Example Integration

A complete, realistic integration for an app with a login flow. The goals:

Initialize Pulsate at app start.
Start the session after login, on the main screen — not on the login screen.
Show in-app messages and allow inbox access only to logged-in users.
Keep push notifications working for logged-out users.

1. Initialize in the Application class

class MyApp : Application() {

    private lateinit var lifecycleManager: MyLifecycleManager

    override fun onCreate() {
        super.onCreate()

        lifecycleManager = MyLifecycleManager()

        val authData = PulsateAuthData(APP_ID, APP_KEY)
        PulsateFactory.getInstance(authData)
    }
}

2. Login screen — decide where to go, don't start Pulsate yet

class LoginFragment : Fragment() {
    override fun onViewCreated(view: View, savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
        super.onViewCreated(view, savedInstanceState)

        showSpinner()
        if (loginViewModel.isUserLoggedIn()) {
            navigateToMainScreen()
        } else {
            hideSpinner()
            setupLoginScreen()
        }
    }
}

Why not start the session here? startPulsateSessionForAlias kicks off async network calls that can render an in-app message onto a screen that is about to be destroyed by your login navigation. Start the session on the screen the user will actually stay on.

3. Main screen — start the session and unlock Pulsate UI

class MainFragment : Fragment() {
    override fun onViewCreated(view: View, savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
        super.onViewCreated(view, savedInstanceState)

        val pulsateManager = PulsateFactory.getInstance()
        val alias = userRepository.currentUserId // your unique user identifier

        pulsateManager.startPulsateSessionForAlias(
            alias,
            object : IPulsateRequestListener {
                override fun onSuccess() {
                    // Allow in-apps + inbox for this authenticated user
                    pulsateManager.userHasLoggedIn()
                }
                override fun onError(e: Throwable?) {
                    e?.printStackTrace()
                }
            },
        )
    }
}

4. Lock Pulsate UI when the app leaves the foreground (optional)

If your app logs users out when it goes to background (common in banking), mirror that in Pulsate with a ProcessLifecycleOwner observer:

class MyLifecycleManager : DefaultLifecycleObserver {

    init {
        Handler(Looper.getMainLooper()).post {
            ProcessLifecycleOwner.get().lifecycle.addObserver(this)
        }
    }

    override fun onStop(owner: LifecycleOwner) {
        // App entered background — user must log in again next time
        PulsateFactory.getInstance().userHasLoggedOut()
    }
}

userHasLoggedOut() disables in-app messages and marks the user unauthorized for the inbox — but unlike logoutCurrentAlias, the device stays attached to the user, so push notifications keep working.

Behavior summary

	Logged in	Logged out (`userHasLoggedOut`)	After `logoutCurrentAlias`
Push notifications	✅	✅	❌
In-app notifications	✅	❌ (deferred)	❌
Inbox access	✅	❌ (blocked)	❌
Segmentation/tracking	✅	✅	❌

When the user logs back in, userHasLoggedIn() re-enables in-apps, shows the last bounced in-app message, marks the user authorized, and replays the last blocked inbox action. See Inbox Authorization for the fine-grained controls behind these two methods.