How Do I Publish Updates to My App?
As you are building your app in the VisitApps MAS, you will see a content status box at the top left corner of the page. It will say one of the following: ‘Pending Changes’, ‘Synchronizing’ or ‘Content is Live’. If the content status box says ‘Content is Live’.
This means that the content you see in your app preview is the same content your app users see.
If you make a change to your content, the status box will indicate those changes and say ‘Make it Live’. There will be a number indicating how many changes have been made since the last time ‘Make it Live’ was selected. These changes will not be sent to devices that have your app installed until you select ‘Make it Live’.
Once you click "Make it Live," the content status box will turn blue and say ‘Synchronizing’. At this time, a new database is created that will be made available for devices that have the app installed. The next time a user checks for new content, they will be able to access the updated version of the app.
What if my App says it’s been synchronizing for a long time?
Sometimes it may take a few minutes for your content to synchronize. If you have a live app and the VisitApps MAS says that your content has been synchronizing for more than 30 minutes, please send us a ticket via the Client Portal.
How do App Users Get These Updates?
When you select "Make it Live”, the updates will install differently depending on if the app user has opted in, or out, of push notifications.
App Users Who Have Opted In to Receive Push Notifications
These users will receive new content regularly via the silent push notification method. The updates will automatically apply in the background (even if the app hasn’t been opened recently) and the user will see the freshest content the next time they open the app.
App Users Who Have Opted Out of Receiving Push Notifications
These users’ apps will not automatically be updated in the background. Instead, upon opening the app, the user may receive a prompt asking for permission to either ‘Allow’ or ‘Deny’ the pending app updates.
If the user allows the updates, they will see their content quickly "flip” and then see the freshest app content.
For VisitApps MAS Users If you are managing your app in the VisitApps MAS and want to view your recent updates, make sure to hard close and reopen your app (here are instructions on how to close Apple iOS (https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201330) and Google Play apps (https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/2781964?hl=en). This is because the app checks for new content at the time the app is launched on a device.