Glideep Documentation

Glideep turns any responsive website into a native Android and iOS app — no coding required. You configure everything through the visual editor, click Build, and Glideep does the rest. This guide walks you through every feature from setup to publishing.

🚀 From zero to published in 5 steps

1. Create an account at app.glideep.com

   Sign up and choose a plan. All plans include a 14-day money-back guarantee.
2. Create a new app

   Enter your app name, the website URL you want to wrap, and optionally your Android package name and iOS Bundle ID.
3. Customize in the Visual Editor

   Set your icon, splash screen, colors, navigation, push notifications, and any other features you need. Every change shows instantly in the live preview.
4. Click Build

   Android builds take around 6 minutes and produce a signed APK + AAB. iOS builds take around 9 minutes and are automatically sent to TestFlight.
5. Publish to the stores

   Upload the AAB to Google Play Console, or promote your TestFlight build to App Store. Your app is live.

➕ Create Your App

Go to Dashboard → Create New App and fill in the details below. You can always change most of these later from the editor.

🎨 Visual Editor

After creating your app you're taken to the Visual Editor. It has two panels: a settings panel on the left where you configure everything, and a live phone preview on the right that updates as you make changes.

The editor is organized into sections — Splash, Branding, Navigation, Features, and so on. Work through each section and hit Save when you're done. Your settings are saved and will be used for the next build.

💫 Splash Screen

The splash screen is the first thing users see when they open your app, before the website loads. It usually shows for 2–5 seconds.

🖼️ Branding & App Icon

Your app icon is what users see on their home screen, in the app stores, and in notifications. Upload it from the editor's Branding section or the Icon Picker.

Theme mode

Choose whether the app uses Light mode, Dark mode, or automatically follows the user's device setting (System). Set this from the Branding section of the editor.

🧭 Navigation

Glideep lets you add two types of native navigation to your app. Both are optional — your website's own navigation always works inside the app regardless.

You can enable one or both navigation types at the same time. Configure them from the Navigation section in the Visual Editor.

🌐 WebView Settings

📋 Onboarding Screens

Onboarding screens are shown the first time a user opens your app. They're great for introducing key features or setting expectations before the main content loads.

🏠 Custom Home Screen

Optionally show a fully branded native home screen before the WebView loads on first launch. It's styled with your brand colors and can include a hero section, a CTA button, and product cards.

🔔 Push Notifications

Send push notifications directly to your app users. Glideep uses OneSignal — a free service — to deliver notifications on both Android and iOS.

Setup steps

1. Create a free account at onesignal.com

   Sign up and create a new app in OneSignal. Select "Mobile Push" and complete the Android (FCM) and iOS (APNs) setup steps they guide you through.
2. Copy your OneSignal App ID

   In OneSignal, go to Settings → Keys & IDs. Copy the App ID (it looks like a long code with dashes).
3. Paste it into Glideep

   In the Visual Editor under Push Notifications, paste your App ID and turn on push notifications. Save and rebuild.
4. Send your first notification

   Go to OneSignal → Messages → New Push. Write your message and send. All app users with notifications enabled will receive it.

Open a specific page from a notification

When sending a notification in OneSignal, add a URL in the notification's data field. When the user taps the notification, the app opens and loads that URL directly — for example, a product page, sale, or news article.

Topics (subscriber segments)

Define topics (like news, offers, updates) that users can subscribe to. You can then send targeted notifications only to users subscribed to a specific topic.

👆 Biometric Authentication

Require Face ID (iPhone) or Fingerprint (Android) before users can access the app or specific pages. Adds a native security layer without any code changes on your website.

🔗 Deep Links

Deep links let external sources (emails, QR codes, social media) open your app directly to a specific page instead of a browser. For example, a marketing email could contain a link that opens your app's checkout page directly.

🔑 Social Login

Add native login buttons for Google, Apple, and Facebook. The app handles the full sign-in flow natively and passes the user's session back to your website automatically.

Session & cookies

The app automatically preserves cookies and local storage between sessions, so users stay logged in just like they would in a browser. If your site uses token-based auth, you can configure a token sync URL that the app will use to restore the user's session on each launch.

💰 In-App Purchases

Charge users for subscriptions or one-time purchases through the native App Store and Google Play billing systems. Glideep supports two approaches:

↗️ External App Handling

When a user taps a link to WhatsApp, Instagram, Telegram, Google Maps, or another external app, Glideep opens the native app on the device instead of loading the URL inside the WebView.

