There's been a great deal of talk on our developer community about how to use Lithium Community with mobile apps. While responsive & hybrid app development are a great option, we heard loud and clear that it's tough to get up and running with a truly native mobile integration. There's just a lot to handle in terms of authentication, REST, notifications... not to mention the UI!
We listened, and we're pleased to announce the availability of the Lithium Community Android SDK beta program.
The Android SDK allows developers to quickly and easily integrate Lithium community with existing and new applications. Developers can get started quickly with the mobile-support UI or go deep with a fully-customizable API-backed integration.
Getting Started
We've tried to make getting the Android SDK up and running as easy as possible. Check out the SDK projects on Github, and follow the instructions to get started. Note that we've also cooked up an example project as both a starting point and a way to see how the libraries can work together in your app.
- Github : Lithium Android SDK Core
- GitHub : Lithium Android UI Components
- GitHub : Lithium Android SDK Example
About the SDK
The Android SDK and its related libraries are all available under the Apache 2.0 open source license. The SDK consists of the Lithium Android SDK Core and Lithium Android SDK UI Components libraries. Note that the UI components library is optional.
- Platform API Providers for Common Objects
- Custom API Providers for Lithium's v2 APIs
- Push notification support (Google Firebase)
- User Authentication with SSO support
- SDK UI (optional)
- SDK UI components (optional)
- Requires Android 4.4+ (API Level 19)
What's in the SDK UI?
The SDK UI (li-android-sdk-ui) is a support-focused take on delivering a minimal community UI for mobile applications. The UI is informed by Lithium responsive and customer best practices.
The UI includes the ability to to search, browse, post, respond to, and interact with forum content on the community. All of this is delivered on top of the li-android-sdk-core library.
We intend for some customers to use the UI out of the box, while others might use this as a jumping off point for more complex implementations. It's important to note that the UI is modular: customers can utilize aspects of this UI as individual components (see the li-android-sdk-ui wiki for more detail).
SDK UI Home : Home screen provided by the SDK, invoked in a parent application.
SDK UI Messages : View, kudo, and reply to messages.
SDK UI Search : Lets users search community boards for posts.
Participating in the Beta
Leave us a note here if you're interested in joining the beta, or just want to learn more about using Lithium with mobile apps. Just note that the SDK is designed for developers and partners with administrative access to Lithium community.
As part of the beta program, you'll have access to the Lithium Android development team. Reach out to us with feedback and ideas, and help make this product successful.
The Beta program runs till April 30, so we ask that you jump in early (and often).
Where do I ask questions and share feedback?
Right here on the Current Betas board. Simply add "[aSDK]" to the subject line to ask a question or provide feedback. We'd like to get feedback on the development experience - let us know what you like, what could be improved as well as anything about UI or customizations you created.
Licensing
The Lithium Community Android SDK and the Android Reference App are licensed under the Apache 2 Open source library.
Documentation
Lithium Community Android SDK Core Documentation
Lithium Community Android SDK UI Documentation
What about iOS?
We know that Android isn't enough!
Look for a similar iOS library in the months to come. For questions and comments on iOS capabilities, feel free to comment here or reach out to me directly.
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