Android SDK 5.x.x to 6.0+ Migration Guide

This guide is intended for app developers who have been using the Java-based Alchemer Mobile (Formerly Apptentive) Android SDK and are migrating to the new Kotlin-based Android SDK.

Migration Effort 

Major Differences

The new Android SDK is a ground-up rewrite of the Java Alchemer Mobile Android SDK to Kotlin using modern programming practices. New features include:

A few quick notes for getting started on the migration:

• We now have a Kotlin codebase instead of Java
• The screen’s Activity is now registered separately to the SDK.
  • This allows the engage function to be called without needing to provide an Activitycontext.
• Callback types are different when you engage events and when you register the SDK
• Modular-based SDK
• Minimum supported Android version is now Android 5.0 (API level 21)
• Minimum supported compileSDK version is now 31 as per google’s requirement
• Message Center is in full release version of 6.0.0+

Improvements and New Features

• Interface customization
• ADA compliant interactions
• Dark mode support
• We are now using Material Design’s Material Components within our SDK (designed to be used with Material Design 2, but Material 3 will also work)
  • If you haven’t already, you will need to update your app to use Material Components and AndroidX
    • This should be a simple process and is highly recommended.
    • There are Bridge themes available if you cannot inherit from the MaterialComponents theme
• Interaction Response Target
• Device storage encryption support
• Survey skip logic to create personalized and efficient survey experiences.
• Support for Customer Authentication so apps with sensitive data can be shared among multiple users on a single device
• Images in Prompts to create more engaging customer communication
• Rich text for Surveys and Prompts with text formatting and lists for clarity and in-line links to help customers find the resources they need
• Additional display options when sharing an Alchemer Survey in a Prompt 

Current limitations

Java Apps

Dependency Implementation

In your build.gradle file, add the following dependency to integrate Alchemer Mobile SDK, replacing APPTENTIVE_VERSIONwith the most recent one from here:

dependencies {
    implementation "com.apptentive:apptentive-kit-android:APPTENTIVE_VERSION"
}

Registering the SDK

Shortly after the app launch, you’ll want your app to call the register method. This should usually happen within your Application class. You’ll create an ApptentiveConfiguration object to pass in the Alchemer Mobile App Key and Alchemer Mobile (Formerly Apptentive) App Signature values from the API & Development section of the Settings tab in your Alchemer Mobile dashboard. For more information on the optional ApptentiveConfiguration parameters, see the Configuration optional parameters section.

Kotlin example:

class MyApplication : Application() {
    override fun onCreate() {
        super.onCreate()
        val configuration = ApptentiveConfiguration(
        apptentiveKey = "<YOUR_APPTENTIVE_KEY>",
        apptentiveSignature = "<YOUR_APPTENTIVE_SIGNATURE>"
        ).apply {
            /**
            * Optional parameters:
            * shouldInheritAppTheme - Default is true
            * logLevel - Default is LogLevel.Info
            * shouldSanitizeLogMessages - Default is true
            * ratingInteractionThrottleLength - Default is TimeUnit.DAYS.toMillis(7)
            * customAppStoreURL - Default is null (Rating Interaction attempts to show Google In-App Review)
            */
        }
        Apptentive.register(this, configuration)
    }
}

Java example:

public class MyApplication extends Application {
    @Override
    public void onCreate() {
        super.onCreate();
        /*
        * Optional parameters:
        * shouldInheritAppTheme - Default is true
        * logLevel - Default is LogLevel.Info
        * shouldSanitizeLogMessages - Default is true
        * ratingInteractionThrottleLength - Default is TimeUnit.DAYS.toMillis(7)
        * customAppStoreURL - Default is null (Rating Interaction attempts to show Google In-App Review)
        */
        ApptentiveConfiguration configuration = new ApptentiveConfiguration(
            "<YOUR_APPTENTIVE_KEY>",
            "<YOUR_APPTENTIVE_SIGNATURE>"
        );
  
        Apptentive.register(this, configuration);
    }
}

Using Registration Callbacks

Our registration callbacks help you debug the Alchemer Mobile SDK.

