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One of our South American clients required a React Native mobile application that could be dynamically configured for different clients, allowing each to have its own branding, API configurations, and deployment setup. Additionally, the deployment process needed to be fully automated to ensure seamless and scalable delivery of both Android and iOS applications.
Client Challenges:
The traditional deployment process was highly manual, time-consuming, and prone to errors. Each time a client requested an update, developers had to
Modify configurations manually.
Build the application separately for Android and iOS.
Handle signing keys, certificates, and provisioning profiles manually.
Upload the builds to the Play Store and App Store.
This approach led to inefficiencies, delays, and inconsistencies, making scaling nearly impossible as the number of clients increased
Each client required unique branding, API endpoints, and environment variables.
Managing Android Keystores, iOS provisioning profiles, and certificates securely.
Implementing a robust continuous integration and deployment (CI/CD) pipeline for Android and iOS.
Automating the upload of builds while ensuring compliance with store policies.
To address these challenges, we implemented an automated CI/CD pipeline leveraging GitHub Actions and Fastlane for both Android and iOS.
Clients first fill out a form, specifying their branding, API configurations, and other settings.
The submitted data is stored in Firebase Firestore.
When a build is triggered, the deployment pipeline fetches the stored configurations from Firestore.
The fetched configuration is then used to update the respective configuration files dynamically before the build process starts
This eliminates the need for separate .env files, making the process truly dynamic and scalable.
A YAML-based workflow automates builds and deployments.
The workflow ensures proper Java and Node.js environments before building the Android app.
Used GitHub Secrets to store App Store Connect API keys securely.
Semantic Versioning: Implemented an automatic versioning strategy based on Git tags.
Release Automation: GitHub Actions triggers deployments on merging to the main branch.
Changelog Generation: Automatically generates release notes based on commit messages.
To ensure efficiency and reliability, we introduced:
Android and iOS builds run concurrently, reducing deployment time.
Workflows retry failed deployments to ensure minimal manual intervention.
Encrypted secrets store signing keys, API keys, and certificates securely.
The system supports an unlimited number of clients without manual configuration changes.
By leveraging GitHub Actions and Fastlane, we successfully automated the deployment of a multi-tenant React Native application, enabling seamless and efficient app releases. This automation not only streamlined operations but also empowered the client to scale their offerings without additional deployment overhead.
Implement automated UI testing using AI to detect UI/UX issues.
Integrate App Store and Play Store monitoring for crash reports and analytics.
Implement intelligent rollback mechanisms for failed deployments.
This case study showcases how automation can transform mobile app deployment, improving efficiency, scalability, and reliability for businesses looking to scale their applications effortlessly.
