Mobile app deployment
To meet business and technology needs, Pega Platform™ can build flexible and modern mobile solutions without coding. With a mobile app, you can support field employees and provide a convenient, additional access channel for your business. Using the Pega Mobile Client™, you can develop a stand-alone, native mobile app experience that leverages full device functionality such as continued offline processing of a Case, push notifications, barcode scanning, or biometric identification. Native apps also contain device-specific security, integration, and management features that can have branding and are distributed on the enterprise app marketplaces for Android and iOS platforms.
You also have the flexibility to support diverse development requirements and release workflows by exporting an unsigned iOS app to sign locally, so that you do not expose your iOS certificates and provisioning profiles in third-party platforms. This is helpful, for example, if your company's internal audit policies prevent you from uploading the iOS code signing certificates and provisioning profiles to Pega Platform, or if you are delivering the app build to another entity to sign and upload. In such situations, you can generate and download an unsigned iOS app bundle in Pega Platform and then sign it on a local macOS computer.
Choosing to develop a Software Development Kit app, or SDK app, means that you can complement existing mobile applications by embedding an existing Pega mobile app. Pega business processes are then reflected in the current application user interface. SDK apps allow you to integrate Pega Platform processes and functionality with other mobile apps.
Match the numbers to the following image to learn more about the options that are available for building mobile apps with Pega Platform:
- Unsigned mobile app: Export a native iOS app in the form of an unsigned xarchive.zip file. This way, you can sign your mobile app locally in the development environment of your choice. Use this option if you do not have access to an iOS certificate set, and the party with access to the certificate set cannot access to Pega Platform, or cannot build a mobile app from the app channel. When building an unsigned mobile app, you do not upload a signing certificate to Pega Platform.
- Native app (Android and iOS): You can build a stand-alone "native" app to leverage device features such as push notifications, barcode scanning, biometric identification, and device security features. These apps are distributed on the respective App stores for the Android and iOS platforms.
- SDK App: You can build an SDK app, a "piece" of an app, that can be reused in other native apps. SDK apps afford development flexibility to reuse existing mobile apps to include Pega Platform capabilities. For example, a bank may provide a mobile banking app that includes Pega Platform functionality to resolve transaction disputes, while providing other functionality, such as transferring money between accounts or paying bills, as part of the container app.
Configuration prerequisites
The out-of-the-box mobile channel enables you to deploy your application to mobile devices quickly. When you are ready to take your content to users, you can build your app in one click or use the Pega Mobile Preview app to examine the outcome in real-time.
Building a mobile app from a Pega Platform application requires completing several tasks before building the app itself, including obtaining certificates, preparing the framework for enabling push notifications in your app, configuring access to other Pega apps (if necessary), and configuring access to the Pega Mobile Build Server. Credentials to access the Pega Mobile Build server are provided with the Pega Mobile Client License and are configured in Admin studio. Pega Mobile Build Server allows developers to single-click build their mobile app for Android or iOS and locally download the app package file that can then be signed and uploaded to the respective enterprise app stores for distribution.
These tasks are different depending on your release platform target (iOS or Android).
Match the numbers to the following image to learn more about each task:
- Upload a certificate set: Certificate sets are required to store all the keys and certificates that are necessary to build, run, and distribute Android and iOS apps. Each platform has different certificate requirements.
- A complete Android certificate set consists of the App ID (package name), a signing certificate, Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) server key to enable push notifications, and a Google Services JSON configuration file for FCM-based projects.
- A complete iOS certificate set consists of the bundle ID, signing certificate, mobile provisioning file, and a push notification certificate that Pega Platform server uses to enable push notification support in your iOS app.
- Configure access: You receive credentials for the Pega Mobile Build Server and the URL with the Pega Mobile Client License.
- Support access through HTTPS: Pega Mobile Build Server requires secure HTTPS access. Check with your system administrator to ensure that Pega Platform is configured to support access through HTTPS.
SDK apps
With an SDK app, you can use an application package file to incorporate a mobile app into another containing mobile app by using a third-party development tool for the appropriate platform. The containing app determines the app layout and appearance. For example, an insurance company wants to incorporate Pega Platform functionality to add a report accident process to their app. An SDK app embeds into the existing mobile app and launches an embedded Pega app to initiate the report accident process.
SDK apps flexibly integrate with existing mobile app functionality not tied to the Pega Platform application, such as an office location search, and may work alongside several Pega Platform applications. To help build SDK app solutions, the Pega Mobile SDK allows users to develop native Android and iOS mobile apps by using an integrated development environment (IDE) of your choice so that the mobile apps can interact with Pega Platform.
The Pega Mobile SDK consists of the Connect SDK and the Mashup SDK. Depending on what task you perform, you will use different tools in the Pega Mobile SDK:
- The Connect SDK provides access to Pega Platform data in your native mobile app directly by using the Pega API
- The Mashup SDK allows you to embed parts of a Pega Platform application into your native mobile app
Generation of installation packages
When you are ready to convert your application into a mobile app that users can install on their mobile devices, you can generate installation packages. Before you begin to convert your application, ensure that you use an HTTPS connection and an SSL certificate from a trusted vendor. You must also have a certificate set created for the app that you want to convert.
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