OTA Engine & Server-Driven UI [EXPERIMENTAL]

The Fluxy OTA (Over-The-Air) Engine enables you to modify your application's UI, layouts, and even basic logic in real-time without requiring a new store submission.

Architecture

The engine works by fetching a JSON Manifest from your remote server, parsing it through the FluxyRenderer, and swapping components dynamically using the Atom/Molecule Swap pattern.

1. Server-Driven UI (SDUI)

SDUI allows you to send a UI definition over the wire. This is perfect for home-screen promotions, emergency banners, or A/B testing variations.

Rendering a Remote View

Use the FxRemoteView widget to create a placeholder that hydrates from the server.

FxRemoteView(
  url: "https://api.myapp.com/v1/layout/seasonal-banner",
  loading: Fx.loader.shimmer(height: 100),
  error: (err) => Fx.text("Offline Content"),
)

Manifest Schema Example

{
  "type": "box",
  "style": { "padding": 24, "bg": "slate.900", "radius": 20 },
  "children": [
    {
      "type": "text",
      "data": "Flash Sale!",
      "style": { "fontSize": 20, "bold": true, "color": "white" }
    },
    {
      "type": "button",
      "label": "Claim Now",
      "action": "navigate:/offers/flash-sale"
    }
  ]
}

2. Dynamic Actions

The OTA engine can trigger local application navigation and event logic through the action parser.

• navigate:/path: Pushes a local route.
• toast:message: Triggers an Fx.toast.
• event:name: Log a custom event to Fx.analytics.

3. Atomic Updates

You can update the entire application state by calling the main Fx.platform.ota.update() method during the splash or background sync.

Future<void> checkForUpdates() async {
  await Fx.platform.ota.update("https://cdn.myapp.com/latest_v2.json");
  // The app will now use the new manifest for all RemoteViews
}

4. Remote Plugin Kill-switch

The OTA engine provides critical production safety. You can remotely disable specific platform modules via the manifest disabled_plugins array to instantly neutralize production crashes without waiting for a store update.

{
  "version": "1.2.0",
  "disabled_plugins": ["fluxy_biometric"],
  "ui": { ... }
}

This will prevent the fluxy_biometric module from booting up on the next app launch.

Best Practices

1. Fallback UI: Always provide a local "fallback" child to FxRemoteView so your app remains functional even in "Isolated" (offline) networking modes.
2. Version Control: Include a min_version field in your JSON manifests to ensure new UI features don't crash older app versions.
3. Safety First: Use the disabled_plugins feature sparingly as an emergency "Big Red Button" for unexpected production regressions in native modules.
4. Cache Strategy: Fluxy's OTA engine uses Fx.storage internally to cache manifests. Updates only trigger when the remote etag or version hash changes.