Installing FrontlineSync snapshots

Installers:

(Deprecated? we no longer track APKs from here)

From Sprint 77: https://s3.amazonaws.com/frontlinesync-releases/frontlinesync-SPRINT-77.apk
From Sprint 75: https://s3.amazonaws.com/frontlinesync-releases/frontlinesync-SPRINT-75.apk
From Sprint 74: https://s3.amazonaws.com/frontlinesync-releases/frontlinesync-SPRINT-74.apk
From Sprint 73: https://s3.amazonaws.com/frontlinesync-releases/frontlinesync-SPRINT-73.apk

The FrontlineSync android app will eventually be distributed through the Google Play store, in which case it can be downloaded and installed as you would any other app. However, during development, it needs to be 'side loaded', i.e. installed directly from the installation package file.

There is no set location for downloading the latest snapshot as yet, because we do not have an automated build system in place. For the time being, you will need to rely on a developer providing a link to the latest snapshot.

Enable app side-loading

By default, Android restricts installation of apps to only known/trusted sources (which for most Android phones means the Google Play store and any extra Manufacturer/Carrier app store that came pre-installed on the phone. To install an app manually, this restriction needs to be disabled.

1. Open the Android settings screen. On phones with Android 4.0 or less, this is usually done by hitting the 'option' button on the home screen and selecting settings. On phones with Android 4.1 or newer, there is usually a link to the settings in the top-right of the notification drawer.
2. Find the 'Unknown Sources' option, typically under the 'Applications' settings section. Some manufacturers have moved the relevant setting to 'Security'.
3. Enable the option to install applications from unknown sources. This is not a major security issue, as the phone will still ask for confirmation before any new software is installed.

Download the Android app installer on the phone

The app snapshot will be provided as an Android Application Package file (.apk), which you will need to get onto the phone. This could be done in various ways, e.g. through Dropbox, by bluetooth transfer etc, but the easiest way would be to access the download URL from the phone. When an apk is selected from any menu in Android (e.g. Dropbox folder, downloads folder, etc), it automatically launches the application installer.

The app is now available from the links at the top of this article.

Install the app

Once the installer runs, the prompt will list the permissions/privileges requested by the app, as it would when installing apps from the Play store. Feel free to review these, you should find that the requested permissions are closely related to the functionality of the app. Any worrying/unclear permissions should be pointed out to a dev.

Launch the app

That's it, you can now launch the app as you would launch any other Android app. If you had a previous version installed, your installation would replace that app but retain the app data.

Debugging

If the app crashes when you try to launch it, the most likely cause is a conflict with the previously stored data from an older version of the app on the phone. We will always support migration between final release versions of the app, but cannot guarantee successful migration between snapshots. If the app fails to launch after installing a snapshot update, please attempt the following before reporting the issue to devs:

1. Open the Android settings
2. Navigate to the Application Manager. On older phones, this is Settings -> Applications -> Manage Applications. Newer phones have the option in the main settings menu.
3. Select FrontlineSync
4. If the 'Force Close' option is available, click it, and confirm in the prompt that follows
5. Click 'Clear Data' and confirm
6. Relaunch the app from the application menu. It will have lost all the previous data, but will now work if data compatibility was the issue.

Note that this process should only apply to migration between snapshots. If you had a released version installed and experience any crash/error when attempting to upgrade to a new release, please inform devs.

_{- Written by Sitati, please let me know if there are any clarifications required.}