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Distribution

Overwolf provides several different hosting/distribution services for apps running on its different platforms. These services have been adapted to support Overwolf Electron, and include:

To get started with any of these services for your electron.js app, contact us.

App File Hosting (CDN)​

Deploying, distributing, and monitoring an app requires a CDN.

Overwolf Electron is built to seamlessly integrate with the Overwolf CDN, offering the following capabilities:

  • App release file hosting/distribution
  • Support for multiple release channels
  • Archive of all past releases, including older release files
  • App usage analytics (can be turned off)

All of this is then managed from within the Overwolf Developers' Console.

Customizable Installer​

Your app's user experience starts as soon as the user runs it for the first time. To help you make it a success from the very start, we have adapted the Overwolf Installer, making it also work with ow-electron.

This installer can (optionally) handle any of the following:

  • Tracking of installation UTM Parameters, which will be shown in your app's Dashboard.
  • CMP flow introduction (for users living in countries where that is required).
  • Desktop shortcut creation (as well as allowing the user to avoid creating one).
  • App installation folder control.

*Apart from that, most of the installer's text/graphics can be changed/configured to fit your specific app. For more details, see Overwolf Installer.

Supported UTM Parameters​

UTM parameters allow your team to better track the installation sources for your app. Currently, the following three parameters are supported in the custom installer:

  • utm_source - "Identifies which site sent the traffic, and is a required parameter".
  • utm_medium - "Identifies what type of link was used, such as cost per click or email".
  • utm_campaign - "Identifies a specific product promotion or strategic campaign".
Retrieving UTM parameters in runtime

Once the app finishes initializing, its UTM parameters can be retrieved through the API, under the app.overwolf.utmParams field.

If you have any more questions about the installer, or wish to see if it is right for your app, feel free to contact-us.

Electron Updater Endpoint​

Electron comes with a built in automatic app updater, which handles all update-related matters on its own. However, in order for Electron to be able to automatically update your app, it must be configured with a consistent endpoint it can check against for updates/download updates from.

For Overwolf Electron apps that choose to use our App File Hosting, Overwolf handles the maintenance of this endpoint.

Setting up the updater endpoint​

In order to set up the endpoint, simply add the following to your main .js file:

Setting up ow-electron auto updates
const { autoUpdater } = require("electron-updater");
...

autoUpdater.setFeedURL({
  provider: 'generic',
  url: `https://electron-updates.overwolf.com/electron-updates/electron/${your_app_id}`
});