Enable Prefer native apps in the WebView settings. These integrations are pre-configured and work automatically:

If the native app isn't installed on the user's device, the link falls back to opening in the device's browser.

📐 Screen Orientation

Control whether your app is portrait-only, landscape-only, or changes per page. For most apps, portrait works best. But for video players or games you may want landscape on specific pages.

⭐ App Rating Prompt

Show a native in-app rating dialog to encourage users to leave a review. The system controls exactly when and how the dialog appears — you set the trigger conditions.

🤖 Build for Android

Android builds require no extra credentials. Go to Dashboard → [your app] → Build and click Build Android.

What you get

Version numbers

Every app has a Version Name (like 1.0.0) and a Version Code (an integer like 1). When you publish an update to the Play Store, the Version Code must be higher than the previous submission. Update both numbers in the editor before triggering a new build for a store update.

🍎 iOS Credentials

To build for iOS, you need an active Apple Developer account ($99/year). Glideep uses App Store Connect API credentials to sign and upload your app without needing a Mac.

How to get your credentials

1. Go to App Store Connect

   Sign in at appstoreconnect.apple.com. Go to Users and Access → Integrations → App Store Connect API.
2. Create a new API key

   Click the + button to create a key. Name it anything (e.g. "Glideep") and set the role to App Manager. Download the .p8 private key file — you can only download it once, so save it safely.
3. Copy your Issuer ID and Key ID

   The Issuer ID is shown at the top of the API keys page. The Key ID is listed next to each key in the table.
4. Upload to Glideep

   Go to Glideep → iOS Credentials. Paste the Issuer ID and Key ID, and upload the .p8 file. These are stored securely and only used during your iOS builds.

Create the app in App Store Connect first

Before triggering your first iOS build, create the app record in App Store Connect. Go to My Apps → New App, and set the Bundle ID to exactly match what you entered in Glideep. Without this, the automatic TestFlight upload will fail.

📱 Build for iOS

Once your iOS credentials are saved and your App Store Connect app is created, go to Build → Build iOS. Here's what happens automatically:

1. Queued

   Your build is added to the CI pipeline. It usually starts within 1–2 minutes.
2. Building (~9 minutes)

   Flutter compiles your app on a Mac in the cloud. The process installs dependencies, configures signing using your App Store Connect credentials, and produces a signed IPA file.
3. Auto-upload to TestFlight

   The signed IPA is automatically uploaded to TestFlight using the App Store Connect API. It appears in your TestFlight dashboard within a few minutes.
4. Email & notification sent

   You receive an email and a push notification when the build finishes — whether it succeeds or fails.

📊 Build Credits & Status

Build statuses

Build credits per plan

One build = one triggered pipeline run. Builds that fail due to a server error on Glideep's side do not count against your limit. Unused builds do not roll over to the next period.

▶️ Publishing to Google Play

You need a Google Play Developer account ($25 one-time fee) to publish your app.

1. Create the app in Play Console

   Go to play.google.com/console → Create app. Fill in the app name, language, and type. Then complete the required sections: store listing, content rating, privacy policy, and app access.
2. Enroll in Play App Signing

   Go to Production → Setup → App integrity. Enroll in Play App Signing so Google manages your signing key. This is required for new apps.
3. Create a new release and upload the AAB

   Go to Production → Create new release. Upload the .aab file you downloaded from Glideep. Add release notes (what's new in this version).
4. Submit for review

   Click Review release → Submit. Google Play typically reviews new apps within 1–3 days. You'll receive an email when the review is complete.

🏪 Publishing to the App Store

After a successful iOS build, your app is automatically uploaded to TestFlight. From there you test it, then submit it to the App Store.

1. Find your build in TestFlight

   Go to appstoreconnect.apple.com → TestFlight. Your build appears within 5–10 minutes of the Glideep build finishing. Apple may take a few more minutes to process it before it's testable.
2. Test on a real device

   Install TestFlight on your iPhone, add yourself as an internal tester, and verify the app works correctly. Check key flows — login, navigation, purchases — before submitting to the store.
3. Create a new App Store version

   In App Store Connect → My Apps → [your app] → Distribution → Add Version or Platform. Set the version number and add release notes. You'll also need at least two sets of screenshots (6.5" and 5.5" iPhone sizes).
4. Select your TestFlight build

   On the version page, under Build, click "Select a build before you submit" and choose the build you just tested.
5. Submit for review

   Click Add for Review → Submit to App Review. Apple's review typically takes 1–3 business days. You'll get an email when it's approved.

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