Kotlin example:

Apptentive.register(this, configuration) {
    when (it) {
        is RegisterResult.Success -> Log.i(
            "Apptentive Registration",
            "Registration successful"
        )
        is RegisterResult.Failure -> Log.w(
            "Apptentive Registration",
            "Registration failed with response code: ${it.responseCode} and error message: ${it.message}"
        )
        is RegisterResult.Exception -> Log.e(
            "Apptentive Registration",
            "Registration failed with exception",
            it.error
        )
    }
}

Java example:

Apptentive.register(this, configuration, result -> {
    if (result instanceof RegisterResult.Success) {
        Log.i("Apptentive Registration", "Registration successful");
    } else if (result instanceof RegisterResult.Failure) {
        RegisterResult.Failure resultFailure = (RegisterResult.Failure) result;
        Log.w(
            "Apptentive Registration",
            "Registration failed with response code: " + resultFailure.getResponseCode() +
            ", and error message: " + resultFailure.getMessage()
        );
    } else if (result instanceof RegisterResult.Exception) {
        RegisterResult.Exception resultError = (RegisterResult.Exception) result;
        Log.e("Apptentive Registration", "Registration failed with an exception", resultError.getError());
    }
});

Registering/Unregistering the Activity Callback to the SDK

With the re-write of the SDK, we leveraged a modern architecture using modules. This allows for greater flexibility in where the engage method can be called from.

The Alchemer Mobile SDK now needs to register the Activity to the SDK in order to show our Interactions in your application.

This will need to be done for every Activity within your application.

This is a 4 step process:

1. Extend the ApptentiveActivityInfo interface to your Activity
2. Override the getApptentiveActivityInfo function
   1. You will just return this (the Activity)
3. Register the callback with the Alchemer Mobile SDK using the registerApptentiveActivityInfoCallback function within your onResume function (after the super)
4. Unregister the callback using unregisterApptentiveActivityInfoCallback function within your onPause function(before the super)

Kotlin example:

class MainActivity : AppCompatActivity(), ApptentiveActivityInfo {
    override fun onResume() {
        super.onResume()
        Apptentive.registerApptentiveActivityInfoCallback(this)
    }

    override fun getApptentiveActivityInfo(): Activity {
        return this
    }

    override fun onPause() {
        Apptentive.unregisterApptentiveActivityInfoCallback()
        super.onPause()
    }
}

Java example:

public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity implements ApptentiveActivityInfo {
    @Override
    protected void onResume() {
        super.onResume();
        Apptentive.registerApptentiveActivityInfoCallback(this);
    }

    @NonNull
    @Override
    public Activity getApptentiveActivityInfo() {
        return this;
    }
  
    @Override
    protected void onPause() {
        Apptentive.unregisterApptentiveActivityInfoCallback();
        super.onPause();
    }
}

Engaging Events

At various points in your app’s lifecycle, you will want to engage events with the Alchemer Mobile SDK in order to allow the targeting and the launch of Alchemer Mobile interactions (Surveys, Prompts, Love Dialog, etc.).

Events can be added almost* anywhere in the App. A few good places would be when an Activity comes to focus, on a button tap or when the App encounters an error.

Kotlin example:

// Engaging
Apptentive.engage("my_event")

// Engaging with callback (optional)
Apptentive.engage("my_event") { result ->
    when (result) {
        is EngagementResult.InteractionShown -> { /* Interaction was shown */ }
        is EngagementResult.InteractionNotShown -> { /* Interaction was NOT shown */ }
        is EngagementResult.Error -> { /* There was an error during evaluation */ } 
        is EngagementResult.Exception -> { /* Something went wrong */ } 
    }
}

Java example:

// Engaging
Apptentive.engage("my_event");

// Engaging with callback (optional) & customData (optional)
Apptentive.engage("my_event", customData, result -> {
    if (result instanceof EngagementResult.InteractionShown) {
        /* Interaction was shown */
    } else if (result instanceof EngagementResult.InteractionNotShown) {
        /* Interaction was NOT shown */
    } else if (result instanceof EngagementResult.Error) {
        /* There was an error during evaluation */
    } else if (result instanceof EngagementResult.Exception) {
        /* Something went wrong */
    }
});

Alchemer Mobile Configuration optional parameters

The configuration options are enabled with defaults that are production-ready.

