So I'm learning to build my first app using Flutter. I can't find information around how I can share my prototype app while it is in development with friends and family. A lot of the information refers to how you can build and release apps on the market.
Currently I connect my own device to my IDE and I can launch it in developer mode on the phone. So if I wanted to show other people, I need to physically be in front of them. Or get a hold of their physical device and run debug mode on their device. This is very cumbersome and the turn around time is not immediate, which means friends and family loses interest in helping out very quickly.
This got me questioning how flutter developers in the real world work with clients? There has to be some way for you to send the app over to the client for review without having to actually release the app while it is in development? I mean in web development, you would just send them a staging link to review. What's the equivalent in flutter? This got me thinking - since flutter can also be developed for the web, would staging the app on the web be a good idea? Why or why not?
1- You can build a release apk as output and share it manually.
https://flutter.dev/docs/deployment/android#build-an-apk
2- You can use internal app sharing in Google Play Developer Console.
3- For iOS you can use Test Flight
You can create apk for your app if you want to share it with your friends
For apk (Android) run the command :
flutter build apk --release
For ipa (iOS) run the command :
flutter build ios --release
and after that go to this location:
yourAppFolder/build/app/outputs/apk/release/app-release.apk
Then you can share this APK file through WhatsApp with your friends to test your app.
Related
I'm a student developer, using Ionic framework and I've developed an app for my friend's company. I have never owned an Apple product.Is there any alternative to paying 100$ for apple developer ID?
I don't need the app to be visible on App Store to anyone. Is it possible, like it is for Android .apk files, to just build the app using xcode on macincloud or local Mac machine and to get that ".apk"-equivelent (.IPA i think?) file so I could share that file with my clients?
I don't own a Mac machine, but let's say I do buy it. Would I still need to own a Apple Dev. ID to build this file and share it with other apple devices?
No, you need to pay the $100 fee.
I'm a web developer and just new to the mobile world, I wonder how I can allow another people to test my app on their device remotely?
For example, on the web app, I will create a staging environment (stg.example.com) and then they can easily test it from everywhere. But I can't found the same way for mobile app (react native). I can install the app to my phone through a capable, but I can't do it on my customer phone :sad:
Do I must publish it to App Store/CH Play first and then they can install and test it? It seems a bad idea :sad:
I really appreciate any advice,
Thanks!
1-You can use Expo CLI where you can send the QR Code to your other team members and they can easily check your app with EXPO APP by using the QR Code.
2-If you are using react-native CLI then there is only one way to send your android app to your other team members or friends and that is to generate a signed apk. Read here how to generate signed apk : https://reactnative.dev/docs/signed-apk-android
Once you get the apk you can send it to anyone through google drive or any other free cloud storage or through Bluetooth.
For IOS it's quite difficult you need to have an Apple account to generate ipa (iOS App Store Package). See this it will help you How to share a compiled iOS app ipa with your users for testing
Upload it to playstore/ app store is not a bad idea, e.g. you can do a closed beta test there. Another option is when your customer activate unknown sources on there device they can install the apps directly.
Good Morning,
I have an android application and I sell it on a third-party website so, my customers need to configure it. My question is, can they build my app online without the need to open android studio also, they will only change one line like (SECRET_API_KEY) and that. Can I upload my app source code on my website and build it online? I see that websites like appyet.com use the online build for apps! As I said, I just need to change one line and change package-name online that's my issue
You certainly can. You don't actually need Android Studio to build your app: under the hood, Android Studio uses gradle scripts to build it. All you need is a server with Java and the Android SDK installed, so you can build the app from command line.
The solution is a CI/CD solution like Gitlab or Jenkins. Both can be installed on your own server, or you can subscribe to their website and pay a small fee. When the app is bought, the build can be triggered with a webhook by your server.
A few questions come to mind:
How many app do you think you think you'll sell? In other words, is it worth the time to set this up?
What do you want as the end result? A link to an .APK on your website, a link to the Play Store?
If you update the app, do you want previous buyers to receive an update?
I have developed a phonegap app (android) using Eclipse IDE. Is there any way by which I can use same HTML, CSS and Js to develop IOS app? I do not have a Mac system to do that. Do I need Mac System or can it be done on windows? Do I need to have developer account? Can It be done without having Developer account? How can I create .ipa file without using Mac system?
you can put your code on this it will generate IPA for you
https://build.phonegap.com/
Do I need Mac System or can it be done on windows?
Yes, you will need a Mac computer in order to compile it for iOS. You might want to use Xcode for the compilation purpose or test/deploy the application on device. You also need a Mac to configure certificates and provising profiles. Moreover, iOS Simulator does not run on Windows. Hence, Mac is a must one even if you develop app using web technologies.
Do I need to have developer account? Can It be done without having Developer account?
You won't need to have a developer account for writing applications for iOS. However, you will certainly need to have one when you want to test the app on your device. You will not be able to test your application on a device unless you have a developer account.
How can I create .ipa file without using Mac system?
Without a Mac system, this will not be possible. But, you might want to see more info on PhoneGap Build from this link.
I just find the following in which he can explain setting up building iOS apps without a Mac
1)http://community.phonegap.com/nitobi/topics/detailed_guide_for_setting_up_building_ios_apps_without_a_mac
2)http://www.iandevlin.com/blog/2012/11/phonegap/building-an-ios-signing-key-for-phonegap-in-windows
I would like to deploy an Android application internally in an organization.
For the moment while developing the application, I have used e-mail to spread my application. Then the user has to install the Android SDK, install a driver for his phone and finally run the adb install MyApplication.apk to install the application.
Is there any better ways to deploy Android applications internally? Is it even possible to manage updates?
I read on a forum that applications can be deployed on a webserver. Then the user only has to download the application for installing. But when I tried to simply upload an .apk file to my webserver and visit the URL using the browser on my phone I got this message:
<Uknown>
mydomain.com
Cannot download. The content is not supported on the phone.
So how can I fix this? Is there any kind of MIME-type I have to set on the webserver? Doing the same thing as described in the link above on http://slideme.org/sam2.apk works fine, and the installation starts.
The only thing I can find about this on Android Developers Publishing Your Applications
is:
You can publish your application using a hosted service such as Android Market or through a web server.
Try application/vnd.android.package-archive as the MIME type.