I know there are a lot of questions out there about multiple Android versions pertaining to free/paid versions but this might be a little different.
My app currently uses AdMob for advertising and it's published on the Android Market and on the Samsung App Store. Unfortunately, the Samsung store will require everyone to migrate to their own Ad Network in the future, Samsung AdHub. Both AdMob and AdHub have their own libraries, their own SDKs.
I'm looking for a solution to build 2 different versions, one including AdMob the another including AdHub (and all the necessary code). What solutions do I have to easily build 2 versions without much hassle when it's time for a new version release?
Lots of solutions recommend to move the main project into a library project and then build 2 other apps which include the library project (the base project). But I'm not very fond of that solution (I prefer to keep my app in one single project, if possible) and I'm trying to look for alternatives and then make up my mind about which one is better for my needs.
I'd think you should make this possible in your code using the Strategy design pattern. It suites well and can be switched at any trigger your like (even on runtime). If you make a facade for each jar file you will be able to change the dependencies while building, having the same source code.
Other option with this method is just making some configuration in your application that determines which library to use.
Some interesting solutions can be found here:
https://groups.google.com/d/topic/android-developers/8pRugcnzR_E/discussion
The way to go now is to use Android Studio and use different Gradle flavors for each app. Thus, if you fix core functionality, you can quickly do a build for each appstore with it's own ad network.
Library Projects is the way to go. Create a base project where you implement all the common stuff and then create two separate project that use the common one as a "Library". then just implement the rest needed to make the Apps behave differently.
Related
I have multiple Android applications, and I've created a common Android library project, and a common Java library project (The Android library project compiles the java one). These libraries are filled with common components that I use for all my Android apps.
I'm using gradle as my build system.
I'm using git for versioning.
What would be the best way to link everything together? Keep in mind things are still being added / changed in the library, and I need a way to propagate changes to all the Android apps. Copy / Paste wouldn't be a great option. I've tried a few things, and they aren't working out very well, so I'd love some input.
EDIT: It's probably also worth mentioning that multiple people are working on these projects. It's not just me.
The current version of Android Studio has a limitation that all of its modules must be under the project's root directory in the filesystem, and this limitation hampers a lot of people in your situation, because frequently they want those common libraries to live someplace else. It seems like this is the case for you as well.
We're in the process of lifting this limitation in Android Studio, and soon you'll be able to have modules outside the project root. I think this might be the best solution for you -- you can pull your common libraries from wherever makes sense in source control, put them wherever makes sense in your filesystem, and link them up into whatever projects need them. However, this isn't available yet, but will show up in v0.5.0, which will hopefully go out this week. I haven't personally tested it in our dev builds and can't vouch for how well it works, but at any rate it should be coming along soon.
Some developers have worked around the limitations by adding script to their settings.gradle files to set different module root directories. They say it works, but I find it a little scary because the IDE just isn't expecting things to work that way, and I don't know for sure if there are problems with it.
If you read other answers to this question on Stack Overflow, they're written before this feature was implemented and will have different advice. If you don't want to wait for 0.5.0 or there are problems in it that prevent you from using it, you can follow that general advice, which is to have your common code compile to libraries that you publish to a Maven repository (which can be local to your machine or common to the developers in your group), and pick up those libraries with Maven-style dependency statements in the projects that need them. This has the disadvantage that you'll need to open up separate projects to edit the code in those libraries, along with a more complex build process, but it will work.
This is more of a fundamental question I suppose. I currently have in the market one app that I have separated in two projects. One project (with it's unique package name, obviously) does not have Google Ads and is not free. The other project has Google Ads and it's free.
Both projects are exactly the same. Same functionalities.
When I want to add a new functionality, I have to work on both projects, making then the release of my app slower, since I am basically control-c/control-v what I did in one project onto another. And sometimes I just forget something, so I have to fix the issues...
So, basically, I am wondering if there's a better way I have to manage that?
Maybe creating a rather intelligent script that will build the application depending on what I want (i.e: if it's ad based version, should use the AndroidManifest that declares the AdMob Activity)
Or maybe create a library? But I don't think this approach would work.
Looking forward for inputs.
Regards,
Felipe Caldas
Yes, a library project is exactly what you want. Put all the functionality in a library, and have two very thin shells for each of your app types that make calls into the library. As you noticed, duplicating the code is error prone and at best just extra work you shouldn't have to do.
See: Managing Projects for details. That page even mentions your exact scenario:
If you are creating an application that exists in both free and paid
versions. You move the part of the application that is common to both
versions into a library project. The two dependent projects, with
their different package names, will reference the library project and
provide only the difference between the two application versions.
