Appwrite Android SDK

This SDK targets Appwrite server version 2.3.x as shipped on Appwrite Cloud. Self-hosted releases can lag behind Cloud — if you run an older self-hosted build, use a matching older SDK from previous releases when APIs differ.

Appwrite is an open-source backend as a service server that abstracts and simplifies complex and repetitive development tasks behind a very simple to use REST API. Appwrite aims to help you develop your apps faster and in a more secure way. Use the Android SDK to integrate your app with the Appwrite server to easily start interacting with all of Appwrite backend APIs and tools. For full API documentation and tutorials go to https://appwrite.io/docs

Installation

Gradle

Appwrite's Android SDK is hosted on Maven Central. In order to fetch the Appwrite SDK, add this to your root level build.gradle(.kts) file:

repositories {      
    mavenCentral()
}

If you would like to fetch our SNAPSHOT releases, you need to add the SNAPSHOT maven repository to your build.gradle(.kts):

repositories {
    maven {
        url "https://s01.oss.sonatype.org/content/repositories/snapshots/"
    }
}

Next, add the dependency to your project's build.gradle(.kts) file:

implementation("io.appwrite:sdk-for-android:29.1.0-rc.3")

Maven

Add this to your project's pom.xml file:

<dependencies>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>io.appwrite</groupId>
        <artifactId>sdk-for-android</artifactId>
        <version>29.1.0-rc.3</version>
    </dependency>
</dependencies>

Code shrinking (R8)

The SDK ships the R8 rules it needs, so no extra configuration is required. Your own classes that the SDK fills from JSON (the nestedType of documents, rows and preferences, and the payloadType of Realtime subscriptions) are read by Gson through reflection. Annotate them with @Keep so R8 keeps their fields:

@Keep
data class Note(val title: String, val body: String)

Push notifications

Background delivery

A subscription with background = true keeps delivering after the app is backgrounded, its process is killed, or the device restarts, until it is unsubscribed or push.close() is called (do this on sign-out). No service is kept running: a scheduled job and alarm wake the app every 15 to 60 seconds to reconnect, and the broker replays what was sent in between (retry = true). It reconnects with the credential saved at subscribe time, so use a session (client.setSession(...)), not a short-lived JWT.

While the app is not on screen, each message is also posted as a notification that opens your launch activity with Push.EXTRA_TOPIC and Push.EXTRA_PAYLOAD in its extras. It shows the title, body and image sent with createPush, falling back to the subscription's title and the raw payload for other messages. On Android 13 and later it needs the POST_NOTIFICATIONS permission: the first background subscription asks for it from the visible activity (the one Push is created with, else the next one to resume), or call Push.requestNotificationPermission(activity) to ask yourself. Set its icon with <meta-data android:name="io.appwrite.push.notification_icon" android:resource="@drawable/..." /> in your <application>. While the app is on screen your callback shows the message, so no notification is posted unless the subscription passes notifyInForeground = true. To handle messages that arrive while no callback is listening in code, subclass PushReceiver and declare it with the io.appwrite.push.MESSAGE action (see its docs).

Delivery while the app is closed

Messages sent while the app is closed arrive at the next scheduled wake-up. While the device is awake that is about every 15 seconds, or about every 60 seconds once exact alarms are allowed; without exact alarms the wake-ups are inexact, so battery saver can defer them further. In Doze (screen off and idle for a while) Android limits background alarms, exact ones included, to about one every nine minutes, so a closed app can take several minutes to receive a message: allowing exact alarms makes wake-ups punctual, it does not lift Doze. For immediate delivery, also in Doze, use push.setForeground(true) (see below).

The SDK uses exact alarms on its own whenever the app may schedule them. To allow it:

1. Declare the permissions in your app's AndroidManifest.xml. Both are optional and subject to Google Play policy: SCHEDULE_EXACT_ALARM needs a declaration in the Play Console, and USE_EXACT_ALARM is reserved for alarm, clock and calendar apps (the SDK does not use it).

