App Clip, a new feature unveiled by Apple at WWDC20, allows users to access only a small part of an App without having to download the entire App. It’s called apple Applet. This article mainly introduces how to develop App Clip through APICloud.

1 Creating an Application

There are two ways to create App clips on APICloud. One can be created by logging in to APICloud and entering the development console, as shown in the figure below. Another can be created in the development tool APICloud Studio3.

Create in APICloud Studio3:

Ii Development and Debugging

App Clip uses the same APICloud development technology as the main App. The development process of App Clip is basically the same as the main App. You can use the official AppLoader or custom Loader to preview WiFi code synchronization or view it through cloud compilation.

Prepare the compilation certificate

Before compiling and installing the App Clip, you need to upload the compilation certificate on the Certificate page of the console. For p12 certificates, share the p12 certificate of the primary application. The App Clip application package name consists of the primary application package name plus a user-defined character string. For example, if the primary application package name is com.api.demo, the App Clip application package name can be com.api.demo. For details, see Creating an App ID and using the package name to create a Mobileprovision certificate.

Generally, you need to prepare a test certificate and a formal certificate respectively. The test certificate is used for installation and debugging during development, and the formal certificate is used for release to the App Store.

Install and start App Clip

After selecting the test certificate to compile, you can directly scan the TWO-DIMENSIONAL code for installation. After the App Clip is installed, the App icon is not displayed on the home screen of the mobile phone. Therefore, the App cannot be started on the home screen after the first installation. In this case, you can use either of the following methods.

1. Configure App Clips local experience, scan the QR code to start

To facilitate developers to test App Clip, Apple provides the App Clip Local Experience configuration in the Settings of iOS 14 mobile phone. Go to Settings – developer-local experience-Register Local Experience. Enter the URL address to be associated, the package name of App Clip, the title, subtitle, picture and other information displayed on the card, and save.

Generate a QR code for the URL associated with the previous step, and then start the QR code scanner in the mobile phone control center. After scanning the generated QR code, a card will be opened, on which the configuration information of the previous step is displayed. Click the view or open button to open the installed App Clip. After opening the App once, you can find the recently used App Clip in the App resource library on the mobile desktop. You can open it next time through the App resource library.

2. Display the application icon on the desktop

If the above configuration information is not easy, you can also configure the application icon in config. XML, so that you can directly click the icon to launch the application.

5 Publishing Applications

App Clip cannot be released alone, it needs to be submitted with the main App for AppStore approval. When you use the AppStore certificate to compile the main application in the APICloud background, you can select the associated App Clip. The compiled IPA package contains both the main application and the App Clip.

After the IPA containing App Clip is uploaded to App Store Connect, experience information related to App Clip can be set on the App Store Connect website, such as generating light App code and associated location. For details, see apple’s official Settings Light App Experience help document.

This is how to use APICloud to create and publish App Clip (Apple mini program). APICloud also supports the use of AVm. JS technology to develop multi-terminal applications, which can generate Android, iOS App, wechat mini program, HTML5 and other multi-terminal applications at the same time. Welcome to experience and exchange.