Preparations for using the mobile client
Overview
The Appcenter Installer application is used to install apps on mobile devices. You can generate this application by using either the provided Cordova, Visual Studio projects.
Jump to
- Cordova based Persistent AppCenter client
- Customizing features (for experts): Android and iOS Phone
- Deploying the mobile client in PMF Application Center
Cordova based Persistent AppCenter client
The Cordova based AppCenter client project is located in the install directory at: Persistent_Mobile_Foundation/ApplicationCenter/installer/CordovaAppCenterClient.
This project is based solely on the Cordova framework and thus has no dependency on the PMF client/server APIs.
This app uses Dojo for the UI.
Follow the steps below to get started:
- Install Cordova.
npm install -g cordova@latest
- Install Android SDK and set the
ANDROID_HOME. - Build and run this project.
Build all platforms:
cordova build
Build only Android:
cordova build android
Build only iOS:
cordova build ios
Customizing AppCenter Installer application
You can further customize the application, such as updating its user interface for your specific company or needs.
Note: While you can freely customize the application UI and behavior, such changes are not under the support agreement by Persistent.
Android
- Open the Android Studio.
- Select Import project (Eclipse ADT, Gradle, etc.)
- Select the android folder from Persistent_Mobile_Foundation/ApplicationCenter/installer/CordovaAppCenterClient/platforms/android.
This might take some time. Once this is done you are ready to customize.
Note: Select to skip the update option on the popup window, for upgrading the gradle version. Refer to
grade-wrapper.propertiesfor the version.
iOS
- Go to Persistent_Mobile_Foundation/ApplicationCenter/installer/CordovaAppCenterClient/platforms.
- Click to open the IBMAppCenterClient.xcodeproj file, the project is opened in Xcode and you are ready to customize.
Customizing features (for experts): Android and iOS)
You can customize features by editing a central property file and manipulating some other resources.
This is only supported in Android and iOS
To customize features: several features are controlled by a central property file called config.json in the directory IBMAppCenter/apps/AppCenter/common/js/appcenter/ or ApplicationCenter/installer/CordovaAppCenterClient/www/js/appcenter. If you want to change the default application behavior, you can adapt this property file before you build the project.
This file contains the properties shown in the following table.
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
| url | The hardcoded address of the PMF Application Center server. If this property is set, the address fields of the Login view are not displayed. |
| defaultPort | If the url property is null, this property prefills the port field of the Login view on a phone. This is a default value; the field can be edited by the user. |
| defaultContext | If the url property is null, this property prefills the context field of the Login view on a phone. This is a default value; the field can be edited by the user. |
| ssl | The default value of the SSL switch of the Login view. |
| allowDowngrade | This property indicates whether installation of older versions is authorized or not; an older version can be installed only if the operating system and version permit downgrade. |
| showPreviousVersions | This property indicates whether the device user can show the details of all the versions of applications or only details of the latest version. |
| showInternalVersion | This property indicates whether the internal version is shown or not. If the value is false, the internal version is shown only if no commercial version is set. |
| listItemRenderer | This property can have one of these values: - full: the default value; the application lists show application name, rating, and latest version. - simple: the application lists show the application name only. |
| listAverageRating | This property can have one of these values: - latestVersion: the application lists show the average rating of the latest version of the application. - allVersions: the application lists show the average rating of all versions of the application. |
| requestTimeout | This property indicates the timeout in milliseconds for requests to the PMF Application Center server. |
| gcmProjectId | The Google API project ID (project name = com.ibm.appcenter), which is required for Android push notifications; for example, 123456789012. |
| allowAppLinkReview | This property indicates whether local reviews of applications from external application stores can be registered and browsed in the PMF Application Center. These local reviews are not visible in the external application store. These reviews are stored in the PMF Application Center server. |
Other resources
Other resources that are available are application icons, application name, splash screen images, icons, and translatable resources of the application.
Application icons
- Android: The file named icon.png in the Android Studio project’s /res/drawabledensity directories; one directory exists for each density.
- iOS: Files named iconsize.png in the Xcode project’s Resources directory. StoreLogo.png, and Wide*Logo*.png in the IBMAppCenterUWP/Assets directory in Visual Studio.
Application name
- Android: Edit the app_name property in the Android Studio project’s res/values/strings.xml file.
- iOS: Edit the CFBundleDisplayName key in the Xcode project’s IBMAppCenterAppCenterIphone-Info.plist file.
Splash screen images
- Android: Edit the file named splashimage.9.png in the Android Studio project’s res/drawable/density directories; one directory exists for each density. This file is a patch 9 image.
- iOS: Files named Default-size.png in the Xcode project’s Resources directory.
- Cordova based projects’ splash screen during auto login: js/idx/mobile/themes/common/idx/Launch.css
Icons (buttons, stars, and similar objects) of the application
IBMAppCenter/apps/AppCenter/common/css/images.
Translatable resources of the application
IBMAppCenter/apps/AppCenter/common/js/appcenter/nls/common.js.
Deploying the mobile client in PMF Application Center
Deploy the different versions of the client application to PMF Application Center.
The Android and iOS versions of the mobile client must be deployed to the PMF Application Center. To do so, you must upload the Android application package (.apk) files, iOS application (.ipa) files or Web directory archive (.zip) files to the PMF Application Center.
Follow the steps described in Adding a mobile application to add the mobile client application for Android and iOS. Make sure that you select the Installer application property to indicate that the application is an installer. Selecting this property enables mobile device users to install the mobile client application easily over the air. To install the mobile client, see the related task that corresponds to the version of the mobile client app determined by the operating system.
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