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Twixl platform: Build Settings

Twixl Support Team Updated: - Created :

    The Build Settings for your apps are managed and stored on the Twixl platform. This article explains how to create a Build Setting and what the available settings exactly mean.

    1. What is a Build Setting?

    Before you can actually build your app in Twixl Publisher, Twixl needs some information in order to be able to build it. This information has to be entered in the Build Settings on the Twixl platform.

    A Build Setting consists of a number of configuration options that determine the type of app that you will be creating, and which features will be enabled.

    E.g. a build setting can contain the following info: which user interface languages are supported, the artwork (app icon, etc…), code signing information, etc.

    Once a build setting has been saved, creating a build of the app only requires a few mouse clicks. A build setting can also be exported so it can be imported in another Twixl account.

    Whenever you make changes to any of the Build Settings, this will require that you create a new build of your app.

    2. How to create a new build setting

    In the left menu bar > Click Build > Select Build Settings

    Build Settings

    If you want to create a new build setting, select one of the following:

    1. Click the '+' icon
    2. Or click 'Add your first build setting'

    2.1 General

    • Name: The name of your build setting.
    • Home Screen Name: The name of your app, visible on the home screen of your mobile device
    • Build for: Which types of devices are supported? Phone, tablets or both?

    2.2 Artwork

    • App Icon: You can choose a different icon for iOS and Android
    • Launch Image: The launch image of your app - see also this article.
    • Launch screen Text Style: Text will be displayed on top of the launch image. Select the text color that works best with your image.

    Especially for Android devices, creating an App icon can be confusing as the result might show something different than intended. This is because a lot of manufacturers of mobile Android devices create their own UI on top of the Android UI. If you want to be certain your design fits most devices, check your icon with Android Studio! Read all about it on this Android help page.

    2.3 Code Signing

    • OTA Deployment URL: Only applies to Ad Hoc and Enterprise builds. Should be a https URL. See this KB-article for more info.

    2.4 Bundle Identifiers

    • Apple Team ID: Required to code sign and build your app. Navigate to https://developer.apple.com/account and click on Membership in the left column, copy the Team ID, a 10-character code, and paste it in the Team ID field.
    • A bundle ID or bundle identifier uniquely identifies an app. This means that no two applications can have the same bundle identifier. To avoid conflicts, Apple encourages developers to use reverse domain name notation for choosing an application's bundle identifier, like com.twixlmedia.appname . If the value for an App Type is empty, that App Type can't be built.  We recommend to use the same identifier for all app types.

    2.5 Push Notifications and Google Analytics 4

    • google-services.json: Used for setting up Push Notifications on Android devices. See this article for more info.
    • GoogleService-info.plist: Contains all of the information required by the Firebase iOS SDK to connect to your Firebase project.
    • Both Android and iOS push notification statuses will change as one has completed the configuration.

    By enabling Apple App Tracking Transparency via the slider, a list of languages opens up. The languages that are mentioned are also the standard languages that are supported in the UI of the device for all interface messages (error messages, download messages,...). In these fields you can add information about App Tracking Transparency in the language of your users. English always needs to be included as mandatory.  

    2.6 Apple App Tracking Transparency

    Apple introduced App Tracking Transparency in iOS 14.5. If you want to ask permission to your users to track them, you can enable this option in the build settings for your app, and you can enter the correct usage description of why you are asking permission in all relevant languages.

    What happens when users select 'Do not track' ?

    Please note that Twixl doesn't change anything to the way cookies are handled in online web content. In order to allow you to handle cookies properly when a user asks not to be tracked, you can read the trackingAuthorizationStatus custom variable from within your web page to determine whether or not the user has allowed to be tracked. This variable can be read by using the tp-get-custom-vars:// URL scheme from within JavaScript.

    2.7 Google Play Families Policies

    Google introduced Google Play Families Policies for apps that target children as their main audience. These types of app will be required to refrain from gathering analytics or even send out  push notifications to devices of minors. By enabling Google Play Families Policies in the Build Setting, you adhere to this requirement. This also means that no analytics will be gathered from Android devices and you can only send out push notifications to iOS users.

    3. How to edit an existing Build Setting

    Hover over the Build Setting title and click on the 'edit' icon.
    You can now change the fields you want to update and click 'save' when you're done.

    4. How to import an existing 'legacy' build setting

    If you have previously built Twixl apps using a release before Twixl Publisher 12, it's good to know that you can easily upload your existing build settings to the Twixl platform:

    1. Open the Twixl macOS App.
    2. Select the Tools menu.
    3. Select Show Legacy Build Settings...
    4. Finder will open the folder where your legacy build settings are located.
    5. Select the relevant build setting and compress it  (.zip).
    6. Go to the Builds Settings of your app on the Twixl platform.
    7. Select 'import' to upload your build setting.
    8. Upload it to the Twixl platform.
    9. All done!