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Browser Build Overview

Build Trio with Browser - Overview

Congratulations on choosing to build Trio using your web browser, aka "Browser Build." This documentation provides all the necessary instructions to complete your first browser build and to update future builds.

Requirements:

Getting Ready to Build

The first step in getting ready to build Trio using Browser Build is to review the above requirements. These are considered the minimum requirements for Building Trio using this method.

The second step is to read over and become familiar with the build instructions in their entirety. This includes familiarizing yourself with common Build Errors. Most mistakes you can make while building Trio have already been made, and our dedicated community has documented necessary fixes.

When you are ready to proceed, take your time, read carefully, and complete the tasks on each page. Read the top three boxes on each page; icons for those boxes are displayed below for reference.

Summary of Steps

Time Estimate (click to open/close)
  • If you have never built the Trio app (or any other OS-AID app) allow up to one week elapsed time
    • Request and get an Apple Developer Account: 1-2 days
    • Create and configure your GitHub account and repositories: 1-2 hours
    • Add Secrets (requires Apple Developer Account): 1 hour
    • Perform the GitHub Action steps: 30 minutes to 2 hours
  • If you have previously built the Trio app with Xcode you have fewer steps and are probably familiar with some of the concepts
    • Expect 1 to 4 hours
Summary for Browser Build with Links (click to open/close)

You may be overwhelmed at first with all the new terms and the many steps. Take a deep breath and work through the steps one at a time.

If you prefer watching your instructions, a narrated video is available:

Once you have your GitHub and Apple Developer accounts, the steps below are a high-level summary with links to the detailed TrioDocs section.

You can think of the first part as a scavenger hunt where you find or generate and save six Secrets. All six secrets should be saved in your Secrets reference file. You will need to be able to use them again.

Now it's time to use those Secrets to build the Trio app

FAQs (click to open/close)

Tips and Tricks

The steps to configure for building with a browser require a lot of focused attention. Take it in steps and take breaks as needed. Some people prefer a video. Some people prefer more detailed steps on a webpage and others only high-level steps.

How to Ask for Help

First time setup should take several hours, but if you are having trouble don't get frustrated:

Who should use a free GitHub Organization option (click to close/open)

There are several places where you see a recommendation to use a free GitHub Organization instead of building directly from your personal free GitHub account.

When you use an organization, you don't have to add 6 Secrets to each repository for every app you build. It can save a lot of time in the long run.

  • Even if you just build Trio and nothing else, using an organization is pretty easy and your build works just the same as using only a personal account - but there is no particular advantage (until you decide maybe you do want to build another app)
  • Who should definitely build with an organization:
    • Anyone who is a caregiver will want LoopFollow
    • Anyone who wants to use LoopFollow for the amazing alarm capabilties
    • Anyone who might want to try a different app such as xDrip4iOS

The Short Version

Complete instructions are found at this link for those comfortable with using GitHub and navigating the Apple Developer and Apple App Connect pages.

The Video Version

If you prefer watching your instructions, there is a narrated video of each step needed to build using a browser. This video was created for Loop version 3.2.x. So translate in your head - Trio instead of Loop and some steps are out-of-date.

Do not decide to uncheck the box for Near Field Communications in the Identifer for Trio - that is required to build.

Click in the comments for a full index of topics. If you have issues with a particular section, use the index to advance to the relevant part of the video. Subtitles are in English. You can choose a different language but the automatic translation feature may provide translations that are not completely accurate.

The Detailed Version

If you prefer seeing step-by-step instructions, those are provided too.

Some sections have a Section Summary for those who just want high-level steps without a lot of graphics. It also provides a high-level view of what you are going to do before you do it.

  • To view the summary, click on the summary header
  • If the summary is all you need, use the skip forward symbol () to skip to the next instruction
  • Or follow the detailed instructions below the summary

What if I get stuck?

  • First, take some time to read over the instructions to ensure you have understood all the steps.
  • Compare your screen's display with the images in the documents. Is there something different? Does yours have an error message? If so, does it guide you to the problem and solution?
  • If you are still stuck, you can seek assistance via Facebook or Discord.