It's quite often that we see two versions of an android app: a paid version and a free version. I'm also developing an app that would like to release two versions. What is the best way to do this? Creating two projects and copying files in between does not seem to be the best way in my mind.
Use Library Project, as the official dev guide suggested:
If you have source code and resources that are common to multiple Android projects, you can move them to a library project so that it is easier to maintain across applications and versions. Here are some common scenarios in which you could make use of library projects:
If you are developing multiple related applications that use some of the same components, you move the redundant components out of their respective application projects and create a single, reuseable set of the same components in a library project.
If you are creating an application that exists in both free and paid versions. You move the part of the application that is common to both versions into a library project. The two dependent projects, with their different package names, will reference the library project and provide only the difference between the two application versions.
Update: This method is really only good for compiling with Eclipse, since Android Studio supports build flavors which can achieve exactly this.
While #yorkw's and #Nate's answers are both good, this is the method I use due to its simplicity. From the article:
com.example.myapp – Android Project Library - This is where my ENTIRE app lives. All the functionality for the FULL and LITE versions.
com.example.myapp.full - Android Application Project - This is a shell that contains graphics and resources needed for the full version only. Basically it’s a super lightweight shell.
com.example.myapp.lite - Android Application Project – This is another shell that contains nothing but graphics and resources needed for the lite version. Again, its a super lightweight shell.
I also keep a static variable IS_PRO in a library class which is set when the app launches. This should be used only for notifications, alerts, and so on (such as asking the user to upgrade to pro).
However, this method has one drawback: you must clean and rebuild any time the library or its resources are modified. Also be sure to read this post on sharing resources between a project and a library.
I would call this a FORK in development. Start a new App development, but have your common code coming from a common file location. Make your free based edits to the forked code, and try your best to keep that code completely separate.
I actually did this on an iPhone based app, I have a free version and 2 different payed versions (a single player only and a multi-player). I would do it the same way on Android.
U can use git for example.
Create branch "app_with_ads", and master will be your "paid" version.
Develop in master and merge periodically to another.
before publish u probably will have to change app package, or something else in Android\ Manifest.xml
Here's a little blog tutorial about doing this.
Basically a howto for building a Full and Lite version of the same app, using a library project to accomplish code reuse between the two versions.
I need to build two version of same android app and install both on same device, i can achieve this by keeping two different projects (different package name),but it's pain full to manage both, rather than keeping two projects is there any better way to achieve this.
Sam.
You can use a library, but you'll need to restructure your code quite a bit in order to do it.
Basically, write the code specific for one app in one project, and the code specific for another app in another project then write the code thats the same across both apps in a library and reference it.
Can I ask what your doing this for though? If your doing a "free" version of your app and a "paid" version there are a few other options as well. Like making a dummy app and checking for it's presence in the main app.
I would like to add two versions of my app to the Android Market, one for a few cents, and one free version, with ads. That's a very common practice.
I'm currently building AdMod into my app, and it seems I'll have to change quite a few files, so it seems best to make a separate version of my app for this.
How do you achieve that? A branch? A different repository? Has anyone found a way to keep both apps in the same repository in a reasonable manner?
The title is not misspelled, I do mean "realise", i.e. how people manage the two versions, not how they add them to the Market.
This kind of thing is a complete nightmare - unfortunately the Android build system doesn't really support it in any good way.
We do it by having 99% of the code of our application in a library project. We then create one application project for each different version of the app, each of which use that library.
Where we need different versions of the app to behave differently, we currently achieve that by having different resources that are queried at runtime. We are in the process of moving to using Dependency Injection via RoboGuice, however.
There are elements of this that work reasonably well, and others that don't. It's necessary, for example, to duplicate the AndroidManifest.xml file, which can be error-prone (it's easy, for example, to add a new activity to one manifest and forget to do so in the others). It's a mess, unfortunately, but the least-bad solution we've found.
Personally speaking, I would strongly advise against using branches to achieve this effect. They can work well initially, but will rapidly become a maintenance nightmare.
One side benefit of using a library is that we've found that it makes testing considerably easier. For an example of how to set this up, see:
http://www.paulbutcher.com/2010/09/android-library-project-with-tests-step-by-step/
People usually upload them twice(like two different programs) and just modify the title for adding something like Ad-Free, Donate and things like that. And on the free version just add the Free label and also put on the description that it's Ad-Supported.
Here is an example with the SMS Popup application:
For the Android Market, they are considered different programs, but for us it's the same, but one is Ad-Supported and the other isn't.