I am reading this documentation/article from Microsoft on how to Distribute Mobile apps with app center. The problem is I really don't understand how to implement this. I have a app on app center (Android) I want to implement mandatory update so that I can eliminate the bugs of the previous version. I tried to distribute the app with mandatory update enabled and it is not working. How can I fix this?
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/appcenter/distribution/
Here is what I did I added this code on my App.xaml.cs (XAMARIN FORMS PROJECT):
protected override void OnStart ()
{
AppCenter.Start("android={Secret Code};", typeof(Analytics), typeof(Crashes), typeof(Distribute));
Analytics.SetEnabledAsync(true);
Distribute.SetEnabledAsync(true);
Distribute.ReleaseAvailable = OnReleaseAvailable;
}
bool OnReleaseAvailable(ReleaseDetails releaseDetails)
{
string versionName = releaseDetails.ShortVersion;
string versionCodeOrBuildNumber = releaseDetails.Version;
string releaseNotes = releaseDetails.ReleaseNotes;
Uri releaseNotesUrl = releaseDetails.ReleaseNotesUrl;
var title = "Version " + versionName + " available!";
Task answer;
if (releaseDetails.MandatoryUpdate)
{
answer = Current.MainPage.DisplayAlert(title, releaseNotes, "Download and Install");
}
else
{
answer = Current.MainPage.DisplayAlert(title, releaseNotes, "Download and Install", "Ask Later");
}
answer.ContinueWith((task) =>
{
if (releaseDetails.MandatoryUpdate || (task as Task<bool>).Result)
{
Distribute.NotifyUpdateAction(UpdateAction.Update);
}
else
{
Distribute.NotifyUpdateAction(UpdateAction.Postpone);
}
});
return true;
}
And here is what I added on my MainActivity.cs(ANDROID PROJECT):
AppCenter.Start("{Secret Code}", typeof(Analytics), typeof(Crashes), typeof(Distribute));
Looking at this App Center documentation here for Xamarin Forms -
You can customize the default update dialog's appearance by implementing the ReleaseAvailable callback. You need to register the callback before calling AppCenter.Start
It looks like you need to swap your current ordering to get in-app updates working.
There could be a lot of different reasons as to why they are not working. As you can see in the Notes here and here,
Did your testers download the app from the default browser?
Are cookies enabled for the browser in their settings?
Another important point you'll read in the links, is that the feature is only available for listed distribution group users. It is not for all your members. You could use a simple version checker for your purpose instead or you could use a plugin.
Related
I want to create a paid app with nativescript and keep it in "play store". But I want to allow to download my app as "free with ads" in it. Which option should I use? If I choose the paid version then it is not available to download so should I choose "pay in app" ?
https://play.google.com/about/monetization-ads/payments/
I intend to use NativeScript AdMob plugin to manage ads but how can I know that user has paid already and I should to not init my ads for him?
https://plugins.nativescript.rocks/plugin/nativescript-admob
Let's assume you are using nativescript-admob plugin alongside nativescript-purchase. Then you could track when a product is purchased or restored and "remember" this via the application-settings module.
For example,
import {getBoolean, setBoolean } from "tns-core-modules/application-settings";
// ... more code follow here
if (transaction.transactionState === TransactionState.Purchased) {
/* Purchase of the FULL version */
if (transaction.productIdentifier.indexOf(".full") >= 0) {
setBoolean(transaction.productIdentifier, true);
}
// ... more code follows here
Then, before opening an AdMob advertisement, check if the product is puchased via the getBoolean.
For example:
this.isPurchased = getBoolean(fullVersionPurchase); // fullVersionPurchase === transaction.productIdentifie
if (!this.isPurchased) {
this.showBanner(); // where showBaneer is your AdMob functionality
}
And following the same logic, you could directly close the banner immediately after a successful purchase (or restore).
if (transaction.transactionState === TransactionState.Purchased) {
if (transaction.productIdentifier.indexOf(".full") >= 0) {
setBoolean(transaction.productIdentifier, true);
}
try {
admob.hideBanner();
} catch (err) { }
With the above approach, you could create a free app that comes with AdMob and then when a user purchases the full version to immediately provide the full version functionalities. See here for more details on the nativescript-purchase functionalities.
So, either I am asking incorrectly, or it isn't possible, let's see which...
If my app (Xamarin.Forms) is launched from another app, in order to get a url from my app, how do I return that data to the calling app? I wrongly assumed SetResult and Finish, I also wrongly assumed StartActivityForResult, but there has to be a way to do this. I know how to get data INTO my app from another app, but not the same in return.
