White Labelling/Branding Projects
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For many organizations, mobile applications have become the main window through which they communicate with employees who collect data in the field, and customers and partners who mainly consume the mobile business data. Therefore the projecting company image has also become essential for many organizations.
Out of the box, BrightForms mobile device engines on all platforms come with the standard BrightForms logo, name, and the splash screen that goes with it. With the new white labelling or branding capabilities (these two terms are being used interchangeably through out of the document), it is possible to change the application name, its logo and the splash screen image to enable companies to project their own company image in their user community.
BrightXpress platform currently supports the white labelling on the Android platform for creating branded application packages. The support for other platforms will follow.
Creating White Labelled Android Install Packages Using APK Tool
Once the application has been developed, the project can be packaged as an Android application package (APK file).
Before starting the packaging, remember to go though the following check list:
- Make sure you have selected an application name that is unique.
- Choose a label for it. This label will be displayed under the application logo when installed on the Android device.
- Decide on a unique application identifier. The de-facto standard is to use your web site URL in reverse order. For example if your web site is www.mywebsite.com, then the application ID prefix could be com.mywebsite. Then append the application name separated by a period (e.g. com.mywebsite.MyAppName).
- Prepare two square PNG application logo files with dimensions 48 pixels by 48 pixels and 96 pixels by 96 pixels.
- Design another PNG image to be used as the application's splash screen with dimensions 450 pixels in width by 350 pixels in height.
- To be able to use the white labelling tool that comes with BrightBuilder, you need to purchase a branding license from Bright Software. Contact Bright Software for purchasing one. You need a valid license with a serial number to be able to complete the packing process.
- Make sure you have an Internet connection when preparing the application package. BrightBuilder needs an authorization to produce the package.
BXP and BSP projects support the creating of Android application packages through the project's Create Android Install File... pop-up menu option.
On clicking on the menu option, the wizard screens will take you through the options.
Step 1 : The first step is to enter the application details. The above check list already explains how to prepare the data for this step.
Step 2 : In the second step simply specify your application icons.
Step 3 : The third step is where you specify the image for the splash screen. It must be a PNG image 450 pixels wide and 350 pixels high. Images with other dimensions can be used. However for best results, an image with the recommended dimensions needs to be used so that it does not look fuzzy or skewed because of scaling.
Step 4 : The final step is to enter the branding license details. Upon purchase, a unique serial number will be provided. This serial number must be entered in this field.
BrightBuilder requires an Internet connection to complete the packing process. If the serial number is not valid, then a message will be displayed accordingly.
Click on the Finish button to prepare the package. If all of the data entered are checked out OK and the serial number is valid, BrightBuilder will start the building process and display a message in the Output window as shown below.
When the application package has been successfully created, the following message will be displayed for you to open the folder where the APK file has been built and ready for use.
The APK package built can be distributed to your users to install on Android devices, and can also be submitted to Google Play for a distribution to a larger user base.