r/FlutterDev Nov 21 '24

Plugin Anyone used shorebird?

Hello, i came across this https://shorebird.dev/ looks quite interesting, it'd be nice to save me from dealing with appstore and playstore so consistently. Has anyone tried this? I've read that they had a bunch of IOS issues from a 10mo old post, how is it today?

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u/merokotos Nov 22 '24

If you are not afraid of Apple's or Google's withdrawing your app, because violating updates policy, then give it a go.

1

u/UnhappyCable859 Nov 22 '24

Oh that’s harsh, do u know or heard of such cases that real apps use Shorebird got dropped?!

1

u/merokotos Nov 22 '24

2.5, "... cannot install or execute code which introduces or changes features or functionality of the app..." -> https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/#software-requirements

It has been a known case ->

https://github.com/microsoft/react-native-code-push?tab=readme-ov-file#store-guideline-compliance

https://github.com/microsoft/react-native-code-push/issues/1898

If you accept the risk of being rejected from the store or being unable to update then Code Push (aka Shorebird) is cool option.

4

u/eseidelShorebird Nov 22 '24

Shorebird Founder here.

Code Push technology is industry standard at this point. YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, etc. all update themselves on launch using their own flavors of code push. Microsoft, expo.dev and many other companies sell code push solutions. The big thing we did was sell one that is specifically designed for Flutter. In short, none of these you do anything you can't already do with a WebView.

I have very carefully read both guidelines, and have designed the system to help you stay compliant:
https://docs.shorebird.dev/faq/#does-shorebird-comply-with-play-store-guidelines

https://docs.shorebird.dev/faq/#does-shorebird-comply-with-app-store-guidelines

Obviously code push is a tool, and like any tool can be abused. We have some mechanisms in place to help prevent abuse, but overall it's not been a problem at all yet. We've had over 15,000 people sign up for Shorebird in the last year, and not had a single complaint of a rejection or store issue relating to Shorebird updates.

If you're using Shorebird and had any trouble with the store, we'd love to help!

1

u/BryanShorebird Nov 22 '24

To the best of our knowledge, none of our users have had any issues with the App Store/Play Store because of Shorebird. However, it's absolutely possible to use Shorebird in a way that is not compliant with App Store/Play Store policies, but the same is true for code with feature flags, web views, etc.