Building Custom Client For Release

Build and package your Mobile Development Kit client for publishing to the Apple App Store, iOS Enterprise App Store or Google Play.

Prerequisites

You have generated a custom client project. For details please see custom client guide.

Building App For Release in iOS

You can publish a Mobile Development Kit app in the App Store the same way you would release a purely native iOS app.

1. Verify that the iOS native project inside your app contains your latest changes and resources by running the following command. tns prepare ios --release
2. Open the iOS native project in Xcode. Your native project is located at: <app_name>/platforms/ios/<app_name>.xcworkspace.
3. Configure the project for distribution.
4. Upload the app to App Store.
5. Submit it to the App Store.

Note

For enterprise distribution you can refer to: Develop and distribute an enterprise app.

Building App For Release in Android

You can publish a Mobile Development Kit custom client in Google Play the same way you would release a purely native Android app.

Produce Android App Bundle (.aab)

Android App Bundle is a publishing format for Android that is supported by Google Play. It is mandatory to upload Mobile Development Kit custom client in .aab format. In order to generate .aab file, follow the below steps:

1. Make sure that you have a .keystore file to sign your app with. For more information, see How to create a .keystore file?.
2. Go to your create-client generated project folder in the Terminal or Command Prompt.

3. Build your project in release mode by running the following command in the generated Mobile Development Kit client folder: tns build android --release --key-store-path <path-to-your-keystore> --key-store-password <your-key-store-password> --key-store-alias <your-alias-name> --key-store-alias-password <your-alias-password> --aab

   Note

   At the end of <path-to-your-keystore> you should also add the exact name of your keystore.

   Example(Windows): tns build android --release --key-store-path C:\keystore\myapp.keystore --key-store-password sample_password --key-store-alias MyApp --key-store-alias-password sample_password --aab

   Example(Mac): tns build android --release --key-store-path ~/Desktop/keystore/myapp.keystore --key-store-password sample_password --key-store-alias MyApp --key-store-alias-password sample_password --aab

4. Obtain the release file with extension .aab located at <app_name>/platforms/android/app/build/outputs/bundle/release/app-release.aab.

5. Publish your Android app by uploading the .aab file to the Google Developer Console. For more information, see How to publish an Android app?.

Produce Android Package Kit (.apk)

To generate the .apk file, follow the below steps:

1. Make sure that you have a .keystore file to sign your app with. For more information, see How to create a .keystore file?.
2. Go to your create-client generated project folder in the Terminal or Command Prompt.

3. Build your project in release mode by running the following command in the generated Mobile Development Kit client folder: tns build android --release --key-store-path <path-to-your-keystore> --key-store-password <your-key-store-password> --key-store-alias <your-alias-name> --key-store-alias-password <your-alias-password>

   Note

   At the end of <path-to-your-keystore> you must add the exact name of your keystore.

   Example(Windows): tns build android --release --key-store-path C:\keystore\myapp.keystore --key-store-password sample_password --key-store-alias MyApp --key-store-alias-password sample_password

   Example(Mac): tns build android --release --key-store-path ~/Desktop/keystore/myapp.keystore --key-store-password sample_password --key-store-alias MyApp --key-store-alias-password sample_password

4. Obtain the release .apk located at <app_name>/platforms/android/app/build/outputs/apk/<app_name>-release.apk.

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Last update: May 5, 2023