openboxes / openboxes/openboxes-mobile

Support a public (unbranded) build flavor alongside VIPR

Open
#431 0 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

Nobody has claimed this yet.

Dominant language
TypeScript
Stars
10
Forks
13
Avg merge
5d 22h
Merged PRs (30d)
7

Description

Summary

Today the app is built with VVG/VIPR branding applied by the branding:vipr step (scripts/apply_branding.sh vipr, sourcing branding/vipr/). We'd eventually like to also produce a public build — a plain APK without the VIPR logo/name/splash — so OpenBoxes can distribute a generic build that isn't tied to a single customer.

Background / how branding works today

  • yarn branding:viprscripts/apply_branding.sh vipr copies launcher icons, splash, and in-app logo from branding/vipr/, and rewrites app_name in android/app/src/main/res/values/strings.xml from branding/vipr/settings.json ("app_name": "VIPR").
  • In CI, the bundle::branding step runs before the release assemble in the android-only / UAT workflows (.bitrise/bitrise.yml).
  • So "flavor" is currently a build-time asset/name swap, not a Gradle product flavor.

Proposed approach (to refine)

  • Add a public/default branding target (e.g. branding/default/ + branding:default script, or a no-op/neutral branding) that applies OpenBoxes-generic assets and name.
  • Add a dedicated android-public workflow in .bitrise/bitrise.yml that reuses the shared setup/release bundles but applies the public branding instead of branding:vipr (and likely a distinct app id / variant so branded and public builds can coexist on a device and in stores).
  • Reuse the per-app Appetize routing pattern added in #430: the public build deploys to its own Appetize app via its own APPETIZE_*_PUBLIC_KEY, so flavors never collide.

Open questions / decisions

  • Package name / application id for the public flavor (needed for store listings and side-by-side installs).
  • Signing keys for the public build (separate keystore?).
  • What "public branding" is (neutral OpenBoxes logo/name/splash assets).
  • Distribution target (Play Store listing? internal only?).

Context

Split out of the OBLS-837 work (#430), which added the discrete-picking feature plus PR → Appetize preview CI plumbing. This is intentionally deferred and has product decisions attached, so it deserves its own ticket.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by reading scripts/apply_branding.sh, branding/vipr/, the package scripts, and the bundle::branding steps in .bitrise/bitrise.yml. Review the Appetize routing pattern from #430 and resolve the package ID, signing, assets, and distribution decisions. Done means the public branding target and android-public workflow are defined and can coexist with the VIPR build.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
android, shell, typescript
Domain
build-system, ci-cd, mobile
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

Get new issues in your inbox

A short digest of beginner-friendly GitHub issues.