   <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.SCHEDULE_EXACT_ALARM" />
   <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.REQUEST_IGNORE_BATTERY_OPTIMIZATIONS" />

2. On Android 13 and later the user has to allow exact alarms, under Settings > Apps > Special app access > Alarms & reminders. Android 12 grants a declared SCHEDULE_EXACT_ALARM automatically, and older versions need nothing. Check with Push.backgroundStatus(context): when bestEffort is true, explain why to the user, then from a user action open that screen with Push.requestExactAlarms(context), or ask for the battery-optimisation exemption with Push.requestIgnoreBatteryOptimizations(context). Both return false when there is nothing to ask, including when the permission is not declared. The SDK never opens these screens on its own.

If the user force-stops the app (Settings > Force stop, and on some devices swiping it away from recents), Android cancels its alarms and jobs: nothing is delivered until the app is opened again, and the broker then replays what was sent meanwhile.

For immediate delivery even after a kill and during Doze, call push.setForeground(true) from the foreground: it adds a foreground service with a quiet ongoing notification. If you never enable it, you can remove the service from your merged manifest, so the Play Console does not ask you to declare it:

<service android:name="io.appwrite.services.PushService" tools:node="remove" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.FOREGROUND_SERVICE_REMOTE_MESSAGING" tools:node="remove" />

Opening a tapped notification

Read the data sent with createPush when the user taps a background notification:

// The tap that launched the app (reported once, so call it at startup).
push.getInitialNotification()?.let { openSale(it.data["saleId"]) }

// Taps while the app is running, including in the background.
val stop = push.onNotificationOpened { opened -> openSale(opened.data["saleId"]) }

A tap made while nothing listens is kept for getInitialNotification(). The tap intent still carries Push.EXTRA_TOPIC and Push.EXTRA_PAYLOAD for apps that read their activity's intent.

Getting Started

Add your Android Platform

To initialize your SDK and start interacting with Appwrite services, you need to add a new Android platform to your project. To add a new platform, go to your Appwrite console, select your project (create one if you haven't already), and click the 'Add Platform' button on the project Dashboard.

From the options, choose to add a new Android platform and add your app credentials.

Add your app name and package name. Your package name is generally the applicationId in your app-level build.gradle file. By registering a new platform, you are allowing your app to communicate with the Appwrite API.

Registering additional activities

In order to capture the Appwrite OAuth callback url, the following activity needs to be added to your AndroidManifest.xml. Be sure to replace the [PROJECT_ID] string with your actual Appwrite project ID. You can find your Appwrite project ID in your project settings screen in the console.

<manifest>
    <application>
        <activity android:name="io.appwrite.views.CallbackActivity" >
            <intent-filter android:label="android_web_auth">
                <action android:name="android.intent.action.VIEW" />
                <category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT" />
                <category android:name="android.intent.category.BROWSABLE" />
                <data android:scheme="appwrite-callback-<PROJECT_ID>" />
            </intent-filter>
        </activity>
    </application>
</manifest>

Init your SDK

Initialize your SDK with your Appwrite server API endpoint and project ID, which can be found in your project settings page.

import io.appwrite.Client
import io.appwrite.services.Account

val client = Client(context)
  .setEndpoint("https://<HOSTNAME_OR_IP>/v1") // Your API Endpoint
  .setProject("<PROJECT_ID>") // Your project ID
  .setSelfSigned(true) // Remove in production

Before starting to send any API calls to your new Appwrite instance, make sure your Android emulators has network access to the Appwrite server hostname or IP address.

When trying to connect to Appwrite from an emulator or a mobile device, localhost is the hostname of the device or emulator and not your local Appwrite instance. You should replace localhost with your private IP. You can also use a service like ngrok to proxy the Appwrite API.

Make Your First Request

Once your SDK object is set, access any of the Appwrite services and choose any request to send. Full documentation for any service method you would like to use can be found in your SDK documentation or in the [API References](https://appwrite.io/docs) section.

// Register User
val account = Account(client)
val response = account.create(
    ID.unique(),
    "email@example.com",
    "password",
    "Walter O'Brien"
)

Full Example

import io.appwrite.Client
import io.appwrite.services.Account
import io.appwrite.ID

val client = Client(context)
  .setEndpoint("https://<HOSTNAME_OR_IP>/v1") // Your API Endpoint
  .setProject("<PROJECT_ID>") // Your project ID
  .setSelfSigned(true) // Remove in production

val account = Account(client)
val user = account.create(
    ID.unique(),
    "email@example.com",
    "password",
    "Walter O'Brien"
)

Type Safety with Models

The Appwrite Android SDK provides type safety when working with database documents through generic methods. Methods like listDocuments, getDocument, and others accept a nestedType parameter that allows you to specify your custom model type for full type safety.

