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Version: Early Access

Xamarin Application Requirements

Xamarin Studio is a fully-featured Integrated Development Environment (IDE) used to create iOS and Android applications. To distribute Xamarin Android applications through Digital.ai App Management, follow the procedure below to build the apps with the required settings. You can add apps to Digital.ai App Management that do not meet all the build requirements, but you will run into error conditions later when trying to manage or distribute the apps.

For general instructions on building apps with Xamarin Studio, see the Xamarin Developer Center.

Build Android Apps with the Required Xamarin Settings​

To build an Android app with the required Xamarin settings​

  1. In Xamarin Studio, right-click the Android project in the Solution Pad and then select Options.

  2. Under the Build section of the Project Options dialog, click Android Build.

  3. From the Configuration menu, select Release. By default, the Debug option is selected. You need to build the app in Release mode before you can distribute it to users. Release mode turns off the shared runtime and turns on linking so that the application only ships the pieces of Xamarin.Android required at runtime.

  4. On the Packaging tab:

    1. Clear the User shared Mono runtime and Fast assembly deployment check boxes.
    2. Select the Embed assemblies in native code check box.

  5. On the Linker tab: From the Linker behavior menu, select Link all assemblies.

  6. Click OK to save the Android Build settings.

  7. Right-click the Android project again and select Clean.

  8. From the menu next to the Run button at the top-left of the Xamarin Studio window, choose Release | x86 to specify the release build.

  9. From the Project top menu, click Create Android Package. You will see a status window, and then the Create Android Package dialog.

  10. On the Create Android Package dialog, leave the default settings or specify a different Target Directory and File name.

  11. Click OK to build the Android package.

  12. In a file browser, change to the target directory for the Android package. This is the directory specified in step 10. In this directory, you should have a bin folder that includes a Release folder. The Release folder includes a Filename.apk (unsigned) and Filename-Signed.apk (signed) version of the app. The unsigned version (Filename.apk) is the app that you should add to VAR::COMPANYNAME App Management. Do not add the signed version. For instructions on adding apps to Digital.ai App Management, see Add an Application. After you add the app to Digital.ai App Management you must sign it. If you want to apply policies, apply the policies _before you sign it (since you are required to sign an app after you apply policies the first time). If you do not want to sign with Digital.ai App Management, you can manually sign it with the jarsigner utility before you add it, or you can upload it, apply policies, and then download a signing package to sign the version with policies outside of Digital.ai App Management. For more information on signing apps, see About Signing.

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