Automating Build and Release Process in Fastlane - 3

Now that you’ve set up Fastlane in your Android project, it’s time to automate your build and release process. The beauty of Fastlane lies in its ability to take over the repetitive tasks you’ve been doing manually, allowing you to focus on what really matters — coding new features and improving your app.

In this section, we’ll walk through how to automate everything from building your app to releasing it to the Google Play Store — all with a single command.

Step 1: Create a Build Lane in Your Fastfile

The first thing you’ll need to do is define a lane for building your app. A lane in Fastlane is simply a collection of tasks you want to automate.

Let’s start by adding a simple build lane to your Fastfile. This lane will run the Gradle task that builds your app in release mode.

Here’s how to set it up:

platform :android do
  desc "Build the release APK"
  lane :build do
    gradle(task: "assembleRelease")
  end
end
  • gradle(task: “assembleRelease”): This command runs the Gradle task to build your app in release mode, generating the signed APK or AAB.

Now, whenever you want to build your app, you can run:

fastlane build

This will trigger the build lane, and Fastlane will take care of building your app for you, automatically running the Gradle task you’ve specified.

Step 2: Automate the Signing Process

If you’re building your app for release, you’ll need to sign it. Normally, you would have to manually set up signing configurations, but Fastlane can help automate that too.

To make sure Fastlane knows how to sign your APK, you’ll need to add your keystore credentials. You can do this in two ways:

Option 1: Using the gradle Action

If you already have your signing configurations set up in your build.gradle file, Fastlane will use them automatically. Just make sure your build.gradle file is correctly set up with your keystore information.

Option 2: Using the supply Action

If you want to automate the signing process using Fastlane, you can add the match action (part of Fastlane) to sync your keystore files. First, you need to set up match, which is a Fastlane tool for managing certificates and provisioning profiles.

You can add the following to your Fastfile to use match:

platform :android do
  desc "Build and sign the app"
  lane :build_and_sign do
    match(type: "appstore") # You can specify "development", "appstore", or other types
    gradle(task: "assembleRelease")
  end
end

By using match, Fastlane will handle your certificates and provisioning profiles, keeping them in sync across all your team members.

Step 3: Automating Testing (Optional)

Before releasing your app to the world, you want to make sure it works. Testing is a crucial part of the build process, and with Fastlane, you can automate running tests as part of your build lane.

To run your unit tests automatically, you can add the scan action to your Fastfile. This will run your tests and generate detailed reports.

Here’s an example of how you can set up the scan action:

platform :android do
  desc "Run tests, build the app, and sign it"
  lane :test_and_build do
    scan
    gradle(task: "assembleRelease")
  end
end
  • scan: Runs all your unit tests and generates a detailed test report. If any tests fail, Fastlane will stop the process, so you can catch issues before releasing your app.

You can now run:

fastlane test_and_build

This will first run your tests, then build your app, and sign it, ensuring that your app is in top shape before release.

Step 4: Automating the Release to the Play Store

Once your app is built and tested, the next step is to upload it to the Google Play Store. Fastlane makes this easy with the supply action.

To automate the process of releasing your app to the Play Store, you need to configure supply in your Fastfile. Here’s how you can set it up:

platform :android do
  desc "Build and release the app to the Play Store"
  lane :release do
    gradle(task: "assembleRelease")
    upload_to_play_store
  end
end
  • gradle(task: “assembleRelease”): Builds the APK or AAB file in release mode.
  • upload_to_play_store: Uploads the release APK or AAB to the Google Play Store.

You will need to configure your Google Play API credentials (as mentioned earlier in the setup process) and provide the path to the service account key in your Fastfile.

Once everything is set up, you can simply run:

fastlane release

This command will:

  1. Build your app.
  2. Upload it to the Google Play Store.

Fastlane handles all the heavy lifting so you don’t have to worry about the details.

Step 5: Combine Everything into One Lane

Now that you’ve set up individual tasks like building, signing, testing, and releasing, you can combine them all into one powerful lane.

Here’s an example of a full automation lane that builds, tests, signs, and releases the app:

platform :android do
  desc "Automate the entire build, test, sign, and release process"
  lane :deploy do
    scan
    gradle(task: "assembleRelease")
    match(type: "appstore")
    upload_to_play_store
  end
end

Now, with just one command:

fastlane deploy

Fastlane will:

  1. Run your tests with scan.
  2. Build your APK or AAB.
  3. Sign your app with match.
  4. Upload it to the Play Store.

Step 6: Set Up CI/CD (Optional)

If you use Continuous Integration (CI) tools like Jenkins, GitHub Actions, or CircleCI, you can easily integrate Fastlane into your pipeline. This way, every time you push new code or create a new release, Fastlane will handle the entire build and release process automatically.

Wrapping Up

With Fastlane, you’ve now fully automated your Android app’s build and release process. Whether you’re testing, signing, or uploading your app to the Play Store, Fastlane takes care of it with just a single command.

By automating these tasks, you’ll save a ton of time, reduce the risk of errors, and have a more efficient development process. So next time you push an update to your app, you can focus on the exciting part — writing new features — while Fastlane handles the rest!

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vikas-soni-052013160/
Email: vikasacsoni9211@gmail.com

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