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Android Bridge (SFWidget)

Intro​

SFWebViewWidget is a new solution provided by Outbrain to integrate our Web-based solution for SmartLogic/Smartfeed in a native Android app.

The general concept for integrating the Outbrain Web-based solution in a native app - is to include SFWebViewWidget which is a WebView subclass that loads the SmartLogic feed in a Web format with a native bridge to pass messages from or to the native code.

Integration instructions​

You will need to register your app's Outbrain configuration once during the initialization of your app, before calling any other Outbrain method. You can do this by calling Outbrain’s register() method.

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Please make sure to follow the Getting Started guidelines before moving forward.

ScrollView Integration​

Load SFWidget in XML​

In the layout XML file, add the SFWidget to the bottom of your ScrollView:

<com.outbrain.OBSDK.SFWebView.SFWebViewWidget
  android:id="@+id/sf_widget"
  android:layout_width="match_parent"
  android:layout_height="wrap_content"
  outbrain:ob_widget_id="MB_1"
  outbrain:ob_installation_key="NANOWDGT01" 
/>

The widget ID and installation key attributes can be specified directly in the XML:

outbrain:ob_widget_id="YOUR-WIDGET-ID"
outbrain:ob_installation_key="YOUR-INSTALLATION-KEY"

Or in an Activity:

public class YourActivity extends AppCompatActivity {

    private SFWebViewWidget mSFWebViewWidget;

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);

        mSFWebViewWidget = findViewById(R.id.sf_widget);

        final ScrollView scrollView = findViewById(R.id.scroll_view);

        mSFWebViewWidget.init(
            scrollView,
            "http://mobile-demo.outbrain.com" // Article URL
        );
    }

    @Override
    public void onConfigurationChanged(Configuration newConfig) {
        super.onConfigurationChanged(newConfig);
        mSFWebViewWidget.onActivityConfigurationChanged();
    }
}

Load SFWidget in Code​

In order to provide your widget ID and Installation key from code, call to:

mSFWebViewWidget.init(
    scrollView,
    "http://mobile-demo.outbrain.com", // Article URL
    widgetID,
    installationKey
);
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Please note, the SFWebViewWidget configuration should be done only once per content page either in XML or in code.

Advanced – Support Dark Mode And More​

On screen load​

When you create the SFWidget in the onResume() method, you can use the advanced constructor to set the dark mode theme on the widget.

mSFSmartfeedWidget = new SFWebViewWidget(
        recyclerView,
        "http://mobile-demo.outbrain.com", // article url
        "MB_1", // widget ID
        1, // widget index (default is 0) - should be set only if there are multiple widgets on the same page)
        "NANOWDGT01", // installation key
        null, // sfWebViewClickListener (default is null)
        true); // darkMode (default is "false)"

On User Toggle​

If the user toggle darkMode (true/false) while on the screen - you can change the widget theme by calling:

mSFSmartfeedWidget.toggleDarkMode(darkMode);

RecyclerView Integration​

In your activity, initialize the RecyclerView and the mSFWebViewWidget, then pass it to your list adapter:

// use a linear layout manager
RecyclerView.LayoutManager layoutManager = new LinearLayoutManager(this);
RecyclerView recyclerView = findViewById(R.id.recycler_view);
recyclerView.setLayoutManager(layoutManager);

mSFWebViewWidget = new SFWebViewWidget(
    recyclerView,
    "http://mobile-demo.outbrain.com", // Article URL
    "MB_1", // WidgetID
    "NANOWDGT01" // Installation key
);

ArticleListAdapter listAdapter = new ArticleListAdapter();
listAdapter.setSFWidget(mSFWebViewWidget);
recyclerView.setAdapter(listAdapter);

