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DIAPER Cohort (mobile app) built with Flutter, flutter material, and TDesign

Before diving into codes, getting familiar with these documents is highly recommended. 

Flutter Architecture

layers

UI

Material

IOS Simulator

Xcode

Android Simulator

Android Studio


Getting Started

In order to run the mobile app locally, follow the steps below:

  1. Install Xcode from App Store
  2. Install Flutter
    1. Use the response from flutter doctor  to guide you through any other necessary installations (e.g., Android Studio, Chrome, CocoaPods, etc.)
    2. If you encounter the "Bad CPU type in executable" error with flutter doctor , maybe this would help
    3. If you have trouble installing Cocoapods with ruby, try installing with brew install cocoapods 
  3. Pull the frontend-mobile repo from https://github.com/DIAPER-Project
  4. For local testing and development, use the test server by switching the server URL to https://mobile-test.diaper-project.com:5001/api in dev-mobile/lib/helper/API.dart .
    1. Note: the server URL may get updates in the future, please refer to the infra team/documentation for the new server url.
  5. Once flutter doctor  yields no error, proceed with the following steps in https://flutter.dev/docs/get-started/editor to build and run the app
    1. Navigate to the dev-mobile  directory.
    2. Simulation (two ways)
      1. You need to first open the iOS simulator by running open -a Simulator  in the terminal and then run flutter run .
      2. In VSCode, in the bottom toolbar, click "No Device," choose "iPhone 13" from the top drop-down menu, then run flutter run  in the terminal.

Overall Flutter Project Structure:

lib/: Structure:


Uploading to TestFlight

For the TestFlight build, use the prod server by switching the server URL to https://mobile-prod.diaper-project.com:5001/api in dev-mobile/lib/helper/API.dart . Note: the server URL may get updates in the future, please refer to the infra team/documentation for the new server URL.

You will first need to open the workspace (frontend-mobile/dev-mobile/ios/Runner.xcworkspace) in Xcode. 

Here are two very helpful and detailed guides. 

  1. From flutter
  2. This Medium post has some more screenshots that you may find useful to refer to

You may find them confusing, and indeed not all sections in the tutorials are relevant. The only necessary steps are:

  1. Modify the project settings
    • Follow the guide thoroughly
    • Make sure the signing setting is correct.
  2. Execute each step under the section "Submit App to TestFlight for the First time" in the Medium post.
    • When building the App, set the Runner to be any iOS device.
    • Make sure to update the Build  number to be the proper version when submitting
    • During Re-sign Runner  step when distributing App, if you encounter Missing private key  error in the below screenshot, refer to Distribution certificate / private key not installed - Stack Overflow. 
  1.  
    • During Archive, if flutter.h not found, 
      1. Remove ios/Flutter/Flutter.podspec: rm ios/Flutter/Flutter.podspec
      2. flutter clean
      3. flutter run

Now Archive again, the problem should be fixed.


Once the app has been uploaded, go to App Store Connect and log in, you can find the new build (may take a while after uploading from Xcode) as in the screenshot. 

  • Click "Manage" and choose "None of the algorithms mentioned above"

  • Now you can click into the up-to-date build and invite testers

Then, download the app TestFlight from the App store and Redeem Diaper Cohort with the TestFlight invitation code. There, you can play with your most recent build.



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