Picture this: You’re an developer that has just released a mobile app onto your desired app store. All is fine and dandy until you release that there’s actually a bug in your app. It’s an easy fix but by you have to jump go through the whole app store approval process again and by the time the new version is ready to download you have already received a swathe of negative reviews from users. Rollout.io aims to change all this by giving app developers more control over their products.
The approvals process for app stores by the likes of Apple and Google are crucial for quality control. While critical security fix updates to apps can be fast tracked, if you’ve just patched up some minor annoying bugs then it’s back in line for approval. Trouble is, a line of disgruntled users of your app is forming at the same time. It could be days before the updated version is available on the app store and even longer for customers to get around to downloading it.
What the Rollout.io service does is allow developers to bypass the app store when it comes to issuing minor fixes and communicate directly to users through the app. Developers can download the Rollout.io software development kit (SDK) and insert a few lines of code to their existing apps to use the service to solve production bugs in real-time.
According to Rollout.io, the service uses smart code analysis behind the scenes to manipulate and make changes to an app at runtime, forcing updates to users. Developers can also prompt a message to be shown to users when their apps are launched to keep them informed of updates to the app.
Rollout.io has been testing its service out for a few months now and has just launched at TechCrunch’s Disrupt conference in San Francisco. It is currently free to use the servcie but the company is looking to implement a pricing structure next year. You can find out more about how Rollout.io works over at its official website.
[Via Rollout.io]
Comments
4 responses to “Rollout.io Lets Mobile App Developers Push Bug Fixes To Users In Real-Time”
Doesn’t Apple’s terms and conditions forbid exactly this? Seems like a potentially big security hole to me too.
In fact, no. Rollout.io is fully compliant with Apple policies. Read why and how at FAQ section of our website rollout.io
Hi SamD
Rollout is fully compliant with Apple’s App store guidelines and does not inject any native code or modify the binary of the application. Regarding security, Rollout signs all changes in a way that can’t be modified. We even let companies use their own private keys for added security.
If you want more technical details, you can contact us or check out the technical details here:
https://blog.rollout.io/2015/01/rollout-io-under-the-hood-how-we-patch-your-mobile-app-in-production/
Thank you for the explanation.
In fact, no. Rollout.io is fully compliant with Apple policies, read why and how at our FAQ section at Rollout.io