In your list adapter:​

getItemCount​

@Override
public int getItemCount() {
    return ORIGINAL_RECYCLE_VIEW_SIZE + 1;
}

getItemViewType​

@Override
public int getItemViewType(int position) {
    switch (position) {
        case 0:
            return ARTICLE_HEADER_VIEW_TYPE;
        case 1:
        case 2:
        case 3:
            return TEXT_VIEW_TYPE;
        default:
            return SF_WIDGET_VIEW_TYPE; // Last item should be the SFWidget
    }
}

onCreateViewHolder​

@Override
public RecyclerView.ViewHolder onCreateViewHolder(@NonNull ViewGroup parent, int viewType) {
    LayoutInflater inflater = LayoutInflater.from(parent.getContext());
    View v;
    switch (viewType) {
        case TEXT_VIEW_TYPE:
            v = inflater.inflate(R.layout.article_text, parent, false);
            return new TextItemViewHolder(v);
        case ARTICLE_HEADER_VIEW_TYPE:
            v = inflater.inflate(R.layout.article_header, parent, false);
            return new ImageItemViewHolder(v);
        default:
            return new SFWebViewWidgetViewHolder(mSFWebViewWidget); // pass the SFWidget to SFWidgetViewHolder
    }
}

(Optional) Handle Click on Organic Recommendations​

The default behavior for handling clicks on recommendations is to open the recommendation content in an external browser (CustomTabsIntent).

Your activity should implement SFWebViewClickListener if you would like to override the default behavior for organic recs and instead navigate the user within the app to the article being clicked.

public class YourActivity extends AppCompatActivity implements SFWebViewClickListener {

Set the SFWebViewClickListener to SFWidget instance:

public interface SFWebViewClickListener {
    void onOrganicClick(String url);
}


mSFWebViewWidget.setSfWebViewClickListener(this);

Then you can get clicks on organic recommendations:

@Override
public void onOrganicClick(String url) {
    // navigate to the article from `url` inside your app
}

(Optional) Listen to WidgetRendered Event​

Read the instructions on this page

Support Orientation Changes​

In your Manifest file:

<activity
    android:name=".MainActivity"
    android:configChanges="orientation|screenSize">
</activity>

In your activity, override onConfigurationChanged:

@Override
public void onConfigurationChanged(Configuration newConfig) {
    super.onConfigurationChanged(newConfig);
    mSFWebViewWidget.onActivityConfigurationChanged();
}

Use Platforms API​

Starting v4.16.0 – publishers can use Outbrain platforms API solution via the Bridge SDK.

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Please make sure to consult with Outbrain account manager or GTO before moving forward with the integration. You should be familiar with platforms API concepts such as: portalUrl, bundleUrl, widgetId, etc, etc.

How to integrate?​

Make sure to set one of the following static params BEFORE calling init() on SFWebViewWidget

SFWebViewWidget.usingPortalUrl = true;
// or
SFWebViewWidget.usingBundleUrl = true;
// or
SFWebViewWidget.usingContentUrl = true;

if you use portalUrl or bundleUrl there is an additional mandatory static param you have to set which is the language, see:

SFWebViewWidget.lang = "en";

Lastly there is an additional optional static param publisher can use called psub, see below:

SFWebViewWidget.psub = "ABC";

Everything else should work the same - just pass the “bundleUrl or portalUrl or contentUrl” to “SFWebViewWidget.init()” method as the “URL” param. For example:

SFWebViewWidget.usingPortalUrl = true;
SFWebViewWidget.lang = "en";
mSFWebViewWidget.init(
            scrollView,
            "http://mobile-demo.outbrain.com" // portalUrl
        );

Remove Bottom Padding​

Outbrain Bridge SDK adds a default padding to the bottom of the WebView. If you want to remove it, you can implement the following method:

In the Activity which uses SFWebViewWidget implement the interface SFWebViewHeightDelegate:

int bottomPaddingForWidget(String widgetId);

For example:

@Override
public int bottomPaddingForWidget(String widgetId) {
    if (widgetId.equals("MB_2")) {
        return 0;
    }
}
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Important: make sure to set SFWebViewHeightDelegate BEFORE initilizing the widget:

SFWebViewWidget.setHeightDelegateWeakReference(this);
// then init the widget

Display Ads test mode​

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Display Ads test mode was added in SDK version 5.0.0

Display Ads test mode allows you to verify clicks on the Display Ads action buttons and make sure the clicks are handled as expected. Enabling test mode adds an extra card on the top of the feed with several button types. Here is the code snipped for enabling Display Ads test mode:

Outbrain.setDisplayTest(true) // Default value is `false`
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Please make sure to turn this setting off or remove this line completely before publishing a release.