Updraft’s app distribution journey - how it started and how it continues

It’s been 10 (!) (actually 11 by the time this blogpost is published) years since the first release of Updraft! A lot has happened since then and recently we’ve had a bigger change in the organizational structure of Updraft. Time to take a walk down memory lane, elaborate on the story of Updraft and take a look at what's coming next.

Updraft App Distribution since 2013 - the story of Updraft

Version 1.0, the first ever version of Updraft was released in 2013. It was created and released as a collaboration by Moqod, particularly the former founders of Moqod, Andrew and Sergey Kopanev, and Apps with love AG. The two brothers had the idea to optimize app building, app signing, iOS certificate handling and management, and they began coding the first lines of Updraft as an app building and app distribution tool. 

Relatively quickly they sought collaboration with Apps with love, which had already worked with Moqod on other projects. Apps with love provided support in requirements engineering, solution design, UX, and product design, as well as the provision of the whole infrastructure (build servers). Apps with love also took charge of the marketing to Swiss companies, with the goal of simplifying app distribution and beta testing for large companies. Over the years, the product was expanded in partnership with Moqod.

In 2015, we decided to discontinue the service for end-users due to maintenance reasons of the infrastructure and build servers, particularly because building the applications into distributable app binaries became complex with the high number of different OS- and XCode- versions used by the customers. At this point we had developed an Android and iOS Updraft app as an alternative to the Apple App and Google Play Store, which we decided to remove from the market as well.

As of 2016, we made the decision to fully focus on app distribution in the B2B and B2C sectors and to leave the building of app binaries with the correct iOS enterprise certificates and provisioning profiles provided by customers to other companies. We completely redesigned Updraft from scratch in 2016, executed numerous customer and user surveys and successfully performed usability tests with students from the FHNW (University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland) as part of their bachelor degree. This allowed us to take the app distribution tool to the next level, with focus on the needs of the customers and the users.

In 2017, version 2.0 of Updraft was released, featuring a comprehensive and customized set of features and an expanded knowledge base. This, along with various marketing activities, led to a steady increase in new customers and users from 2018 onwards. Moqod continued to support us with their software development and quality assurance specialists and was able to strengthen Updraft’s brand awareness in the Netherlands. 

Between 2018 and 2022, Updraft successfully established itself as an app distribution tool and an alternative to app distribution and testing tools such as Testfairy, Microsoft App Center, Diawi, and Applivery. We developed more features supporting the process from app building to app distribution to end customers and testers, with integrations to development processes and various continuous integration and delivery tools.

By the end of 2022, we decided to re-publish an improved version of the iOS Updraft app as an alternative to the app store. Everything about the (new) iOS App and why we decided to redevelop you can read in a separate blogpost: Updraft is back inth an iOS app. 
The Android app followed in the fall of 2023.

Thanks Moqod BV

In 2023, we faced bigger changes in Updraft’s organizational structure. 
The intensely competitive European market in software development, especially in the field of app development, along with the negative consequences of the outbreak of war, led Moqod to the decision to join opinov8. Consequently, this also required a decision regarding the future development and strategic direction of Updraft.

Over the last few months, we have successfully discussed the future of Updraft with Slava, the CEO of Moqod: Apps with love AG took over the majority of shares as well as the complete ownership rights of Updraft from Moqod as of December 2023. It was not easy for all parties involved to make this decision, especially because a lot of joint efforts were put in Updraft and the work on a product over the years is connected with many emotions.

We would like to express our warmful thanks to Moqod, especially to Slava, for the valuable collaboration over the last years. A part of Updraft will always be dedicated to Moqod, even though the journey continues without them :)

No changes for our customers

With the majority takeover of Updraft by Apps with love AG, there will be no changes for our existing customers. The __cpLocation of Updraft remains in Switzerland and we can continue to fully ensure and expand all standards like GDPR and Swiss Data Privacy. In the coming weeks, we will adjust our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy to reflect the new circumstances and inform all our customers.

New year new features?

Aside from the reorganization, we have been working hard on many exciting features for our customers. The following features have already been made available by the end of last year:

• Single Sign-On with Okta (Enterprise Plan only)

• Single Sign-On with Google (Enterprise Plan only)

• Custom storage with Google Cloud Bucket (Enterprise Plan only)

• Custom storage with AWS S3 Bucket (Enterprise Plan only)

• Custom storage with Exoscale S3 Bucket (Enterprise Plan only)

• SMTP settings (Enterprise Plan only)

• Custom download page (Enterprise Plan only)

• Auto-Delete app binaries (Enterprise Plan only)

• Optimizations in the 2FA

• iOS app as an alternative app store

• Android app as an alternative app store

• PWA - Install the Updraft app directly on your desktop

• Optimization for downloading apps on the iPad 

 

Currently we are working on the following features, which will be available soon:

• App store integration

• Play store integration

And that’s not everything! There will be a surprise in the upcoming weeks: We will introduce a feature that will take Updraft back to its roots. It's a feature that we can bring back with the knowledge and expertise we have built up over the years. As a product owner, I am excited about this because it will help us to further differentiate Updraft from other app distribution tools and services, especially the major players in the continuous integration and deployment area. I have already had the opportunity to test the beta version of this feature, and you all can look forward to what will be released soon!