Documentation

Everything you need to integrate GhostStrings into your tech stack.

GhostStrings is an Over-the-Air (OTA) content management system. It allows you to update any text, translation, or label in your application instantly, without re-publishing to the App Store or triggering a CI/CD build.

How it Works

GhostStrings operates on a "Fetch and Cache" model. Your app requests the latest strings on launch, and the SDK handles local persistence to ensure zero latency for the user.

1. Integrate the 1KB SDK into your project.
2. Sync your existing strings to the GhostStrings dashboard.
3. Update content in real-time via the GhostStrings Editor.

Android SDK

Our Android SDK is a "Zero Code Change" solution. It intercepts standard Android resource calls and routes them through the GhostStrings OTA cache.

implementation("com.github.shahwaiz90:ghoststrings-android:1.4.0")

2. Global Initialization

Initialize in your Application class to enable the SDK globally.

GhostStrings.init(this, GhostStringsConfig(
    projectId = "YOUR_ID",
    enableAnimations = true // Enabled by default
))

3. Ghostly Animations

GhostStrings isn't just about text; it's about experience. On Android, the SDK leverages Compose's AnimatedContent to provide smooth cross-fade and slide transitions whenever a string is updated OTA.

4. Enable Interception

For Compose: Wrap your root content to enable stringResource() interception.

GhostStringsProvider {
    MyAppContent() // stringResource(R.string.title) works automatically!
}

For Legacy Views: Override attachBaseContext in your Base Activity. This enables automatic interception for context.getString().

override fun attachBaseContext(newBase: Context) {
    super.attachBaseContext(GhostStrings.wrapContext(newBase))
}

iOS SDK (Swift)

Integrate via Swift Package Manager (SPM). Add the package URL:

https://github.com/shahwaiz90/ghoststrings-ios

1. Initialization

Initialize in your App or AppDelegate. GhostStrings uses Method Swizzling to automatically intercept NSLocalizedString calls.

GhostStrings.shared.initSDK(config: GhostStringsConfig(
    projectId: "YOUR_PROJECT_ID",
    enableAnimations: true // Enabled by default
))

2. Ghostly Animations

On iOS, every OTA update is automatically wrapped in a withAnimation(.spring()) block. This ensures that when strings change, the UI slides and fades gracefully into the new state.

3. Zero-Change Usage

Simply use standard SwiftUI or UIKit localization APIs. The SDK intercepts them and provides OTA updates automatically.

Text("hero_title") // Swizzled! OTA values apply automatically.

4. Shorthand Extension (.gs)

For cleaner code, use our built-in String extension:

VStack {
    Text("hero_title".gs)
        .font(.largeTitle)
    Text("welcome_msg".gs)
}

API Reference

If you prefer to build your own integration, you can use our REST API directly.

Endpoint: GET /api/project/:projectId

This returns a JSON object containing all production strings.

{
  "welcome_msg": "Welcome back!",
  "login_btn": "Sign In",
  "login_btn:es": "Iniciar Sesión"
}