POSSIBLE PARTIAL SOLUTION -- UPDATE, FAILS
So I have to setup an interface in my PCL, and call the method from the listview item selected handler, in the Android app I can then do this:
Intent result = new Intent("com.example.RESULT_ACTION", Uri.parse("content://result_url"));
setResult(Activity.RESULT_OK, result);
finish();
(source: https://developer.android.com/training/basics/intents/filters.html)
Is this looking right, and how would I implement the same thing on iOS?
END
I deleted my previous question because I couldn't explain the problem clearly, so here goes.
I have a Xamarin Forms app, I want to use a section of this app as a gallery. Currently I have images displayed in a list, and I have an Intent filter set that launches this page when you select the app as the source for an image (such as upload image on Facebook).
My issue is that I don't know how to return the data (the selected image) back to the app / webpage that made the request. In android I understand that you would use StartActivityForResult and OnActivityResult to handle this, but I am using Xamarin Forms (Android, iOS, UWP) and can't really find a solution that could be used cross-platform.
Just a link to documentation that covers this would be great, but if you have an example then even better.
Thanks
EDIT
Here is the code used to launch the app, I am interested in getting data back from the Intent.ActionPick after the user has selected an image from a ListView, which is in a ContentPage in the PCL.
[Activity(Label = "", Icon = "#drawable/icon", Theme = "#style/DefaultTheme", MainLauncher = true, LaunchMode = LaunchMode.SingleTop,
ConfigurationChanges = ConfigChanges.ScreenSize | ConfigChanges.Orientation)]
[IntentFilter(new[] { Intent.ActionSend }, Categories = new[] { Intent.CategoryDefault }, DataMimeType = #"*/*")]
[IntentFilter(new[] { Intent.ActionView, Intent.ActionPick, Intent.ActionGetContent }, Categories = new[] { Intent.CategoryDefault, Intent.CategoryOpenable }, DataMimeType = #"*/*")]
public class MainActivity : FormsAppCompatActivity
{
protected override void OnCreate(Bundle bundle)
{
try
{
base.OnCreate(bundle);
CurrentPlatform.Init();
Xamarin.Forms.Forms.Init(this, bundle);
App _app = new App();
LoadApplication(_app);
if (Intent.Action == Intent.ActionSend)
{
var image = Intent.ClipData.GetItemAt(0);
var imageStream = ContentResolver.OpenInputStream(image.Uri);
var memOfImage = new System.IO.MemoryStream();
imageStream.CopyTo(memOfImage);
_app.UploadManager(memOfImage.ToArray()); //This allows me to upload images to my app
}
else if (Intent.Action == Intent.ActionPick)
{
_app.SelectManager(); //here is where I need help
}
else
{
_app.AuthManager(); //this is the default route
}
}
catch (Exception e)
{
}
}
It seems you cannot use remote URI to provide to calling app. Some posts I checked suggest to store the file locally and provide it's path to calling app. To avoid memory leak with many files stored I suggest to use the same file name then you will have only one file at any moment.
One more note. I tested this solution in facebook. Skype doesn't seem to accept that and, again, the posts I checked saying that Skype doesn't handle Intent properly (not sure what that means).
Now to solution. In main activity for example in OnCreate method add the follow.
ReturnImagePage is the name of my page class where I select an image
Xamarin.Forms.MessagingCenter.Subscribe<ReturnImagePage, string>(this, "imageUri", (sender, requestedUri) => {
Intent share = new Intent();
string uri = "file://" + requestedUri;
share.SetData(Android.Net.Uri.Parse(uri));
// OR
//Android.Net.Uri uri = Android.Net.Uri.Parse(requestedUri);
//Intent share = new Intent(Intent.ActionSend);
//share.PutExtra(Intent.ExtraStream, uri);
//share.SetType("image/*");
//share.AddFlags(ActivityFlags.GrantReadUriPermission);
SetResult(Result.Ok, share);
Finish();
});
Above will listen for the message when the image is selected.
Then in XFroms code when image is selected dowload it, store it, get path and send to Activity using it's path. Below is my test path
MessagingCenter.Send<ReturnImagePage, string>(this, "imageUri", "/storage/emulated/0/Android/data/ButtonRendererDemo.Droid/files/Pictures/temp/IMG_20170207_174559_21.jpg");
You can use static public class to save and access results like:
public static class StaticClass
{
public static int Result;
}
I'm looking to deploy an auto-update feature to an Electron installation that I have, however I am finding it difficult to find any resources on the web.
I've built a self contained application using Adobe Air before and it seemed to be a lot easier writing update code that effectively checked a url and automatically downloaded and installed the update across Windows and MAC OSX.
