In-App Notifications for New App Versions
As a tester or QA person responsible for an app, it is important to always have an overview of the latest app version and the past ones. In this blog post we want to show you why it makes sense that your testers get notified automatically about the latest available app version and how Updraft SDK can help you to improve your testing process.
Receiving Feedbacks About Already Fixed Bugs or Features
Before releasing a new feature or a fixed bug, it is important that your team and your testers test it thoroughly. As soon you fix a bug or finish a new feature, you create a new app release. Before you were even able to inform your QA-team or testers about your new created app version, you will receive some new bugs to analyze, which somehow seem familiar to you. You ask yourself the question: Didn't we just fix a similar bug?
As a well-reflected developer, you will of course first check again your code, the used branching model, the environment configurations and the implemented CI pipeline before asking the testing team on which app version they are actually testing on.
As soon as you ask your testers, you will find out quickly that they still run their tests on an old version. Thus, they keep giving feedback and report bugs on an issue that was fixed some time ago. All this analysis and re-asking takes time for both parties. Is there no easier solution?
In-app Notification New App Version Available
With Updraft's App Distribution SDK, which is open source on Github, your testers will receive an in-app alert as soon as a new app version is available. Your testers just click on install and they have the latest build for their tests. It’s important for your testers to test on the latest build of your app at any time to avoid reporting issues and bugs that have already been reported and fixed some time ago.
Once you have implemented the SDK and your testers install the app, the SDK will check which version of the app they have installed. If a new build is available, your testers will receive an in-app notification with the message ‘New Version Available’. Your testers can then simply install the latest build.
Step 1: Register on Updraft App Distribution
Before you start, we recommend you use our service Updraft app distribution. You need this service to ensure the communication of your SDK with our server and then off course with your testers. The implemented app distribution SDK checks your Updraft app project for new available builds.
It is Important that you have created an account, because then you have your API and SDK key, which you need for the communication with Updraft.
Step 2: Add the App Distribution SDK to Your App
The individual steps for configuring and implementing the App Distribution SDK for iOS or Android from Updraft can be found at https://docs.getupdraft.com/updraft-sdk or directly on Github.
Step 3: Enable the In-App Alerts
In the SDK we have integrated a method which checks if a new version of your app is available on Updraft and if so, the in-app notification will be shown to your tester directly in your app.
As soon you have integrated the SDK in your app code, you just need to enable the functionality within the app settings of your app project on Updraft.
For this purpose:
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Open Updraft and login
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Select your created app project on the dashboard
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Select your app
You will be guided to the App Overview where you can enable or disable the so called Auto Update functionality of the SDK.
As soon it’s enabled, your tester will be asked to install the latest version of your app. At the same time you can also disable the functionality if you need to stop your tests or the testing is finished.
Summary
With the integrated SDK from Updraft your testers will always test with the latest version of your app. Not only does this make testing more efficient, but you no longer have to worry about which version of the app your testers are running on. We would be happy if you tried the in-app notification option and gave us feedback.