Mobile App Catalog Overview¶
Mobile app development is a fast-paced ecosystem where being able to quickly react to new challenges is key to success. However, change always comes at a risk, and for that reason we are providing the App Catalog: A place to manage your apps under development, which allows you to easily test-drive apps with test users. Use over-the-air (OTA) distribution to bring new releases to testers and, when you're done with quality assurance, push releases to your enterprise mobility management (EMM) solution to bring them to your end users.
Mobile Artifact Version Life Cycle¶
-
Upload a new version of mobile app artifacts to App Catalog. This is done automatically by the Cloud Build Service or manually for all other mobile apps
-
Enrich the version metadata with information for the tester, such as version comments or contact information.
-
Make the new version available for your tester.
-
Generate a QR Code or Download link for OTA and send it to the tester, or
-
Publish the mobile app version artifact in App Catalog Web Application
-
-
Upload the mobile app version to your EMM after review.
Feature Scope¶
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Manage mobile app artifact versions | Manage Android and iOS apps and versions from various sources |
| Distribute mobile app artifact versions | Generate download links and QR codes that can be sent to testers |
| Cloud Build integration | Manage custom clients and mobile apps built with Cloud Build |
| External build tool integration | Use Service Key to integrate external build tooling |
| Upload mobile app artifact versions | Manually upload apps from other sources |
| Push to EMM | Push mobile apps artifact versions to EMM accounts for end-user distribution |
Mobile Artifact Version Metadata¶
The Mobile App Catalog service extracts and provides metadata information to the tester and administrator. The metadata consists of:
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
| App Name | The app name from the binary metadata |
| Bundle ID | From the binary metadata |
| Version | Can be modified and initialized with the build version |
| Platform | Target platform |
| Build Version | From the binary metadata |
| Origin | either 'manual upload' or 'CBS' for cloud build service |
| Minimum OS Version | From the binary metadata |
| Form Factors | Targeted form factor from the binary metadata |
| Uploaded By | User who has uploaded the binary or API Key alias used to upload the binary |
| Notes | Information provided to the tester |
| Contact Info | Whom the tester should contact in case assistance is required |