I am currently using the electron-boilerplate for ease of build.
I have a few questions:
How do I debug the auto update feature? Do I setup a local connection and test through that using a local Node server or can I use any web server?
In terms of signing the application I am only looking to run apps on MAC OSX and particularly Windows. Do I have to sign the applications in order to run auto-updates? (I managed to do this with Adobe Air using a local certificate.
Are there any good resources that detail how to implement the auto-update feature? As I'm having difficulty finding some good documentation on how to do this.
I am also new to Electron but I think there is no simple auto-update from electron-boilerplate (which I also use). Electron's auto-updater uses Squirrel.Windows installer which you also need to implement into your solution in order to use it.
I am currently trying to use this:
https://www.npmjs.com/package/electron-installer-squirrel-windows
And more info can be found here:
https://github.com/atom/electron/blob/master/docs/api/auto-updater.md
https://github.com/squirrel/squirrel.windows
EDIT: I just opened the project to try it for a while and it looks it works. Its pretty straightforward. These are pieces from my gulpfile.
In current configuration, I use electron-packager to create a package.
var packager = require('electron-packager')
var createPackage = function () {
var deferred = Q.defer();
packager({
//OPTIONS
}, function done(err, appPath) {
if (err) {
gulpUtil.log(err);
}
deferred.resolve();
});
return deferred.promise;
};
Then I create an installer with electron-installer-squirrel-windows.
var squirrelBuilder = require('electron-installer-squirrel-windows');
var createInstaller = function () {
var deferred = Q.defer();
squirrelBuilder({
// OPTIONS
}, function (err) {
if (err)
gulpUtil.log(err);
deferred.resolve();
});
return deferred.promise;
}
Also you need to add some code for the Squirrel to your electron background/main code. I used a template electron-squirrel-startup.
if(require('electron-squirrel-startup')) return;
The whole thing is described on the electron-installer-squirrel-windows npm documentation mentioned above. Looks like the bit of documentation is enough to make it start.
Now I am working on with electron branding through Squirrel and with creating appropriate gulp scripts for automation.
You could also use standard Electron's autoUpdater module on OS X and my simple port of it for Windows: https://www.npmjs.com/package/electron-windows-updater
I followed this tutorial and got it working with my electron app although it needs to be signed to work so you would need:
certificateFile: './path/to/cert.pfx'
In the task config.
and:
"build": {
"win": {
"certificateFile": "./path/to/cert.pfx",
"certificatePassword": "password"
}
},
In the package.json
Are there any good resources that detail how to implement the auto-update feature? As I'm having difficulty finding some good documentation on how to do this.
You don't have to implement it by yourself. You can use the provided autoUpdater by Electron and just set a feedUrl. You need a server that provides the update information compliant to the Squirrel protocol.
There are a couple of self-hosted ones (https://electronjs.org/docs/tutorial/updates#deploying-an-update-server) or a hosted service like https://www.update.rocks
Question 1:
I use Postman to validate that my auto-update server URLs return the response I am expecting. When I know that the URLs provide the expected results, I know I can use those URLs within the Electron's Auto Updater of my Application.
Example of testing Mac endpoint with Postman:
Request:
https://my-server.com/api/macupdates/checkforupdate.php?appversion=1.0.5&cpuarchitecture=x64
JSON Response when there is an update available:
{
"url": "https:/my-server.com/updates/darwin/x64/my-electron=app-x64-1.1.0.zip",
"name": "1.1.0",
"pub_date": "2021-07-03T15:17:12+00:00"
}
Question 2:
Yes, your Electron App must be code signed to use the auto-update feature on Mac. On Windows I'm not sure because my Windows Electron app is code signed and I did not try without it. Though it is recommended that you sign your app even if the auto-update could work without it (not only for security reasons but mainly because otherwise your users will get scary danger warnings from Windows when they install your app for the first time and they might just delete it right away).
Question 3:
For good documentation, you should start with the official Electron Auto Updater documentation, as of 2021-07-07 it is really good.
The hard part, is figuring out how to make things work for Mac. For Windows it's a matter of minutes and you are done. In fact...
For Windows auto-update, it is easy to setup - you just have to put the RELEASES and nupkg files on a server and then use that URL as the FeedURL within your Electron App's autoUpdater. So if your app's update files are located at https://my-server.com/updates/win32/x64/ - you would point the Electron Auto Updater to that URL, that's it.
For Mac auto-update, you need to manually specify the absolute URL of the latest Electron App .zip file to the Electron autoUpdater. So, in order to make the Mac autoUpdater work, you will need to have a way to get a JSON response in a very specific format. Sadly, you can't just put your Electron App's files on your server and expect it to work with Mac just like that. Instead, the autoUpdater needs a URL that will return the aforementioned JSON response. So to do that, you need to pass Electron's Auto Updater feedURL the URL that will be able to return this expected kind of JSON response.
