Introduction
In this article, you will learn how to create ionic 4 release build for the Android platform.
What is Ionic?
Ionic framework is the free, open-source toolkit for developing high-quality cross-platform apps for native iOS, Android, and the web—all from a single codebase. It allows us to develop UI using the famous frameworks e.g Angular, Vue.js, React, etc.
Setting up release build for Android platform
Steps 1 - Run “npm install” on the root directory
Steps 2 - Add android platform with the CLI:
ionic platform add android
Steps 3 - If you are working in a distributed development environment then make sure to install the required files. Run ionic cordova prepare command. it will Install platforms and plugins listed in “config.xml”.
ionic cordova prepare android
Steps 4 - Now navigate to platforms/android with the CLI :
cd platforms/android
Create/Copy release signing key store file under platforms/android folder Copy the created Key store file for android application if you already have one otherwise generate a key.store file with the CLI and answer all the questions:
keytool -genkey -v -keystore YourApp.keystore -alias YourApp -keyalg RSA -keysize 2048 -validity 10000
Follow the steps suggested in the documentation for Deploying to a Device.
Create/Specify release signing information
Steps 1 - Create a file with name “release-signing.properties” under “platforms\android” folder.
Steps 2 - Add below information to this file:
key.store=YourApp.keystore
key.store.password=<YourApp keystore password>
key.alias=YourApp
key.alias.password=<YourApp alias password>
Create build for application
Now go back to the root of your Ionic project with the CLI and build a release version:
ionic cordova build android --prod --release
If command run successfully then you will find release APK under – APP_Root_Folder\platforms\android\app\build\outputs\apk\release
Reset plugins and platforms
To install Or reinstall all cordova plugins In Package.json with Ionic, Run this command on windows command prompt with administrator privilege
rd plugins /d/s && rd platforms /d/s && ionic cordova prepare
Conclusion
There are the steps to create a build for ionic 4 application and then you can host your application on the Android store.