Salesforce Mobile SDK 6.0.0 Consolidated Release Notes

Brett M. Nelson - Wednesday, December 27, 2017

A little while ago there was a new release for the Salesforce Mobile SDK and I thought it would be easier to have one place to see the changes rather than having to look in the different repositories.  So here's a combined list of changes Salesforce Mobile SDK 6.0.0

Android and iOS

Library Upgrades

We've updated React Native to version 0.50.4.

Login Enhancements

• In version 6.0, Mobile SDK enhances its authentication handling by adding identity provider services.
• Identity providers help known users avoid reentering their Salesforce credentials every time they log in to a Mobile SDK app.
• A Mobile SDK app can be used to provide authentication services to other Mobile SDK apps.
• We have created a template that can be used with forcedroid that demonstrates this functionality. This template can be found [here](https://github.com/forcedotcom/SalesforceMobileSDK-AuthTemplates).

SmartStore Enhancements

• Mobile SDK 6.0 introduces the ability to define your SmartStore schemas through configuration files rather than code.
• To define soups for the default global store, provide a file named globalstore.json.
• To define soups for the default user store, provide a file named userstore.json.

SmartSync Enhancements

• Beginning in Mobile SDK 6.0, you can define sync configuration files and assign names to sync configurations.
• You can use sync names to run, edit, or delete a saved sync operation.
• You can define “sync down” and “sync up” operations through configuration files rather than code.
• To define sync operations for the default global store, provide a file named globalsyncs.json.
• To define sync operations for the default user store, provide a file named usersyncs.json.

Mobile SDK Developer Tools

• The Developer Support dialog box is the launchpad for all available support screens and other useful actions.
• The dialog box presents only the options that are pertinent to the type of app you’re running.
• By default, these tools are available only in debug builds. However, you can use an API call to enable or disable the Developer Support screen at other times.

Other Technical Improvements

• Improvements to sample apps.
• Various bug fixes.

Android

OS Version Support

• Android Oreo (API 27) is fully supported in Mobile SDK 6.0.
• The minimum Android OS version we support has been bumped up from KitKat (API 19) to Lollipop (API 21).

IDE Support

• Android Studio 3.0 and Gradle 4.1 are fully supported in Mobile SDK 6.0.

Library Upgrades

• We've updated Cordova to version 7.0.0.

Login Enhancements

• Mobile SDK 6.0 allows developers to use Chrome custom tabs for authentication instead of the system WebView.

Mobile SDK Developer Tools

• During debugging on a desktop, you can access the home screen through a keyboard shortcut or gesture (⌘m keyboard shortcut or adb shell input keyevent 82).

Forcedroid Changes

• The forcedroid utility no longer creates hybrid or React Native apps. Instead, install forcehybrid and forcereact npm packages for those use cases.

iOS

OS Version Support

• iOS 11 is fully supported in Mobile SDK 6.0.
• The minimum iOS version we support has been bumped up from iOS 9 to iOS 10.

IDE Support

• Xcode 9 is the minimum version of Xcode required by Mobile SDK 6.0.

Library Upgrades

We've updated Cordova to version 4.5.4.

Mobile SDK Developer Tools

• During debugging on a desktop, you can access the home screen through a keyboard shortcut or gesture (^⌘z keyboard shortcut or Shake Gesture in the Hardware menu).

SDK Manager Classes

• The SalesforceSDKManager class welcomes several new SDK manager cousins that handle specific types of apps.
• This architecture now matches the analogous architecture in Mobile SDK for Android.

Other Technical Improvements

• Improvements to sample apps.
• Various bug fixes.

Deprecations

• SFAuthenticationManager and all its delegates are now deprecated and will be removed in Mobile SDK 7.0. Instead, use SFUserAccountManager for authentication related functionality.

Forceios Changes

• The forceios utility no longer creates hybrid or React Native apps. Instead, install forcehybrid and forcereact npm packages for those use cases.

Conclusion

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