Kotlin:

data class Book(
    val name: String,
    val author: String,
    val releaseYear: String? = null,
    val category: String? = null,
    val genre: List<String>? = null,
    val isCheckedOut: Boolean
)

val databases = Databases(client)

try {
    val documents = databases.listDocuments(
        databaseId = "your-database-id",
        collectionId = "your-collection-id",
        nestedType = Book::class.java // Pass in your custom model type
    )
    
    for (book in documents.documents) {
        Log.d("Appwrite", "Book: ${book.name} by ${book.author}") // Now you have full type safety
    }
} catch (e: AppwriteException) {
    Log.e("Appwrite", e.message ?: "Unknown error")
}

Java:

public class Book {
    private String name;
    private String author;
    private String releaseYear;
    private String category;
    private List<String> genre;
    private boolean isCheckedOut;

    // Constructor
    public Book(String name, String author, boolean isCheckedOut) {
        this.name = name;
        this.author = author;
        this.isCheckedOut = isCheckedOut;
    }

    // Getters and setters
    public String getName() { return name; }
    public void setName(String name) { this.name = name; }
    
    public String getAuthor() { return author; }
    public void setAuthor(String author) { this.author = author; }
    
    public String getReleaseYear() { return releaseYear; }
    public void setReleaseYear(String releaseYear) { this.releaseYear = releaseYear; }
    
    public String getCategory() { return category; }
    public void setCategory(String category) { this.category = category; }
    
    public List<String> getGenre() { return genre; }
    public void setGenre(List<String> genre) { this.genre = genre; }
    
    public boolean isCheckedOut() { return isCheckedOut; }
    public void setCheckedOut(boolean checkedOut) { isCheckedOut = checkedOut; }
}

Databases databases = new Databases(client);

try {
    DocumentList<Book> documents = databases.listDocuments(
        "your-database-id",
        "your-collection-id",
        Book.class // Pass in your custom model type
    );
    
    for (Book book : documents.getDocuments()) {
        Log.d("Appwrite", "Book: " + book.getName() + " by " + book.getAuthor()); // Now you have full type safety
    }
} catch (AppwriteException e) {
    Log.e("Appwrite", e.getMessage() != null ? e.getMessage() : "Unknown error");
}

Tip: You can use the appwrite types command to automatically generate model definitions based on your Appwrite database schema. Learn more about type generation.

Working with Model Methods

All Appwrite models come with built-in methods for data conversion and manipulation:

toMap() - Converts a model instance to a Map format, useful for debugging or manual data manipulation:

val account = Account(client)
val user = account.get()
val userMap = user.toMap()
Log.d("Appwrite", userMap.toString()) // Prints all user properties as a Map

from(map:, nestedType:) - Creates a model instance from a Map, useful when working with raw data:

val userData: Map<String, Any> = mapOf(
    "\$id" to "123",
    "name" to "John",
    "email" to "john@example.com"
)
val user = User.from(userData, User::class.java)

JSON Serialization - Models can be easily converted to/from JSON using Gson (which the SDK uses internally):

import com.google.gson.Gson

val account = Account(client)
val user = account.get()

// Convert to JSON
val gson = Gson()
val jsonString = gson.toJson(user)
Log.d("Appwrite", "User JSON: $jsonString")

// Convert from JSON
val userFromJson = gson.fromJson(jsonString, User::class.java)

Error Handling

The Appwrite Android SDK raises an AppwriteException object with message, code and response properties. You can handle any errors by catching AppwriteException and present the message to the user or handle it yourself based on the provided error information. Below is an example.

try {
    var user = account.create(ID.unique(),"email@example.com","password","Walter O'Brien")
    Log.d("Appwrite user", user.toMap())
} catch(e : AppwriteException) {
    e.printStackTrace()
}

Learn more

You can use the following resources to learn more and get help

• 🚀 Getting Started Tutorial
• 📜 Appwrite Docs
• 💬 Discord Community
• 🚂 Appwrite Android Playground

Contribution

This library is auto-generated by Appwrite custom SDK Generator. To learn more about how you can help us improve this SDK, please check the contribution guide before sending a pull-request.

License

Please see the BSD-3-Clause license file for more information.