options:)
:
Swift
func application(_ app: UIApplication,
open url: URL,
options: [UIApplication.OpenURLOptionsKey : Any] = [:]) -> Bool {
if AppDistribution.appDistribution().application(application, open: url, options: options) {
return true
}
// Handle other non-Firebase URLs here.
return false
}
Objective-C
- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)app
openURL:(NSURL *)url
options:(NSDictionary<UIApplicationOpenURLOptionsKey, id> *)options {
if ([[FIRAppDistribution appDistribution] application:app openURL:url options:options]) {
return YES;
}
// Handle other non-Firebase URLs here.
return NO;
}
Finally, recompile your app.
The App Distribution SDK provides two ways of setting up in-app build alerts for
your testers: a basic alert configuration, which comes with pre-built app update
and sign-in dialogues to display to testers, and an advanced alert
configuration, which allows you to customize your own user interface. We
recommend first using the basic alert configuration if you're new to the
App Distribution SDK.
Basic configuration
Use
checkForUpdate
to display a pre-built enable alerts dialogue to
testers who haven't yet enabled alerts, and then check if a new build is
available. When called, the method enacts the following sequence:
Checks if a tester has enabled alerts by prompting them to sign into
App Distribution with their Google account.
If the tester has not yet enabled alerts, displays a pre-built dialogue.
Enabling alerts is a one-time process on the test device and persists across
updates of your app. Alerts remain enabled on the test device until
either the app is uninstalled, or until the
signOutTester
method is called.
See the method's reference documentation
(
Swift
or
Objective-C
)
for more information.
Checks for newly available builds for the tester to install.
You can invoke
checkForUpdate()
at any point in your app. For example, you
can prompt your testers to install newly available builds at startup by
including
checkForUpdate()
in the
onAppear(perform:)
of your app's root
view.
The following example checks whether or not the tester has enabled alerts
and has access to a new build, and if so, displays a dialogue when the
build is available to install:
Swift
Note:
This product is not available on macOS, Mac Catalyst, tvOS or watchOS targets.
AppDistribution.appDistribution().checkForUpdate(completion: { release, error in
if error != nil {
// Handle error
return
}
guard let release = release else {
return
}
// Customize your alerts here.
let title = "New Version Available"
let message = "Version \(release.displayVersion)(\(release.buildVersion)) is available."
let uialert = UIAlertController(title: title,message: message, preferredStyle: .alert)
uialert.addAction(UIAlertAction(title: "Update", style: UIAlertAction.Style.default) {
_ in
UIApplication.shared.open(release.downloadURL)
})
uialert.addAction(UIAlertAction(title: "Cancel", style: UIAlertAction.Style.cancel) {
_ in
})
// self should be a UIViewController.
self.present(uialert, animated: true, completion: nil)
})
Objective-C
Note:
This product is not available on macOS, Mac Catalyst, tvOS or watchOS targets.
[[FIRAppDistribution appDistribution]
checkForUpdateWithCompletion:^(FIRAppDistributionRelease *_Nullable release,
NSError *_Nullable error) {
if (error) {
// Handle error
return;
}
if (release) {
UIAlertController *alert = [UIAlertController alertControllerWithTitle:@"New Version Available"
message:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"Version %@ (%@) is available.", release.displayVersion,
release.buildVersion] preferredStyle:UIAlertControllerStyleAlert];
UIAlertAction *updateAction = [UIAlertAction actionWithTitle:@"Update"
style:UIAlertActionStyleDefault handler:^(UIAlertAction *action) {
[[UIApplication sharedApplication] openURL:release.downloadURL options:@{}
completionHandler:nil];
}];
UIAlertAction *cancelAction = [UIAlertAction actionWithTitle:@"Cancel"
style:UIAlertActionStyleCancel handler:^(UIAlertAction *action) {}];
[alert addAction:updateAction];
[alert addAction:cancelAction];
[self presentViewController:alert animated:YES completion:nil];
}
}];
Advanced configuration
The methods
signInTester()
and
isTesterSignedIn
give you more flexibility
customizing your tester's sign-in experience, so it can better match your
app's look and feel.
The following example checks whether the tester has already signed into their
Firebase App Distribution tester account, so you can choose to display your
sign-in UI only for testers who haven't yet signed in. After the tester has
signed in, you can then call
checkForUpdate()
to check whether the tester has
access to a new build.
Swift
Note:
This product is not available on macOS, Mac Catalyst, tvOS or watchOS targets.
// Sign in a tester without automatically checking for update
if (!AppDistribution.appDistribution().isTesterSignedIn) {
AppDistribution.appDistribution().signInTester (completion: { error in
// completion block for signInTester
if (error != nil) {
// handle failed sign in
return
}
// handle successful sign in
})
}
// Only check for update if tester is already signed in - do not prompt
if (AppDistribution.appDistribution().isTesterSignedIn) {
AppDistribution.appDistribution().checkForUpdate(completion: { release, error in
// completion block for check for update
})
}
Objective-C
Note:
This product is not available on macOS, Mac Catalyst, tvOS or watchOS targets.
// Sign in a tester without automatically checking for update
if(![[FIRAppDistribution appDistribution] isTesterSignedIn]) {
[[FIRAppDistribution appDistribution]
signInTesterWithCompletion:^(NSError *_Nullable error) {
// completion block for signInTester
if (error) {
// handle failed sign in
return;
}
// handle successful sign in
}];
}
// only check for update if tester is already signed in - do not prompt
if([[FIRAppDistribution appDistribution] isTesterSignedIn]) {
[[FIRAppDistribution appDistribution]
checkForUpdateWithCompletion:^(FIRAppDistributionRelease *_Nullable release,
NSError *_Nullable error) {
// completion block for check for update
}];
}
For information on additional methods, including
signOutTester()
,
see the App Distribution reference documentation for
Swift
and
Objective-C
.
Step 4
: Build and test your implementation
Finally, build your app and test your implementation by
distributing the build
to testers using the Firebase console.
Visit the
App Distribution Troubleshooting guide
for help with common issues, such as:
- Tester not receiving in-app alerts
- Tester being prompted to sign in to Google more than once