When you enable a Pega Platform™ application in a mobile environment, you may encounter some issues that prevent you from successfully launching the mobile app, for example, a rejection from an app store. To avoid potential problems, familiarize yourself with the following guidelines.

• Previewing your application
• Uploading the certificate
• Generating an installation package
• Distributing your mobile app through app stores
• Excluding the geolocation functionality
• Updating your mobile app in app stores

Previewing your application

After you create a Pega Platform application, you can preview it before you build a mobile version of it, that is referred to as a mobile app. To preview the Pega Platform application, you use a native app that you download from the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store. This mobile app is intended to be used for testing purposes only and not for final distribution. For more information about previewing Pega Platform applications on mobile devices, see Pega Mobile Express and Pega Mobile Preview.

Uploading the certificate

When you build the mobile app in Pega Platform, you must create your own certificate set. Certificate sets gather all the keys and certificates that are needed to configure, build, and run an Android or an iOS mobile app, such as signing, provisioning, and push notification certificates. You obtain these keys and certificates from either the Google Developer Console or Apple Developer Portal, and upload them in Dev Studio. For more information about uploading and managing certificate sets, see Android certificate set and iOS certificate set.

Generating an installation package

Pega Platform generates installation packages that contain a complete mobile app that you can distribute and that users can install on their devices. You download an .apk file for Android or an .ipa file for iOS from the Channels and interfaces form in Dev Studio. For more information about configuring and building mobile apps, see Configuring a mobile app.

Distributing your mobile app through app stores

To make the mobile app available to end users, you can distribute it by using different methods. For example, you can distribute the mobile app among the general public by using app stores for different platforms.

Apple App Store

To submit the mobile app to the Apple App Store, consider the following information:

• Apple App Store must test and approve the mobile app before it can be published.
• The approval process can take up to a few days.

To grant the Apple App Store access to the mobile app, you must:

• Set up a server that hosts the Pega Platform application and make sure that it is up and running.
• Provide valid login credentials to the mobile app in iTunes Connect, in the App Review Information section.

For detailed guidelines, see the App Store Review Guidelines on the Apple Developer's Network.

Google Play Store

To submit the mobile app to the Google Play Store, the app must fulfill certain requirements. For details, see the Best practices section of the Android Developers website.

Additional information about submitting an app to an app store is available on numerous websites.

Excluding the geolocation functionality

Because of privacy concerns, the Apple App Store does not publish mobile apps that track user location without requesting permission. If the mobile app does not require geolocation tracking, you can exclude the geolocation tracking module when you build the mobile app. Follow these steps:

Updating your mobile app in app stores

You must upload new versions of the mobile app to the app store when you make changes to the Pega Platform application that require you to generate the distribution package again, for example:

• When you change the URL of your Pega Platform application
• When you change your Pega Platform application from an online-only application into an offline-enabled one
• When you add a function that uses a new native functionality of the mobile device

If you make changes that do not require that you generate the distribution package again in Pega Platform, such as general changes to the functionality or user interface, you do not have to submit a new version of the app to either the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.