Android In App Review

To run and use the raywenderlich.com app project, also called Emitron, you need to set a few things up!

You need to copy all the contents of the gradle.properties.dist file, to a new file named gradle.properties. This is used to enable the basic build process, by adding some keys and properties the project needs to use in the compile time.

Then you need to add the project to a Firebase Project, and add the google-service.json file to the app module.

In your list of projects, head over to add a new project, by tapping the Add Project button. Then fill in the project name, and opt out of Google Analytics, as you don’t need it.

Let the project build, and then proceed to the project dashboard. Now proceed to add an Android app.

Put in the emitron package name (com.razeware.emitron), and then press next, you don’t need the signing keys or anything. After that’s done, download the configuration file, copy it, and put it in the app module, like so.

Now also add the gradle.properties file, by copying over the gradle.properties.dist contents. Now that you have the project set up, build the project, and things should be working fine! Let’s go over the code, and what it does.

The project is fairly big, as it has lots of features and a lot of cool components working together. It also has a few modules - the app, model, preferences and styles modules.

The model module describes all the data objects used in the app to work with data. The styles module holds reusable styles. The preferences module is used to store general preferences for the entire app. The app module is a bit more exciting, however! :]

It holds all the functionality to represent the app. There are different packages here.

The data package holds all different points in the app where data is being handled, in terms of API and repositories. So for example, you can add bookmarks in the app, download content, filter it out, log in, change the settings, and much more.

The DI package is used to define all the features regarding Dagger, to provide all the dependencies and inject them throughout the app. All of these things are automatic, so you won’t be working with them much.

Next are the network, notifications and utils packages. These all cover appropriate features of the app, such as authentication, utility functions that help out with common operations and notifications. The more important classes and features are the following.

The MainActivity is the place where all the magic happens. It hosts all of the Fragments the app shows, it handles the lifecycle for the most part, and is your entry to the app. Now build and run the project, to see the app.

You can feel free to explore the app, to get to know it, otherwise, you can move to the next episode, where you’ll start working on your In App Review feature! See you there! :]