App Store Update Selection

[Martyn Houghton]

At the moment when updating an application via the App Store, it is only possible to select the most recent release of an application to update too, irrespective of the number of intermediate releases.

Would it be possible to have the option to be able to select and update to an intermediate release?

Cheers

Martyn

[Gerry]

Hi Martyn,

There is an option on the API to do this but we would not recommend this for a number of reasons. 

1. We do not test selectively updating like this, we test forward only updates. 

2. We will be at some point removing the "Update" button all together so application updates are pushed automatically in the same way as the platform is.

The presence of the Update button is already misaligned with our Continuous Delivery policy and in some cases this is adding delays because some customers are not keeping their instance up to date, we have an audit function so we can see the range of builds in production and we have to test (or at least consider) the update from that build to the latest. Obviously as more customers are taking up the service there is a more of a spread of these and we are less able to push updates easily - which ultimately is bad for everyone.  We have not yet removed the Update button because we still have some refinement of our own release process/testing/deployment to complete but that was always the intention.

Maybe you can give us some sense of why you would want to do this?

Gerry

[Martyn Houghton]

@Gerry

The request was born following the issues we experience with the SM 2.36.x and the fact that we do not have a test system to test deploy releases prior to them going on to live. The business requirement was discussed on the basis of of perhaps us taking a more conservative approach to applying the latest release.

Cheers

Martyn

[Gerry]

Hi Martyn,

Thanks for the clarification, ok I understand.  The issues with 2.36.x are I hope an unusual situation and not the norm so I would encourage you not to consider changing your approach on that experience alone. We have been working internally to ensure we do not run into the same problem again, I would like to consider this a one-off at least at this point.   Just drawing back on the ethos of Continuous Delivery, being conservative in deployment and CD are not really compatible, as soon as we are having to support multiple versions we are back into the sticky world of slow and painful updates, and projects for our customers to undertake, which as you say will involve test environments and conservative management overhead - back to the world of on-premise software

Gerry