1. shouldInheritAppTheme
   1. A boolean that determines if Alchemer Mobile Interactions will use the host app’s theme or Alchemer Mobile's theme.
   2. If true, Alchemer Mobile Interactions will use the host app’s theme and colors.
   3. If false, Alchemer Mobile Interactions will use the Theme.Apptentive theme and colors, set in the styles.xml file within the apptentive-core-ui package.
   4. ApptentiveThemeOverride will always take priority over all themes.
   5. See ThemeHelper.kt within the apptentive-core-ui package for more info.
2. logLevel
   1. An enum used to define what level of logs we will show in Android Studio’s Logcat
   2. Default is LogLevel.Info
   3. Log level options are
      1. LogLevel.Verbose
         1. Any relevant info not shown in other log levels
      2. LogLevel.Debug
         1. Processes with more technical information
      3. LogLevel.Info
         1. General processes and non-technical results
      4. LogLevel.Warning
         1. Non-breaking / handled issues
      5. LogLevel.Error
         1. Breaking / unhandled issues (Throwables)
3. shouldSanitizeLogMessages
   1. A boolean that declares whether or not to convert the data of variables using the @SensitiveDataKey annotation to <REDACTED>
   2. When true (default)
      1. Redacts sensitive information from Logcat
      2. Redacted information includes:
         1. Alchemer Mobile (Apptentive) Key & Signature
         2. Conversation Token
         3. Server call
            1. Headers
            2. Request Body
            3. Response Body
         4. mParticle IDs
         5. Custom Data
         6. Legacy data while being converted
         7. SDK Author name and email
   3. When set to false
      1. All info above is available to be logged to Android Studio’s Logcat
         1. Whether or not it is logged depends on the set logLevel
4. ratingInteractionThrottleLength
   1. A millisecond based rating interaction throttle
   2. Default is 7 days
      1. We are using TimeUnit of the java.util.concurrent library to help with Day to Millisecond conversions.
         1. TimeUnit.DAYS.toMillis(7)
   3. Hard limits the frequency that the user will see the Rating Interaction in a specified period of time
   4. This is an internal throttle safeguard outside of the defined limitations set in the dashboard
5. customAppStoreURL
   1. A String based variable that is used for alternate app store ratings.
   2. If null (default), the user will see the Google In-App Review and will be able to leave an app rating directly to the Play Store without leaving the app.
   3. If set to a String, the SDK will ignore the Google In-App Review Interaction for the Alchemer Mobile Rating Dialog Interaction and will attempt to send the user to the specified URL if the user chooses to rate the app.

Message Center

// Opening Message Center
Apptentive.showMessageCenter()

// Engaging with callback (optional)
Apptentive.showMessageCenter() { result ->
    when (result) {
        is EngagementResult.InteractionShown -> { /* Interaction was shown */ }
        is EngagementResult.InteractionNotShown -> { /* Interaction was NOT shown */ }
        is EngagementResult.Error -> { /* There was an error during evaluation */ } 
        is EngagementResult.Exception -> { /* Something went wrong */ } 
    }
}

Styling

Migrating styling will be familiar, yet different. We have opened up more options for styling and kept most of the styling parameters while removing others in order to better support a wider range of styles.

Here’s an article on our interface customization currently available and how the default interaction UIs look.

Prerequisites

• If you haven’t already, you will need to update your app to use Material Components and AndroidX
  • This should be a simple process and is highly recommended.
  • There are Bridge themes available if you cannot inherit from the MaterialComponents theme.

