This month in review: February

In this post, we spotlight Bitrise's newest features and updates aimed at enhancing your mobile development workflow. Highlights include the automation of Google Play staged rollouts, the introduction of the Changelog page for up-to-date Bitrise news, and the launch of Utilization Insights for superior resource management. We also cover significant updates like stack removals and new integrations, including GitHub Enterprise Server support, aimed at streamlining your development process. 

Google Play automated staged rollouts

Recognizing developers' challenges in managing staged rollouts on Google Play, Bitrise Release Management has launched a feature that automates the scheduling and adjustment of staged rollout percentages. This new addition to the Release Management add-on aims to streamline the release management process by minimizing manual intervention required for managing staged rollouts.‍

Read more about this here. 

Changelog: Now available in-app and on the website

Bitrise now offers a Changelog page for the latest product news and updates, accessible via the website's top navigation, and directly in the Bitrise app. This feature provides a centralized list of new features, updates, and deprecations, ensuring users never miss important changes. Updates are grouped by publication date, with new entries highlighted since your last visit. The Changelog also integrates with the Bitrise app, where logged-in users can see notifications of new updates through a red dot indicator and access details via a Changelog Drawer. This streamlined approach keeps you informed and engaged with minimal effort.

Visit the Changelog page here. 

Utilization Insights

Utilization Insights, an advanced feature within the Bitrise Insights add-on available to users on Enterprise plans, enhances resource management through detailed dashboards that cover infrastructure usage, workflow count history, concurrency usage trends, build queue history, and billing cycle summaries. It aims to avoid billing surprises, streamline resource allocation, and improve CI/CD efficiency by providing comprehensive visibility into how resources are utilized. Key features include tracking build minutes by machine type, workflow runs, network egress, artifact storage, historical insights on concurrencies, and build queues. The billing cycle summary aligns with finance cycles to help forecast and manage budgets effectively, offering a clear view of expenditures and budget utilization with a simplified billing cycle view and detailed utilization reports. 

Read more about this here. 

Upcoming stack removals (March 2024)

We have identified several stacks that are now deprecated and scheduled for removal. While you can still run builds on these stacks, we strongly recommend transitioning your workflows to the updated stacks listed below to avoid disruptions. Here's a summary of the deprecated stacks and their scheduled removal dates, along with the stack we will automatically migrate you if you don't take any action:

While your builds can still run on the deprecated stacks until their scheduled removal date, we encourage migrating your workflows to the recommended stacks at your earliest convenience. This ensures your projects remain compatible and benefit from the latest features and improvements. Specifically, moving to the most recent version 15.x stack will ensure your projects remain compatible, benefit from the latest features and improvements, and better future-proof your builds. Reach out to the customer support team for assistance. 

Follow stack updates on Bitrise Stacks.

Release Management: Slack/Teams webhook URL pre-validation 

Bitrise has introduced a new feature in Release Management that validates Slack and Teams webhook URLs as soon as they're provided in your release or release preset. This ensures immediate notification of any integration issues with Slack or Teams, eliminating the delay in discovering problems until an automated status update fails to send, such as after Apple approves your store submission. This update streamlines the release process, ensuring smoother communication channels for your project's release management activities.

Public apps can now use code signing info in their PR builds

Developers of public apps can now utilize code signing information directly within their Pull Request (PR) builds, enabling the generation and testing of signed builds (such as IPAs and APKs) on real devices straight from PRs. This update facilitates faster development cycles and enhances collaboration by removing the need for manual code signing. To get started, navigate to App Settings > Code Signing in your project, and select “Expose” to use this feature—though it's advised to proceed with caution to safeguard sensitive information. A video guide is available for detailed instructions. 

Watch the video.

Workflow Editor: new-look navigation

The Workflow Editor has undergone a design update to enhance usability. The navigation, previously located at the top of the screen, has been shifted to the left side, incorporating the main Bitrise menu bar for easier access and navigation. We're excited for you to experience these changes and welcome your feedback.

Give feedback here. 

HTML Report Viewer - view files with relative links directly in Bitrise

Bitrise launched the HTML Report Viewer to improve how you access build reports. This feature complements the recent enhancements to Xcode test reports by enabling you to directly view HTML reports, including performance and code coverage, within the Bitrise user interface. With the HTML Report Viewer, there's no need to download and unpack HTML files for review outside of Bitrise. It ensures that the reports' original styling, navigation menus, and links are fully functional and preserved. This makes accessing and analyzing build reports more straightforward and efficient. 

Read the guide. 

New integration: GitHub Enterprise Server (self-hosted)

For users of GitHub Enterprise Server (GHES), managing projects on Bitrise has become significantly simpler with the launch of a dedicated integration. This new feature, centered around a GitHub App, allows GHES customers to manage their bitrise.yml configuration file directly within their GHES repository. This streamlines workflows by eliminating the need for previous workarounds, such as using Bitrise-run to access the bitrise.yml stored in your repository. This initial release marks the start of more seamless integration for GHES users on Bitrise, promising more straightforward project management. 

Read the guide. 

Build Triggers: Disable builds for draft pull requests

We recently released a new control on the Triggers page of the Workflow Editor that allows you to prevent builds from running when a draft pull request is opened or updated. Draft PRs are your playground. They're for tinkering, experimenting, and getting early feedback without tripping the "merge now!" alarm. Builds will continue to trigger for draft PRs until you toggle “Trigger builds for draft pull requests” to the off position. 

Read the blog here. 

New enhancements for Bitrise Build Cache

Users can easily integrate Bitrise Build Cache into their current Bitrise workflows as well as those from other Continuous Integration (CI) providers. Remarkable improvements have been noted in build durations, with open-source Gradle and Bazel applications on CircleCI experiencing reductions of 72% and 83% respectively. Additionally, Bitrise has updated its Build Cache insights to provide deeper insights into cache performance over time. 

Read the blog here. 

Step updates

• ‍Ionic archive v2.3.2 ‍
• Activate Bitrise Build Cache Add-On for Gradle v2.1.0‍
• Xcode Archive & Export for iOS v5.1.1 ‍
• Set Xcode Project Build Number v2.0.2‍
• Git Clone Repository v8.2.0‍
• Deploy to Bitrise‍
• Update GitOps repository v1.1.7‍
• Certificate and profile installer v1.11.3‍
• Activate SSH key (RSA private key) v4.1.1‍
• Script Runner v0.9.4
• Set Java version v1.2.1‍
• Save Gradle Cache v1.2.0
• Save Cache v1.2.0‍
• Restore Gradle Cache v2.1.0
• Restore NPM Cache v2.1.0‍
• Restore Cache v2.2.0
• Save Cache v1.2.0‍
• Generate Xcode test report html v1.1.0.