The way you achieve this can be anything but I use PHP just because that's the server I already paid for.
So in summary, with Mac, even if your files are located at https://my-server.com/updates/darwin/x64/ - you will not provide that URL to Electron's Auto Updater FeedURL. Instead will provide another URL which returns the expected JSON response.
Here's an example of my main.js file for the Electron main process of my App:
// main.js (Electron main process)
function registerAutoUpdater() {
const appVersion = app.getVersion();
const os = require('os');
const cpuArchitecture = os.arch();
const domain = 'https://my-server.com';
const windowsURL = `${domain}/updates/win32/x64`;
const macURL = `${domain}/api/macupdates/checkforupdate.php?appversion=${appVersion}&cpuarchitecture=${cpuArchitecture}`;
//init the autoUpdater with proper update feed URL
const autoUpdateURL = `${isMac ? macURL : windowsURL}`;
autoUpdater.setFeedURL({url: autoUpdateURL});
log.info('Registered autoUpdateURL = ' + (isMac ? 'macURL' : 'windowsURL'));
//initial checkForUpdates
autoUpdater.checkForUpdates();
//Automatic 2-hours interval loop checkForUpdates
setInterval(() => {
autoUpdater.checkForUpdates();
}, 7200000);
}
And here's an example of the checkforupdate.php file that returns the expected JSON response back to the Electron Auto Updater:
<?php
//FD Electron App Mac auto update API endpoint.
// The way Squirrel.Mac works is by checking a given API endpoint to see if there is a new version.
// If there is no new version, the endpoint should return HTTP 204. If there is a new version,
// however, it will expect a HTTP 200 JSON-formatted response, containing a url to a .zip file:
// https://github.com/Squirrel/Squirrel.Mac#server-support
$clientAppVersion = $_GET["appversion"] ?? null;
if (!isValidVersionString($clientAppVersion)) {
http_response_code(204);
exit();
}
$clientCpuArchitecture = $_GET["cpuarchitecture"] ?? null;
$latestVersionInfo = getLatestVersionInfo($clientAppVersion, $clientCpuArchitecture);
if (!isset($latestVersionInfo["versionNumber"])) {
http_response_code(204);
exit();
}
// Real logic starts here when basics did not fail
$isUpdateVailable = isUpdateAvailable($clientAppVersion, $latestVersionInfo["versionNumber"]);
if ($isUpdateVailable) {
http_response_code(200);
header('Content-Type: application/json;charset=utf-8');
$jsonResponse = array(
"url" => $latestVersionInfo["directZipFileURL"],
"name" => $latestVersionInfo["versionNumber"],
"pub_date" => date('c', $latestVersionInfo["createdAtUnixTimeStamp"]),
);
echo json_encode($jsonResponse);
} else {
//no update: must respond with a status code of 204 No Content.
http_response_code(204);
}
exit();
// End of execution.
// Everything bellow here are function declarations.
function getLatestVersionInfo($clientAppVersion, $clientCpuArchitecture): array {
// override path if client requests an arm64 build
if ($clientCpuArchitecture === 'arm64') {
$directory = "../../updates/darwin/arm64/";
$baseUrl = "https://my-server.com/updates/darwin/arm64/";
} else if (!$clientCpuArchitecture || $clientCpuArchitecture === 'x64') {
$directory = "../../updates/darwin/";
$baseUrl = "https://my-server.com/updates/darwin/";
}
// default name with version 0.0.0 avoids failing
$latestVersionFileName = "Finance D - Tenue de livres-darwin-x64-0.0.0.zip";
$arrayOfFiles = scandir($directory);
foreach ($arrayOfFiles as $file) {
if (is_file($directory . $file)) {
$serverFileVersion = getVersionNumberFromFileName($file);
if (isVersionNumberGreater($serverFileVersion, $clientAppVersion)) {
$latestVersionFileName = $file;
}
}
}
return array(
"versionNumber" => getVersionNumberFromFileName($latestVersionFileName),
"directZipFileURL" => $baseUrl . rawurlencode($latestVersionFileName),
"createdAtUnixTimeStamp" => filemtime(realpath($directory . $latestVersionFileName))
);
}
function isUpdateAvailable($clientVersion, $serverVersion): bool {
return
isValidVersionString($clientVersion) &&
isValidVersionString($serverVersion) &&
isVersionNumberGreater($serverVersion, $clientVersion);
}
function getVersionNumberFromFileName($fileName) {
// extract the version number with regEx replacement
return preg_replace("/Finance D - Tenue de livres-darwin-(x64|arm64)-|\.zip/", "", $fileName);
}
function removeAllNonDigits($semanticVersionString) {
// use regex replacement to keep only numeric values in the semantic version string
return preg_replace("/\D+/", "", $semanticVersionString);
}
function isVersionNumberGreater($serverFileVersion, $clientFileVersion): bool {
// receives two semantic versions (1.0.4) and compares their numeric value (104)
// true when server version is greater than client version (105 > 104)
return removeAllNonDigits($serverFileVersion) > removeAllNonDigits($clientFileVersion);
}
function isValidVersionString($versionString) {
// true when matches semantic version numbering: 0.0.0
return preg_match("/\d\.\d\.\d/", $versionString);
}
Am I doing something incorrectly with this?
