# Development Apps

The process of development and testing using the same package name that you would use for Live deployment can be challenging. Applications must manage existing and new subscriptions, they must also receive and handle webhooks for subscriptions and payments.

Additonally, you must manage multiple versions of your application in different stages of development, testing and deployment. To improve this process, we have implemented the possibility for developers to create a Development version of their live applications that they can publish and make changes to, while ensuring a seamless integration and deployment of your app using the Poynt Billing APIs.

Development applications are a simple variation of the package file that is uploaded to Developer Center and they serve as a safe development space for processes such as:

• Testing newly developed features
• Deploying significant app changes
• Implementing new technologies or architectures

# Application Setup

To create a Development App, you must create a dev variant of your application by creating a new terminal app in the developer center. Android Studio and Gradle provide a convenient way to manage multiple variants for your application.

1. To create a new build variant (e.g. package name: "com.example.myapp.dev"), you must open the build.gradle file in your project and add the initWith debug statement inside the buildTypes block:

dev {
	initWith debug
       	applicationIdSuffix ".dev"
}

2. Once you create and submit the test application using your .dev variant, you must create the corresponding billing plans for this application and submit it for review.

3. After your application is reviewed and approved by GoDaddy Poynt, it will be automatically approved and set to a live status.

   NOTE

   Note that this will enable your .dev application to show up only for the Test Merchant accounts used in developer devices.

4. When you are satisfied with your integration and testing, you must generate a release build with your live package name (e.g. “com.example.myapp”) and submit it for App Review as the live version of the application.

   TIP

   Please keep in mind that the appId and App credentials (RSA public key pair) for your live application will be different from the test application, and you will need to create the billing plans again for the live app.