CODEWITHSUNDEEP
androidioscordovamobileionic-framework
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Reputation: 16182

Forcing an update in a hybrid mobile application

My mobile application works with the aid of a back-end server that processes all of the logic for the users, allowing them to communicate and interact with each other. However sometimes when making updates or changes to an application the back-end or format of data may be changed. Possibly because of a logical error (bug) or for security reasons.

Currently I'm trying to figure out the best way to handle this before release of my application to the apple and android store. Whenever an update occurs to the application that requires the server to respond differently, I need to make sure all devices are updated to the proper version, if not there will be errors and some functions of the application may not work or yield unwanted results.

One way to battle this would be to program with the idea of "reverse compatibility" in mind at all times, however sometimes when doing large updates (or even ravamps of systems) this may not be possible, some information may not be used, or additional information may be requires. The format of information may change, etc, etc.

So this brings me to forcing an update for applications. Requiring that the application be brought up to the current version at all times before it can be used.

I'm currently using the Ionic(Cordova) platform for hybrid development and I'm wondering the best approach to take for this. Should I store the application and client version on the server and just have it run a check every so often? Is there a way to check the apple/android store to see if there is an update available for the application and then download it?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Upvotes: 4

Views: 2021

Answers (2)

zekone
zekone

Reputation: 173

Have you looked into Ionic Deploy? It's part of Ionic's new suite of tools (Deploy, Push, Analytics, etc.) that I think might help you out. It allows for automatic updates to be pushed to client devices. Check it out here

Upvotes: 1

Shamas S
Shamas S

Reputation: 7549

Most of the time applications keep a version number locally and check it with the version number that server provides them on each run. If the numbers mismatch, there is an update on AppStore/PlayStore. And mostly applications provide a link to users, which they can go to and update the application. On the subsequent run, the app will have an updated number which will match with the version number on server, and you can continue the user with your application.

Upvotes: 4

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