Firebase Remote Config

Tested with Firebase version 10.29.0 (iOS)

Third party remote configuration provider integration is currently in private beta and will be available in the next major release of Appfigurate.

Using Appfigurate remote properties instead of Firebase APIs directly allows for the following:

• locally change Firebase remote configuration without affecting your entire customer base.

• compile time type safety - Appfigurate remote properties are typed, Firebase remote configuration is not.

• avoids hardcoding duplicated flag names throughout your app.

• deleting a remote configuration property from Firebase Console won't affect existing apps, they'll continue to use the default value provided in the reset method.

We assume you already have Appfigurate Library and Firebase integrated into your app with the following example remote properties created in the Firebase Console:

Add remote properties into your Configuration subclass

Update your configuration subclass to include your remote configuration properties. Provide default values for the properties in the overridden reset method. See also Supported property types.

Swift

Swift Configuration example

import Foundation
import AppfigurateLibrary

@objcMembers class MyConfiguration: APLConfiguration {
...
    @RemoteBoolProperty(remoteKey: "alwaysDarkMode", description: "Force dark mode to be always set")
    var alwaysDarkMode: Bool

    @RemoteStringPropertyEdit(remoteKey: "appTitle", description: "Title of application")
    var appTitle: String

    @RemoteIntPropertyEdit(remoteKey: "bookingDuration", description: "Duration (days) for reservation bookings")
    var bookingDuration: Int

    @RemoteDoublePropertyEdit(remoteKey: "fontSize", description: "Size of font throughout app")
    var fontSize: Double
...
    override func reset() {
        alwaysDarkMode = false
        appTitle = "Holiday finder"
        bookingDuration = 30
        fontSize = 13.0
    }
...
}

Objective-C

Objective-C Configuration header example

@import Foundation;
@import AppfigurateLibrary;

@interface MyConfiguration : APLConfiguration
...
@property(nonatomic, assign) BOOL alwaysDarkMode;
@property(nonatomic, strong) NSString* appTitle;
@property(nonatomic, assign) NSInteger bookingDuration;
@property(nonatomic, assign) double fontSize;
...
@end

Objective-C Configuration implementation example

#import "MyConfiguration.h"

@implementation MyConfiguration
...
REMOTE_BOOL_PROPERTY(alwaysDarkMode, @"alwaysDarkMode", @"Force dark mode to be always set");
REMOTE_STRING_PROPERTY_EDIT(appTitle, @"appTitle", @"Title of application");
REMOTE_INT_PROPERTY_EDIT(bookingDuration, @"bookingDuration", @"Duration (days) for reservation bookings");
REMOTE_DOUBLE_PROPERTY_EDIT(fontSize, @"fontSize", @"Size of font throughout app");
...
- (void) reset {
    self.alwaysDarkMode = NO;
    self.appTitle = @"Holiday finder";
    self.bookingDuration = 30;
    self.fontSize = 13.0;
}
...
@end

Kotlin

Kotlin Configuration example

package com.yourcompany.yourapp

import nz.co.electricbolt.appfiguratelibrary.annotations.RemoteBooleanProperty
import nz.co.electricbolt.appfiguratelibrary.annotations.RemoteDoublePropertyEdit
import nz.co.electricbolt.appfiguratelibrary.annotations.RemoteIntPropertyEdit
import nz.co.electricbolt.appfiguratelibrary.annotations.RemoteStringPropertyEdit

class MyConfiguration : nz.co.electricbolt.appfiguratelibrary.Configuration() {
...
    @RemoteBooleanProperty(remoteKey = "alwaysDarkMode", description = "Force dark mode to be always set")
    var alwaysDarkMode: Boolean = false

    @RemoteStringPropertyEdit(remoteKey = "appTitle", description = "Title of application")
    var appTitle: String? = null

    @RemoteDoublePropertyEdit(remoteKey = "fontSize", description = "Size of font throughout app")
    var fontSize: Double = 0.0

    @RemoteIntPropertyEdit(remoteKey = "bookingDuration", description = "Duration (days) for reservation bookings")
    var bookingDuration: Int = 0
...
    override fun reset() {
        alwaysDarkMode = false
        appTitle = "Holiday finder"
        bookingDuration = 30  
        fontSize = 13.0
    }
}

Java

Java Configuration example

package com.yourcompany.yourapp;

import nz.co.electricbolt.appfiguratelibrary.annotations.RemoteBooleanProperty;
import nz.co.electricbolt.appfiguratelibrary.annotations.RemoteDoublePropertyEdit;
import nz.co.electricbolt.appfiguratelibrary.annotations.RemoteIntPropertyEdit;
import nz.co.electricbolt.appfiguratelibrary.annotations.RemoteStringPropertyEdit;

public class MyConfiguration extends nz.co.electricbolt.appfiguratelibrary.Configuration {
...
    @RemoteBooleanProperty(remoteKey = "alwaysDarkMode", description = "Force dark mode to be always set")
    public boolean alwaysDarkMode;

