New release track system of FlorisBoard

This issue explains the new track system which FlorisBoard will use beginning after today’s release of v0.3.9. At any given time it is possible to have all three tracks of FlorisBoard installed on one device without them interfering. This allows users to try out debug builds without ruining their stable configuration in case something goes wrong.

((( @IzzySoft I am pinging you because I wanted to ask if FlorisBoard’s beta track could be included in your repo, so all my F-Droid users also have the ability to take advantage of the new track system )))

Stable dev.patrickgold.florisboard

• Default release track (what currently is in use)
• Publishing channels:
  • F-Droid
  • Google Play (until v0.4.0 only via joining the Google Group, after v0.4.0 FlorisBoard is listed publicly in Google Play).
  • GitHub Releases
• ~ 2 releases / month
• Version name format: vX.X.X
• All APKs are signed either by me or by F-Droid
• Releases on this channel are in general very stable (expect for features marked as experimental)

Beta dev.patrickgold.florisboard.beta

• Beta release track intended for end-users who want to try out new features faster
• Publishing channels:
  • IzzySoft’s repo
  • Google Play Beta Track (beginning with v0.4.0 only)
  • GitHub Releases (Tagged as pre-release)
• ~ 2-3 releases / week
• Version name format: vX.X.X-betaXX
• All APKs are signed by me
• Releases on this channel are in general well working, though crashes/bugs are more likely than in stable

Debug dev.patrickgold.florisboard.debug

• Debug builds built by GitHub Actions intended for contributors to directly try out new features from the developers
• Publishing channels:
  • GitHub Actions (attached to every commit)
• Version name format: vX.X.X-debug
• APKs are not signed
• Releases on this channel are highly unstable and may crash at any given time, thus I don’t recommend this version for every day use

[IzzySoft]

thanks for that!

Gladly done!

Hell yeah my build.gradle.kts is used for unit testing of the parenthesis versionName syntax 😎

Indeed it is. Is that something like those stars they put in the floor at Hollywood, with names on it? 🤣

One good thing this bug has brought though

Indeed! Which is why I wanted that YAML updated before the CheckUpdates fix kicked in.

thanks again for your and your team members at F-Droid

Yeah, we try our very best. We do not always succeed immediately, but we keep trying. And we always give 100%: 10% on Monday, 30% on Tuesday… 🙊 🙈 Well, looking at my heat map I had no break since December 😱

I will close this issue now as I’ve spotted the beta of FlorisBoard in your repo, so the topic of this issue is concluded.

Indeed it is – thanks a lot! Once v0.3.9 pops up at F-Droid, you can also close that spin-off.

[patrickgold]

So place it where you want it to be, and let me know. I’ll then configure it and make a test run.

Perfect, I will place the beta description in fastlane/metadata/androidbeta. Do I need to place only the beta specific things there and the rest like screenshots etc. is taken from the stable meta folder or do I need to copy everything? (I don’t mind copying, just so I know).

Oh, only condition is: it must reside in the “primary branch” (master/main, whichever it is in your repo), as that’s the only one the Github API supports.

That’s no problem, as in the end everything related to the project resides in my master branch.