Overview

SandstormSDK provides in-game, intermission and bounty audio ads and allows publishers to generate new revenues from world-class brands. Generator and player for personalized VAST audio advertisement. SandstormSDK is all-you-need SDK for your in-app audio advertisement. The framework provides automatically generated, personalized ads with already prepared players. Use it without additional third-party configuration to play the ad in your app.

Tutorial

Below is a tutorial on how to add the library to your project and how to use it.

Requirements

XCode
An iOS project
An Apple iPhone or iPad
iOS 11 or greater

Installation

CocoaPods is used to integrate SandstormSDK into existing iOS projects.

In the same directory as your project file, create Podfile, and add the following configuration:

platform :ios, '10' # or any other deployment target

target "BasicExample" do
   pod 'SandstormSDK'
end

then install pods with the command

pod install

Permissions

Add the following keys to the project’s Info.plist.

<!-- Location usage descriptions -->
<key>NSLocationWhenInUseUsageDescription</key>
<string>To determine the type of place the user is situated in while interacting with the app.</string>
<!-- Motion usage descriptions -->
<key>NSMotionUsageDescription</key>
<string>To determine physical interaction with the device while using the app.</string>
<!-- User tracking usage descriptions -->
<key>NSUserTrackingUsageDescription</key>
<string>This identifier will be used to deliver personalized ads to you.</string>

App Privacy Declarations

Since the release of iOS 14.5, developers must now declare the data they use in the App Privacy section of App Store Connect. In order to assist you in declaring the correct data is collected, we have created an AppStore Data Guide.

Consents

To work properly, the SDK needs consent. Depending on the region, please ask the user if they agree to the following. In some regions, such as the EU, consent is required to allow third parties to store data on users’ devices for example.

Consents set to allow all

Below is a list of what is included in the AdTonosConsent.allowAll option
PROCESSING – Allow processing of data.
SENSOR_ACCESS – Allow use of the device’s sensor data.
STORAGE – Allow storing and accessing the information on the device.
USE_FOR_AD_PROFILES – Allow use of technology for personalised ads.
USE_FOR_PERSONALISED_CONTENT – Allow use of technology for personalised content.
USE_FOR_REPORTING – Allow use of technology for market research and audience insights.
USE_FOR_IMPROVEMENT – Allow the use of technology for improving products.
LINKING_DEVICES – Allow linking different devices to the user through deterministic or probabilistic means.
USE_OF_DEVICE_INFO – Allow use of automatically provided device information such as manufacturer, model, IP addresses and MAC addresses.
USE_FOR_SECURITY – Allow use of independent identifiers to ensure the secure operation of systems.
USE_FOR_DIAGNOSTICS – Allow processing of diagnostic information using an independent identifier to ensure the correct operation of systems.
PRECISE_GEOLOCATION – Allow use of precise geolocation data (within 500 metres accuracy).

Consent set to none

It is possible to start adTonos with consent set to AdTonosConsent.none, but it will not collect data about the user then, so the advertisement will not be personalized appropriately to the user.

Start SDK and create a builder

Import

First import SandstormSDK in all files that use the SDK.

import SandstormSDK

Initialization

The first necessary step in the project is to call the ATSandstormSDK.shared.initialize method. It should be called at the start of the application when the other components are created. The method is safe to be called multiple times. The Initialize method must be called every time the application starts. Below is an example of how this should be done:

Use the following code to initialize SandstormSDK in the AppDelegate’s application:willFinishLaunchingWithOptions: method:

func application(_ application: UIApplication, willFinishLaunchingWithOptions launchOptions: [UIApplication.LaunchOptionsKey : Any]? = nil) -> Bool {
    ATSandstormSDK.shared.initialize(with: launchOptions)
  
    return true
}

If you don’t want to do initialization in AppDelegate but e.g. in ViewController, you can also pass nil as a parameter.

ATSandstormSDK.shared.initialize(with: nil)

Start

The library requires certain permissions and user consent for data collection. Therefore, one of the initial screens should show the user the terms and conditions containing the necessary information about the use and processing of personal data. This is done when the user first interacts with the application, so this is a good time to call the Start method. The method takes the consent flag as a parameter and then asks the user for the system permissions necessary for the application to work. The start method must be called every time the application starts. Additionally, the loadLatestConsents method can be used, which returns the most recently granted consents. Below is an example of how this can be done:

Important: start must be called when the application is active, otherwise the idfa permission popup will not be shown to the user.

