edgeever/docs/mobile-build.md

EdgeEver Android Builds

The Android app in apps/mobile is built with Expo and React Native. iOS store binaries come from apps/ios (SwiftUI), not this tree. Main-branch Android packages are built directly on GitHub Actions, without using EAS Build quota.

App Updates

Installed release builds use EAS Update for compatible JavaScript and asset updates. The app checks once shortly after launch and, at most once every six hours, when it returns to the foreground. Users can also open My -> General settings -> App updates to check manually. A downloaded update is only applied after the user confirms a restart, so an active editing session is not interrupted automatically.

The production build and locally generated Play build read from the production update channel. Preview EAS builds read from preview. Publish and verify an update on preview before promoting the same change to production:

bunx eas-cli update --channel preview --environment preview --message "Describe the update"
bunx eas-cli update --channel production --environment production --message "Describe the update"

The update runtime uses the app-version policy. Any native dependency, Expo SDK, native module, or native configuration change requires incrementing expo.version and shipping a new store build before publishing code that depends on that native change. EAS Update does not replace Google Play or App Store updates for native binaries.

Google Play Flexible Updates

Android release builds first query Google's Play In-App Updates SDK. When Play offers a flexible update, the automatic check opens Google's native consent dialog. Downloads run in the background; the app asks before completing installation and restarting. Declining consent suppresses further automatic prompts for that version during the current app session, while the settings update action allows a manual retry. Manual checks discover the update without opening the consent dialog until the user selects the update action.

Play download state is checked on every return to the foreground, including during the ordinary six-hour check cooldown. Downloaded updates remain available through Restart to apply if the user dismisses the restart prompt. Failed or unavailable Play flows retain the existing Google Play listing and GitHub update destinations; compatible EAS updates remain a separate fallback. Old binaries without the native SDK safely skip this integration when receiving compatible JavaScript.

This native SDK addition requires a new Android binary and a new app runtime version at release time. Existing binaries cannot gain the native dialog through OTA alone. A GitHub release does not mean a Play update is available: Play decides eligibility using its own distribution state, account ownership, application ID, signing certificate, and higher version code. See Google's testing requirements.

Before publishing this update-path change, validate on a USB-connected physical Android device using a Play test track or internal app sharing:

1. Install an older build that already includes this SDK integration, then make a higher-version-code build available to the same account through Play. For internal app sharing, follow Google's link-opening procedure without installing the newer build from its listing.
2. Confirm the native consent dialog, cancellation without repeated automatic prompts, and manual retry.
3. Accept the flexible update and continue editing during download. Background and foreground the app, and restart the process to verify download recovery.
4. Dismiss the ready prompt, then use Restart to apply. Confirm the new native version launches and existing notes and pending edits remain intact.
5. Verify the existing manual destinations on a device/account without an eligible Play update, plus download/installation failure recovery and the older-native-binary OTA fallback.

Compilation and automated state-machine tests do not replace this real old-to-new installation gate. Until these steps pass, Play installation, process recovery, signing compatibility, and data preservation across this update remain unverified.

Main-Branch Android APK

The Build EdgeEver Mobile workflow runs on GitHub Actions and produces a fast arm64 APK after mobile changes land on main. This APK uses the same pinned production signing certificate as formal GitHub Release APKs. The fast build only disables R8, resource shrinking, and PNG crunching; it must never fall back to debug.keystore.

It runs:

bun install --frozen-lockfile
bun run typecheck:mobile
bun run build:android:fast

The APK is uploaded as a GitHub Actions artifact named edgeever-android-main-apk. If the stable signing credentials are unavailable, the workflow fails and does not upload an APK with a different signer.