What’s new?

• We are now using Material Design’s Material Components within our SDK (designed to be used with Material Design 2, but Material 3 will also work)
• shouldInheritAppTheme will let you decide if you want to use Alchemer Mobile's colors or if we should inherit your app’s colors
  • Default is true, which will inherit your app’s colors
• Every layout, text, button, widget, and most other views on the screen now have their own customization attribute associated with it
• We have removed all hard-coded stylings from the views themselves in order to give greater freedom when overriding our styles
• We now have an alpha attribute that allows us to give text better visual priorities without needing separate similar text colors
  • These attributes are apptentiveHeaderAlpha and apptentiveSubheaderAlpha

Android UI Cookbook

The UI Cookbooks will share some custom designs and examples and how to translate them into Alchemer Mobile interactions using styles.

The code for all 3 cookbook designs can also be found within the example app styles file.

• UI Cookbook Overview
  • UI Cookbook 1
  • UI Cookbook 2
  • UI Cookbook 3

Deprecated Styles

Since our UI was updated, not all styles were able to migrate over or they did not translate well into the new architecture with new customization options.

Alchemer Mobile Code Resources

• Example app styles.xml file
  • Check here for samples on how to use ApptentiveThemeOverride and all the style items available.
• Alchemer Mobile default UI styles.xml file
  • Check here for the defaults that Alchemer Mobile is using to style the views
    • A good starting point for creating your custom UI
• Alchemer Mobile Attributes (apptentive-attrs.xml) file
  • Check here for all available attributes (the other two styles files above should also have all)

How to override an Alchemer Mobile style

1. Go to your styles.xml file (or create one)
2. Add an ApptentiveThemeOverride style
3. Include any <item> overrides within that style

<style name="ApptentiveThemeOverride"> 
    // Override items go here
</style>

Style Information

Style / Theme Hierarchy

1. ApptentiveThemeOverride (set only by the developer in their styles.xml file) takes priority over all other stylings
2. Second priority, we disable the style item android:background
   1. This is a problem style for many of our Material Design widgets
   2. We use android:colorBackground and colorSurface for background colors
   3. If you do need to use this, you can re-enable with ApptentiveThemeOverride
3. Third priority, we apply the host app’s theme if shouldInheritAppTheme is set to true 
4. Last priority, we apply Alchemer's theme
   1. If shouldInheritAppTheme is false and you don’t have anything set in ApptentiveThemeOverride, you will be able to see Alchemer Mobile's default theme

See ThemeHelper.kt for more info.

Important styles we inherit

Dialog colors (Love Dialog, Prompts, Rating Dialog)

• Background uses colorSurface
• Non-button text uses colorOnSurface
• Button text uses colorSecondary

Survey colors

• Toolbar (top and bottom) background uses colorPrimary
• Toolbar (top and bottom) text uses colorOnPrimary
• Activity main background uses android:colorBackground
• Question Text uses colorOnBackground
• Question Widgets use a combination of colorOnBackground and colorSecondary
• Question Error Text uses colorError
• Submit button uses colorPrimary
• Submit button text uses colorOnPrimary

Logging

To set the severity of log messages shown in the logs, set the Alchemer Mobile LogLevel. The default is set to LogLevel.Info.

Kotlin example:

val configuration = ApptentiveConfiguration(...)
configuration.logLevel = LogLevel.DEBUG
Apptentive.register(this, configuration)

Java example:

ApptentiveConfiguration configuration = new ApptentiveConfiguration(...)
configuration.setLogLevel(LogLevel.Debug);
Apptentive.register(this, configuration);

Example App

example

A simple app to help customers integrate with the Alchemer Mobile Android SDK

Instructions

1. Download and open the example app in Android Studio
2. Click the TODO tab at the bottom left of Android Studio to follow step-by-step instructions on where and how to create a very basic Alchemer Mobile integrated Android app.