My app went out last night, but I noticed that my code for the free trial wasn't firing. This method is being called and it always returning FALSE (Full Mode).
What am I doing wrong? Right now my app is free :(
private static Boolean IsTrial()
{
#if DEBUG
return false;
#endif
var license = new Microsoft.Phone.Marketplace.LicenseInformation();
return license.IsTrial();
}
Currently I have this app sideloaded on my machine. I am updating my pivot header and setting the status for the various checks I have. Right now in the SIDELOADED version it always returns false.
I downloaded my app from the MarketPlace last night (as a Free Trial). The production version is always returning False and so is the Sideloaded version.
Any ideas?
This is my calling code (just in case anyone is interested):
private void MainPage_Loaded(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
pivotPills.Title = "PillBox v1.2 - Checking Mode:";
App.ViewModel.RefreshTrialMode();
pivotPills.Title = "PillBox v1.2 - Count:" + App.ViewModel.trialItemCollection.Count.ToString();
//Checking Trial Mode:
if (App.ViewModel.trialItemCollection.Count == 0)
{
trialMode tm = new trialMode();
tm.IsTrial = true;
tm.Save();
pivotPills.Title = "PillBox v1.2 - Trial Mode:" + App.ViewModel.trialItemCollection.Count.ToString();
}
else
{
if (App.ViewModel.trialItemCollection[0].IsTrial == true) //If saved isTrial = true (still a trial) then check MarketPlace Task
{
if (IsTrial() == false) //Purchased App
{
App.ViewModel.trialItemCollection[0].IsTrial = false;
StorageHelper.Save<ObservableCollection<trialMode>>(App.trialModeData, App.ViewModel.trialItemCollection);
pivotPills.Title = "PillBox v1.2 - Unlimited";
}
else //Still in Trial Mode
{
//show marketplace window
NavigationService.Navigate(new Uri("/MarketPlace.xaml", UriKind.Relative));
}
}
}
}
The IsTrial method always returns false when you are running in the emulator (which I presume is the case for you). Check out the How to: Test and Debug Your Trial Application for Windows Phone article on MSDN for help debugging trial applications.
Are you sure that the version you submitted didn't contain the DEBUG directive?
Also the version in the Marketplace is version 1.0, but your code seems to think it's version 1.2. Is it just that the code your looking at doesn't match what's compiled/released?
Also your app crashes when I try and press the back button when selecting a contact. :(
I'm trying to wrap up my latest app and I want to make it a Free Trial app.
I've done all my checks to see if it is in trial mode or not and now I'm about to launch the MarketPlace so they can buy it. I have a couple of questions...
In this code below, do I have to pass any sort of ID that my app generates so that it knows where to go in the Marketplace? Or is it all done for me in this call?
MarketplaceDetailTask detailTask = new MarketplaceDetailTask();
detailTask.Show();
My second question is in regards to the tombstoning that will happen when this code gets called and what happens after they buy it? Is there some special event that I should be looking for (like a completed event)? From what I understand I need to recheck the license and I'm just wondering what the best practices are for that.
Just as a reference this is the example I'm currently following:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff967559%28v=VS.92%29.aspx
Thanks!
1) First Question: if you don't specify the id, WP7 will take the id of the calling app (yours)
2)I have a service in front of the Licence class and when the user goes to the marketplace I reset a field to read again the trial status when ask afterwards (see the buy method below)
public class TrialService : ITrialService
{
private LicenseInformation license;
public bool IsTrial()
{
if (RunAsTrial)
return true;
else
{
if (license == null)
license = new LicenseInformation();
return license.IsTrial();
}
}
public void Buy()
{
license = null;
var launcher = new MarketplaceDetailTask();
launcher.Show();
}
public bool RunAsTrial { get; set; }
}