Firebase App Distribution makes it easy to distribute pre-release versions of your app to trusted testers so you can get valuable feedback before launch. App Distribution lets you manage all of your pre-release builds for both iOS and Android in a central hub, and it gives you the flexibility to distribute these builds right from the console or using the command-line tools that are already part of your workflow - like Gradle, Firebase CLI, and fastlane!
And now, we’re excited to share an update we made to App Distribution: Support for Android App Bundles (AAB)!
App Bundles
What are App Bundles?
Android App Bundles are Android’s new official publishing format that offers a more efficient way to build and release your app, resulting in smaller app download, which improves install success and reduces uninstalls.
App Distribution and Google Play app sharing
App Distribution integrates with Google Play’s internal app sharing service to process the AABs you upload and serve APKs that are optimized for your testers’ device configurations. When you distribute AABs, you can:
- Uncover and debug device-specific issues.
- Test app bundle features like Play Feature Delivery and Play Asset Delivery.
- Reduce the size of downloads for your testers.
Customer quotes
Since we launched this feature in preview mode, several customers have been using App Distribution to release AABs to test their apps. Here’s what Priceline had to say:
- Connect your Firebase project to Google Play
- Link your app by making sure of the following:
- The connected Google Play account is the Play app’s Owner or Account Admin.
- Both apps share the same package name.
- Your Google Play app is in a published state. An app is published when it’s been distributed on Google Play’s internal, closed, open testing or to production.
You can distribute your AAB via:
Get started
Support for AAB is now available for all App Distribution customers! To get started with AAB releases visit the App Distribution console. To learn more about this feature visit the App Distribution docs.