Pass the consent .allowAll or .none as a function parameter.

ATSandstormSDK.shared.start(with: .allowAll)

To check if SandstormSDK is started it is possible to use the isStarted variable.

_ = ATSandstormSDK.shared.isStarted

Save consents

In case you want to change the consent, you can use the method save.

ATSandstormSDK.shared.save(consent: .none)

Load consents

You can also get the last set of consent using the method loadLatestConsent.

ATSandstormSDK.shared.loadLatestConsent()

Generate VAST link

To generate a VAST link, create a builder and then set the AdTonos key.

The best way to create a builder is to use ThunderObserver and create it when the onStarted callback is invoked.

Moreover, if you want to use a language other than preferred in the system, you can set it with set(lang:).

Language must be provided in ISO-639-1 or ISO-639-2 format.

let builder = ATSandstormSDK.shared.createBuilder()
   .set(adTonosKey: "XXXXX") //Sets developer key.
   .set(lang: "en") //Sets user language if different than a system defined

AdTonos key – Where to find AdTonosKey? It’s provided by AdTonos on the portal and can be extracted from the link:

https://play.adtonos.com/xml/XXXXX/vast.xml

where XXXXX is the AdTonos key. AdTonos usually provides two links, one for testing purposes and one for release. During development testing, a key shall be used.

Playing ads

The next step is to make a request for ads using the requestForAds method. Then wait for the ads to be obtained and run the ads. A callback can be useful here to provide information about the current state and any errors. Below is an example of a class that will cause an advertisement to play.

Request for ads

To make an ad request use the method requestForAds(with:)and pass the builder you created earlier as a parameter.

ATSandstormSDK.shared.requestForAds(with builder: builder)

Check if the ad is available

The variable isAdAvailable allows you to check if the ad is available.

ATSandstormSDK.shared.isAdAvailable // returns true or false

Manage player

To start playing the advertisements use the playAd() method.

ATSandstormSDK.shared.playAd() // returns true/false depending on whether the ad has started playing.

To pause the ad, use the function pauseAd().

ATSandstormSDK.shared.pauseAd() // returns true/false depending on whether the ad has been paused.

To do clear use clear(). It clears any ad state (prepared / played / paused).

ATSandstormSDK.shared.clear()

ThunderObserver

The best way to request for ads is to listen to the callback informing that the SDK is started. To be notified of this state conform your class to ThunderObserver and use add(thunderObserver:)method.

First:

import ThunderSDK

Then:

extension YourViewController: ThunderObserver { 
   func onStarted(success: Bool, error: ATError?) {
        if success {
            let builder = adTonos.createBuilder().set(adTonosKey: "XXXXX")
            _ = adTonos.requestForAds(with: builder)
        }
    }
 }

an observer should be added,

ATSandstormSDK.shared.add(thunderObserver: self)

e.g. in viewDidLoad()

override func viewDidLoad() {
        super.viewDidLoad()
        ATSandstormSDK.shared.add(thunderObserver: self)
}

SandstormObserver

The SDK also allows you to observe the current state related to the player. To be notified for related callbacks add an observer. Confirm your class to SandstormObserver and use add(sandstormObserver:)method.

e.g.

extension YourViewController: SandstormObserver { 

    func onVastAdsLoaded() {
        statusButton.text = "Single ad is loaded and ready to play"
    }

    func onVastError(_ error: AdTonosVastError) {
        statusButton.text = "Error occurred during ads request or any ads interaction like playing, pausing"
    }

    func onVastAdsAvabilityExpired() {
        statusButton.text = "Ads expired."
    }

    func onVastAdsStarted() {
        statusButton.text = "Sequence of one or more ads in VAST starts to play"
    }

    func onVastAdPaused() {
        statusButton.text = "Single ad is paused"
    }

    func onVastAdPlayStarted() {
        statusButton.text = "Single ad is played"
    }

    func onVastAdsEnded() {
        statusButton.text = "Sequence of one or more VAST ads has ended"
    }
 }