    @RemoteStringPropertyEdit(remoteKey = "appTitle", description = "Title of application")
    public String appTitle;

    @RemoteDoublePropertyEdit(remoteKey = "fontSize", description = "Size of font throughout app")
    public double fontSize;

    @RemoteIntPropertyEdit(remoteKey = "bookingDuration", description = "Duration (days) for reservation bookings")
    public int bookingDuration;
...
    @Override
    public void reset() {
        alwaysDarkMode = false;
        appTitle = "Holiday finder";
        bookingDuration = 30;        
        fontSize = 13.0;
    }
...
}

Provide remote configuration values to Appfigurate Library when requested

Appfigurate Library needs to be able to read the current remote configuration values from Firebase. Copy and paste the following code into your app.

The defaultValue parameter in the callback is not used with Firebase. See the Apply default values for Firebase section below.

Swift

Swift example

APLFetchRemoteConfiguration { remoteKey, propertyType, defaultValue in
    if propertyType == .string {
        return self.remoteConfig.configValue(forKey: remoteKey).stringValue as NSObject
    } else if propertyType == .bool {
        return self.remoteConfig.configValue(forKey: remoteKey).boolValue as NSObject
    } else { // .int || .double
        return self.remoteConfig.configValue(forKey: remoteKey).numberValue as NSObject
    }
}

Objective-C

Objective-C example

APLFetchRemoteConfiguration(^NSObject* (NSString* remoteKey, APLRemotePropertyType propertyType, NSObject* defaultValue) {
    if (propertyType == APLRemotePropertyTypeString) {
        return [self.remoteConfig configValueForKey: remoteKey].stringValue;
    } else if (propertyType == APLRemotePropertyTypeBool) {
        return [NSNumber numberWithBool: [self.remoteConfig configValueForKey: remoteKey].boolValue];
    } else { // APLRemotePropertyTypeInt || APLRemotePropertyTypeDouble
        return [self.remoteConfig configValueForKey: remoteKey].numberValue;
    }
});

Kotlin

Kotlin example

Appfigurate.fetchRemoteConfiguration { remoteKey: String, propertyType: RemotePropertyType, defaultValue: Any? ->
    when (propertyType) {
        RemotePropertyTypeString -> this.remoteConfig.getString(remoteKey)
        RemotePropertyTypeBoolean -> this.remoteConfig.getBoolean(remoteKey)
        RemotePropertyTypeInt -> this.remoteConfig.getLong(remoteKey)
        RemotePropertyTypeDouble -> this.remoteConfig.getDouble(remoteKey)
    }
}

Java

Java example

Appfigurate.fetchRemoteConfiguration((remoteKey, propertyType, defaultValue) -> {
    return switch (propertyType) {
        case RemotePropertyTypeString -> this.remoteConfig.getString(remoteKey);
        case RemotePropertyTypeBoolean -> this.remoteConfig.getBoolean(remoteKey);
        case RemotePropertyTypeInt -> this.remoteConfig.getLong(remoteKey);
        case RemotePropertyTypeDouble -> this.remoteConfig.getDouble(remoteKey);
    };
});

Apply default values to Firebase

Apply default values to Firebase using the values you set in the reset method of your configuration subclass. The default values are used by Firebase when the remote configuration has not yet been received.

Swift

The APLConfiguration class has a method remoteDefaults which provides a Dictionary of all the remote configuration property default values that were set in your overridden reset method.

Swift example

FirebaseApp.configure()
self.remoteConfig = RemoteConfig.remoteConfig()
...
// add the following line
self.remoteConfig.setDefaults(APLConfiguration.shared().remoteDefaults())

Objective-C

The APLConfiguration class has a method remoteDefaults which provides a NSDictionary* of all the remote configuration property default values that were set in your overridden reset method.

Objective-C example

[FIRApp configure];    
self.remoteConfig = [FIRRemoteConfig remoteConfig];
...
// add the following line
[self.remoteConfig setDefaults: [[APLConfiguration sharedConfiguration] remoteDefaults]];

Kotlin

The nz.co.electricbolt.appfiguratelibrary.Configuration class has a method remoteDefaults which provides a HashMap<String,Object> of all the remote configuration property default values that were set in your overridden reset method.

Kotlin example

FirebaseApp.initializeApp(this)
this.remoteConfig = FirebaseRemoteConfig.getInstance()
...
// add the following line
this.remoteConfig.setDefaultsAsync(Configuration.sharedConfiguration().remoteDefaults())

Java

The nz.co.electricbolt.appfiguratelibrary.Configuration class has a method remoteDefaults which provides a HashMap<String,Object> of all the remote configuration property default values that were set in your overridden reset method.

