Transitioning from App Center to Bitrise: A Comprehensive Guide
Introduction
With the fast-paced demands of mobile application development, the tools and services developers and organizations rely on significantly impact your workflow, efficiency, and code quality. With Microsoft retiring its Visual Studio App Center , many developers are looking for robust, reliable alternatives that match and exceed the functionality previously offered. Enter Bitrise, the Mobile DevOps solution that stands out as a compelling choice for those ready to make the switch. This guide dives into why Bitrise is not just a replacement for Visual Studio App Center, but a comprehensive upgrade for your mobile app development needs.
Migrate today if you’re already a Bitrise user and benefit from our OTA and Release Management features. Sign up and get started.
Why migrate to Bitrise?
App Center was a good solution for developers due to its analytics and deployment capabilities. Transitioning to Bitrise, developers gain access to similar functionalities, such as Release Management , Bitrise Insights , alongside a public install page, amongst other things. Moreover, Bitrise offers a user-friendly interface, extensive iOS and Android app development support, over 400 ready-to-use build tasks, and a mobile-focused toolset designed specifically for mobile app development challenges. Here, we'll highlight our OTA and Release Management features, which are particularly relevant for those considering migration from Visual Studio App Center.
View upcoming features on our Public Roadmap , including a centralized artifact page and automated distribution to TestFlight testing groups and Google Play Console testing tracks .?
“Visual Studio App Center is scheduled for retirement on March 31, 2025. After that date it will not be possible to sign in with your user account nor make API calls. App Center will continue to be supported until March 31, 2025, with critical bug fixes and technical support.” - Visual Studio App Center retirement announcement .???
OTA App Deployment with Bitrise
Bitrise offers an integrated app deployment system tailored for Over-The-Air (OTA) distribution, allowing teams and stakeholders to easily access builds without needing a Bitrise account. This helps to efficiently archive and distribute apps and build artifacts, enhancing your DevOps processes. Some key features include:?
Release Management
If you’re a Bitrise user, and are using App Center only for distribution, you can use our Deploy to Bitrise.io Step to easily (smoothly ??) enable the public install page for your App. What's more, you can test drive Release Management for free. Release Management helps fast-track deployment by doing away with the complicated, chaotic, and disparate tool stacks of mobile app releases. Here are some of its benefits and capabilities.
Benefits of Release Management
Capabilities of Release Management?
Step-by-Step migration guide
The following guide is specific to non-Bitrise CI users. As mentioned above, Bitrise users can use our Deploy to Bitrise.io Step to enable the public install page for your app, alongside Release Management for deployments.
If you prefer a granular migration guide, please refer to Bitrise DOCS .
1. Setting up your Bitrise account
Sign up
Begin by signing up through email , GitHub , GitLab , or Bitbucket . This allows you to grant Bitrise access to your repositories.?
Setting up your workspace
Post-signup, Bitrise automatically creates your first Workspace—a hub for managing apps and team members. You can have multiple Workspaces and invite your team to join your workspace , given they have a Bitrise account.?
Adding your app
Adding an app connects a Git repository to Bitrise for cloning and building. This can be done via the web UI, where you'll define the app's privacy, repository source, and the branch to build. Bitrise scans your repository to auto-configure app settings, but manual setup is available if needed.
Utilizing webhooks and triggers
Webhooks enable automatic build triggers upon code changes, while Git Insights offers collaboration metrics. You can define specific events and branches to initiate builds, enhancing automation. Read more on:?
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Managing builds and workflows
Your first build starts automatically upon adding an app. Workflows, composed of Steps (script execution blocks), define the build process. Customize workflows using the Workflow Editor for tasks like cloning your repo, building your app, running tests , notifying developers , and more. Bitrise also offers Workflow recipes for common scenarios across different platforms. Read more:
Download our Masters of Efficiency cookbook: 50+ Workflow Recipes for peak performance.
Testing and deployment
Bitrise supports various testing methods, including unit and UI testing on real devices. After testing and building, deploy your app to stores like Google Play or the App Store, or use Release Management for a streamlined deployment process. Read more:?
2. Connecting to your code repositories
Connecting your GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket account with Bitrise enables seamless integration, granting Bitrise access to your repositories. This integration facilitates listing available repositories for new app additions, automating webhook registration for build triggers and Git Insights, and setting up SSH keys automatically. You can link accounts from all three Git providers to your Bitrise account either during the new app addition process or via your Profile settings. Note that Bitrise supports connecting one account per Git provider, but changing linked accounts is possible anytime. This guide covers both methods of connecting a Git provider account to Bitrise and outlines necessary disconnecting steps if needed.
3. Configuring your CI/CD Pipelines
Configuring a Bitrise Pipeline is currently achieved by editing the bitrise.yml file directly. While Workflows can be created and modified through the graphical Workflow Editor, Pipelines and Stages* need to be defined in YAML format. For detailed guidance with examples of configuration, refer to our Bitrise DOCS .?
*Stage: Stages are the top-level building blocks of Pipelines in Bitrise.
Key configuration steps
Optimizing workflows for better performance
Optimizing workflows can lead to significant time savings, especially for teams frequently running workflows. Antoine van der Lee, Lead iOS Engineer at WeTransfer, shared the following insights on making your Bitrise workflows more efficient. Read his full take .
Bitrise vs. the competition: Being mobile-first
Building for mobile apps poses distinct challenges, differing from web development. Developers must address fragmentation (device diversity), performance optimization within resource-constrained mobile environments, platform-specific features and APIs, UI design, app distribution, and lifecycle management—to name a few—to create top-notch, efficient apps. Here’s how Bitrise’s mobile-focus approach sets us apart.?
Conclusion
The shift from Visual Studio App Center to Bitrise represents a significant upgrade in your mobile app development process. With Bitrise, developers gain access to a more comprehensive, mobile-first DevOps environment designed to enhance workflow efficiency, improve code quality, and facilitate a smoother release management process. Visual Studio App Center users will specifically benefit from OTA app deployment and Release Management.?
Migrate today if you’re already a Bitrise user. Not a user yet? Sign up and get started.?
Lessons from the best collaborative environment, the orchestra, reveal universal truths about teamwork: collective excellence, mutual respect, so that success emerges from understanding members unique contribution.
6 个月It's important to note that while on AppCenter you paid a single fee and could have as many private apps as you wanted, Bitrise has a different pricing model. On Bitrise, you have to pay at least $79 per month for each app you want to migrate from your AppCenter account and you are limited to 2 apps (spending much more for the upper tier) For example, if you have 10 apps, even ones with small budgets (since not everyone is a large IT company), how much you need to implement them in Bitrise Bitrise does offer enterprise plans, but it's unlikely that you can maintain the same budget of €90 per month that you had in AppCenter. This is based on the information provided by the Bitrise sales representative I spoke with, but please let me know if I'm missing something or if there's any additional context to consider.
Senior Software Engineer with a focus on Azure DevOps & Application Relocations at Blackbaud.
7 个月Thanks Bitrise! I also found your original blog post here: https://bitrise.io/blog/post/transitioning-from-app-center-to-bitrise-a-comprehensive-guide . It looks like the exported version here on LinkedIn might need all of the links added back in?