android

Firebase Continue for Android

This directory contains the Firebase Continue for Android library.

Firebase Continue enables mobile developers to easily integrate activity transitioning from their mobile apps to the web by way of Chrome extensions.

To learn more about Firebase Continue and the problems it helps developers solve, please see the README at the root of this repository.

Table of Contents

1. Prerequisites
2. Installation
3. Usage Instructions
4. How to Build
5. Compatibility
6. Dependencies
7. Sample App

Prerequisites

In order to use Firebase Continue, you must first follow the Initial Setup instructions listed in the root README.

Installation

After completing the following steps, you will have properly included this library to use in your Android app:

1. First, make sure you followed the Prerequisites section above.

2. Ensure your app can depend on all of this library's Dependencies without, for example, incompatible version numbers being an issue (such as your app requiring Firebase Auth and Firebase Database v10.0.0, which is lower than what is required by this library).

3. Ensure this library's Compatibility items suit your app.

4. If you have not already added Firebase to your app, please do so.

   See https://firebase.google.com/docs/android/setup for instructions on how to add Firebase, including the required Firebase Authentication and Firebase Realtime Database SDKs, to your app.

5. Build the library, then copy the FirebaseContinue-[VERSION-NUMBER].aar compiled Android library file (where [VERSION-NUMBER] is replaced with the version of Firebase Continue you would like to use), and paste a copy of it somewhere for your app to depend on.

   TODO: When a simpler release process is in place (where developers can add a simple dependency to their build files without having to copy the library locally as well), update this and the next parts of the setup guide.

6. Using the build system for your app, depend on the FirebaseContinue-[VERSION-NUMBER].aar Android library file.

   For example, using Android Studio: https://developer.android.com/studio/build/dependencies.html.

   A concrete example of this can be seen in the Android sample app.

7. Import the library wherever you would like to use it in your app:

   import com.firebasecontinue.FirebaseContinue;

8. Done!

Usage Instructions

After following the Installation section above, typical usage of this library is as follows. Please note that a fleshed out example of usage can be found in the sample Android app, and more specific documentation can be found in the Android library itself.

• When the user is signed in via Firebase Authentication and may wish to continue some activity within your application (such as watching a video or writing a note) elsewhere (i.e. within Chrome), you can use the FirebaseContinue.broadcastToContinueActivity(activityUrl, applicationName) API.

  As noted in its documentation, that API returns a Task which asynchronously broadcasts an activity (codified as a URL) within the application that the currently signed in user may wish to continue elsewhere (in the immediate future) to all potential clients (i.e. Chrome extension(s)) which could allow the user to do so by opening said URL.

  To learn more about Tasks, including what it means for a Task to have completed successfully or for it to have failed, see: https://developers.google.com/android/guides/tasks.

  For example:

  FirebaseContinue.broadcastActivityToContinue(
          "[TODO: YOUR-URL-TO-ALLOW-THE-USER-TO-CONTINUE-THEIR-ACTIVITY-HERE]"),
          "[TODO: YOUR-APPLICATION-NAME-HERE]")
  ).addOnSuccessListener(new OnSuccessListener<Void>() {
      @Override
      public void onSuccess(Void result) {
          // This success listener is optional but allows you to react to the user's activity
          // successfully being broadcast.
  
          // An example use of this listener could be to inform the user to open Chrome (with
          // your Chrome extension installed which uses the Firebase Continue for
          // Chrome Extensions library) if they wish continue their activity there.
      }
  }).addOnFailureListener(new OnFailureListener() {
      @Override
      public void onFailure(Exception e) {
          // This failure listener is optional but allows you to react to the user's activity
          // unsuccessfully being broadcast.
      }
  });

How to Build

After completing the following steps, you will have properly built this library from its source:

1. Open Android Studio.

2. Click to "Open an existing Android Studio project".

3. Within the file navigator dialog that pops up, choose the FirebaseContinue/ directory.

4. Click to "Make Project" within Android Studio.

5. Done!

   The built FirebaseContinue-[VERSION-NUMBER].aar Android library file should now be in the FirebaseContinue/library/build/outputs/aar/ directory.

Compatibility

The Firebase Continue for Android library is compatible with devices and simulators running Android 4.0+ with Google Play services installed.

Currently, this library does not support simultaneous use of multiple Firebase projects within the same app.

Dependencies

The Firebase Continue for Android library is dependent on the following libraries/SDKs:

Firebase

• com.google.firebase:firebase-auth v11.0.0+
• com.google.firebase:firebase-database v11.0.0+

Sample App

See the Android sample folder for a sample Android app and instructions on how you can configure and install it.