For a local fast build, load the same signing environment used for release builds:

bun run build:android:fast:local

Release Builds

GitHub Release APK

Every formal GitHub Release must include a directly installable APK. Build the production-signed arm64-v8a APK on the release Mac:

bun run build:android:apk:local

This produces apps/mobile/android/app/build/outputs/apk/release/app-release.apk. Before upload, automation requires exactly one signer and pins its certificate SHA-256 to 22bf52a9501c89020f5acc966960152c826bfa64f31e578e858d088f8cd75d87. Any other signer fails the build. Verify the application version and APK SHA-256 as well. Additional ABIs should only be published for an explicit compatibility need. The Play AAB is also intentionally limited to arm64-v8a, so its Play-signed universal APK remains a single-ABI download. A release whose audited change range affects mobile runtime code, shared code used by mobile, mobile dependencies, native configuration, APK build tooling, or signer verification must rebuild the APK from that release commit.

If the audited change range does not affect the mobile binary, the most recent compatible, verified APK may be attached again without rebuilding. Keep its original versioned filename and checksum, and state the source release explicitly; never rename an older binary to the current release version.

The release workflow performs this audit automatically and verifies the pinned signer for both newly built and reused APKs. Web-only releases use an Ubuntu planning job and copy the single verified arm64-v8a APK from the previous formal Release. The self-hosted Android runner is scheduled only when the audited range includes mobile runtime code, shared mobile packages, dependencies, native configuration, Android build tooling, or signer verification.

This locally signed APK is only a temporary Draft asset and is never accepted for formal publication. After the matching AAB is delivered, the store-delivery workflow downloads Google Play's signed universal APK and replaces the GitHub Release asset under the established filename. Because the uploaded AAB contains only arm64-v8a, the Play-generated APK also remains arm64-only. Publishing the Play-signed APK lets Play and GitHub installations update each other without uninstalling the app. The workflow pins and verifies the Play app-signing certificate before replacing the asset. An independent pre-publication gate then verifies that the Draft APK uses only that Play app-signing certificate.

Recommended local Play build

Routine Google Play bundles should be built on the release Mac instead of in GitHub Actions. Keep the upload keystore and signing environment outside the repository:

mkdir -p "$HOME/.config/edgeever/android"
cp .env.android.local.example "$HOME/.config/edgeever/android/signing.env"
chmod 600 "$HOME/.config/edgeever/android/signing.env"

Fill in the existing upload key's absolute path and credentials. Android keystore formats and local environment files are ignored by Git.

bun run build:android:play:local

This produces:

apps/mobile/android/app/build/outputs/bundle/release/app-release.aab
apps/mobile/android/app/build/outputs/mapping/release/mapping.txt

The command builds arm64-v8a by default, verifies the AAB signature, and requires a non-empty R8 mapping file. This keeps the Play-generated universal APK suitable for the arm64 GitHub Release asset instead of bundling unused 32-bit ARM and x86 native libraries. Keep an encrypted backup of signing.env and the upload keystore outside the repository. Do not replace or regenerate the upload key for an existing Play app unless the key reset has been completed in Play Console.

Set EDGE_EVER_ANDROID_ENV_FILE to use a different secure environment file.

Automated store delivery

The GitHub Release workflow never builds or uploads a Play bundle. Before a Draft that contains mobile changes can be published, use the separate store-delivery workflow. It builds a signed AAB from the immutable Release tag, preserves the AAB and R8 mapping as Actions artifacts, and uploads the bundle through EAS Submit. It then replaces the GitHub APK with the Play-signed universal APK. Rerun the release command after that workflow succeeds; it audits the Play signer and resumes publication. See Mobile Store Delivery.

The upload keystore is only used to prove ownership when uploading bundles; Google Play App Signing manages the app signing key delivered to users. Keep an encrypted backup of the upload keystore and its credentials outside the repository.

iOS App Store build

iOS is a SwiftUI app in apps/ios, using the same bundle identifier org.edgeever.mobile. Do not build or submit iOS from apps/mobile or EAS. On macOS beta hosts, archives must go through Xcode Cloud. Formal Releases start that Archive and submit App Review automatically when iOS runtime changes are in the audited range. See iOS Xcode Cloud and Mobile Store Delivery.

EAS

The project is linked to Expo/EAS for optional future use, but routine CI builds should use GitHub Actions local Android builds to avoid consuming EAS monthly build quota.