How we work with third parties
Written by Harry Phillips
Updated at November 11th, 2024
Table of Contents
At Pugpig, we prioritise integrating with best-in-class third-party vendors to enhance the functionality of Pugpig Bolt. These integrations extend the capabilities of our platform by incorporating services such as Airship for push notifications and Facebook for conversion tracking. We've partnered with a wide range of vendors across our app portfolio to meet various customer needs.
Productised Integrations
The following integrations are included as part of the Pugpig product suite. While you will need an account and subscription with each provider, there are no additional costs for enabling these integrations through Pugpig.
- Push notifications and in-app messaging
- Analytics
- Advertising
- Consent and privacy management
- Comments
- Puzzles
Authentication Integrations
We have extensive experience with numerous authentication platforms. If you are looking to integrate with one of our supported authentication providers, any other well-known subscription systems, or an internal subscription service, please reach out to us at support@pugpig.com. If we've not already encountered your requested platform these integrations are usually facilitated through our Pugpig Authentication Setup Pack.
We have previously integrated with the following authentication platforms:
- Abacus ADvance
- Affino
- Air Business
- ArcXP
- Atypon
- Auth0
- Auth X
- Beehiiv
- Bluebird
- CDS
- Customer IO
- Dovetail
- Engine Shed
- ESCO
- Evolok
- Gigya
- Keap (Previously Infusionsoft)
- Myriad
- Oak
- Oauth
- Palmcoast Data
- Pelcro
- Piano
- QSS
- Sailthru
- Salesforce
- Shopify
- Tinypass
- WooCommerce
- Zephr (Previously Blaize)
Integration types
Productised Integrations
These are third-party integrations that we maintain and update at no additional cost. We ensure support for recent versions and provide ongoing updates as part of the Pugpig product suite.
You maintain control of your account with the provider and manage your relationship with them. Simply provide us with the necessary API keys, and we’ll activate the service as part of a starter pack.
Custom Integrations
These integrations are provided on request and are charged to the client. Unlike productised integrations, ongoing maintenance and updates are billable.
If enough customers request a particular custom integration, we may consider adopting it as a productised integration, in which case Pugpig will take over the maintenance and updates.
For any custom integration requests, please email us at support@pugpig.com. We will provide a detailed estimate.
Integration methods
Integrations are also categorized by their implementation method.
Server-Side Integrations
These integrations do not require changes to the native app code, making them easier to implement. However, an app update might still be necessary depending on the integration. Examples include:
- Authentication
- Comments in articles
- Puzzles or other content features
SDK Integrations
SDK (Software Development Kit) integrations require modifications to the native app code, as well as updates to our core iOS, Android, or Web platforms, and your specific app. Server-side configuration may also be required. These integrations fall into three categories:
- Push Notifications
- Analytics
- Consent Management
Custom native SDKs not of those types, such as advertising or content recommendation services are currently not supported. That said, we're usually able to integrate these services without requiring the native SDK, instead using a JS integration or similar.
Supported SDK formats
iOS SDKs
We only support third-party code integration using Apple’s officially supported formats:
- Swift Packages (SPM)
- XCFrameworks
We currently support integrations with over 30 third-party SDKs using these formats.
Why We Don’t Support .framework Files
Bare .framework files are incompatible with simulators on Apple Silicon Macs, which is why Apple introduced XCFrameworks.
Why We Don’t Support CocoaPods
We prefer Apple’s officially supported distribution mechanisms. CocoaPods has never been officially supported by Apple and appears to be in decline. We believe SPM (Swift Package Manager) is the future for managing dependencies on iOS.
For more information, we recommend watching these sessions from WWDC 2019:
Android SDKs
We prefer integrating libraries as external dependencies. Ideally, these dependencies should be available on one of the standard Android repositories. We also support the integration of stand-alone library formats, such as:
- AAR
- JAR
We can accommodate necessary changes to the app manifest or Gradle files as part of the integration.
Privacy Compliance
iOS Privacy Manifests
From 1 May 2024, Privacy Manifest files (PrivacyInfo.xcprivacy) will be mandatory for all third-party integrations. We require any new integrations to provide these files upfront. For existing integrations, third parties must supply privacy manifests as soon as possible. As part of our ongoing product maintenance, we ensure that all supported integrations comply with privacy requirements.
If you have a custom integration, contact us at support@pugpig.com to discuss compliance and next steps.
For further details, we recommend vendors refer to:
- Privacy Manifest Files Documentation
- WWDC 2023 Privacy Manifest Session
- Required Reasons API Documentation