Android: Testing and Distribution

Testing Your App

Once you've downloaded your app, you will need to test it.

The easiest way to test this on an Android device is simply to email the APK to yourself.

Note: Some email servers may mark APK file extensions (when attached directly to the email) as a security risk, so check your spam folder if you don't get the email.

Alternatively, you could also distribute it to yourself and your team via a sharing service like Dropbox, Google Drive, Box, OneDrive, etc.

Open this APK on your Android device, and it will prompt you to install the app. Depending on your security settings, your device may warn you that you're installing an app from unknown sources. This is normal when installing an app from an email. Allow this installation, and your app will be installed as normal.

You will then be able to open up your app on your Android device for testing.

Distribution

Distributing your Android app can be done in a number of ways.

Common ways are:

MAM solution (such as Airwatch, Mobile Iron, etc.)
Android Play Store for public apps
A company hosted provisioning page

The most appropriate method will be project dependant, however keep in mind that any of the normal app distribution methods can be used to distribute apps built by the BlinkMobile Buildbots.

Next Steps

You've now completed your app build - view our Evergreen section for information on pushing out Evergreen updates to your app:

Evergreen Updates