Java example

FirebaseApp.initializeApp(this)
this.remoteConfig = FirebaseRemoteConfig.getInstance()
...
// add the following line
this.remoteConfig.setDefaultsAsync(Configuration.sharedConfiguration().remoteDefaults());

Notify Appfigurate Library when Firebase has received remote configuration values

We need to tell Appfigurate Library that Firebase has received remote configuration, so that it can keep your Configuration subclass remote properties in sync.

Swift

Add a call to APLFlushRemoteConfiguration in any existing Firebase Remote Config activate(completion:) blocks (inside fetch(completionHandler:) and optionally addOnConfigUpdateListener(remoteConfigUpdateCompletion:).

Swift example

self.remoteConfig.fetch { status, error in
    if status == .success {
        self.remoteConfig.activate { changed, error in
            ...
            APLFlushRemoteConfiguration() // add this line
        }
    }
}

Objective-C

Add a call to APLFlushRemoteConfiguration in any existing Firebase Remote Config activateWithCompletion: blocks (inside fetchWithCompletionHandler: and optionally addOnConfigUpdateListener:).

Objective-C example

__weak __typeof__(self) weakSelf = self;
[self.remoteConfig fetchWithCompletionHandler: ^(FIRRemoteConfigFetchStatus status, NSError* error) {
    if (status == FIRRemoteConfigFetchStatusSuccess) {
        __typeof__(self) strongSelf = weakSelf;
        [strongSelf.remoteConfig activateWithCompletion: ^(BOOL changed, NSError* error) {
             ...
             APLFlushRemoteConfiguration(); // add this line
        }];
}];

Kotlin

Add a call to Appfigurate.flushRemoteConfiguration in your existing Firebase Remote Config fetchAndActivate block:

Kotlin fetch and activate example

this.remoteConfig.fetchAndActivate().addOnCompleteListener(this) { task ->
    if (task.isSuccessful()) {
        ...
        Appfigurate.flushRemoteConfiguration() // add this line
    }
}

If you are optionally using Firebase Remote Config real time updates add a call to Appfigurate.flushRemoteConfiguration in your existing addOnConfigUpdateListener block:

Kotlin real time update example

this.remoteConfig.addOnConfigUpdateListener(object : ConfigUpdateListener {
    override fun onUpdate(configUpdate: ConfigUpdate) {
        FirebaseRemoteConfig.getInstance().activate().addOnCompleteListener {
            ...
            Appfigurate.flushRemoteConfiguration() // add this line
        }
    }
    ...
})

Java

Add a call to Appfigurate.flushRemoteConfiguration in your existing Firebase Remote Config fetchAndActivate block:

Java fetch and activate example

this.remoteConfig.fetchAndActivate().addOnCompleteListener(this, task -> {
    if (task.isSuccessful()) {
        ...
        Appfigurate.flushRemoteConfiguration(); // add this line
    }
});

If you are optionally using Firebase Remote Config real time updates add a call to Appfigurate.flushRemoteConfiguration in your existing addOnConfigUpdateListener block:

Java real time update example

this.remoteConfig.addOnConfigUpdateListener(new ConfigUpdateListener() {
    @Override public void onUpdate(ConfigUpdate configUpdate) {
        this.remoteConfig.activate().addOnCompleteListener(task -> {
            if (task.isSuccessful()) {
                ...
                Appfigurate.flushRemoteConfiguration(); // add this line
            }
        });
    }
    ...
});

Best practice and usage

Swift

Replace all calls to Firebase Remote Config configValue(forKey:):

if remoteConfig.configValue(forKey: "alwaysDarkMode").boolValue {
   ...

with the following:

if (APLConfiguration.shared() as! MyConfiguration).alwaysDarkMode {
   ...

Objective-C

Replace all calls to Firebase Remote Config configValueForKey:

if ([remoteConfig configValueForKey: @"alwaysDarkMode"].boolValue]) {
   ...

with the following:

if (((MyConfiguration*) [APLConfiguration sharedConfiguration]).alwaysDarkMode) {
   ...

Kotlin

Replace all calls to Firebase Remote Config getBoolean(), getLong(), getDouble(), getString()

if this.remoteConfig.getBoolean("alwaysDarkMode") {
   ...

with the following:

if ((Configuration.sharedConfiguration() as MyConfiguration).alwaysDarkMode) {
   ...

Java

Replace all calls to Firebase Remote Config getBoolean(), getLong(), getDouble(), getString()

if (this.remoteConfig.getBoolean("alwaysDarkMode")) {
   ...

with the following:

if (((MyConfiguration) Configuration.sharedConfiguration()).alwaysDarkMode) {
   ...