Future of PGS App?

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rickm
Posts: 45
Joined: Wed Sep 16, 2020 2:56 pm

Re: Future of PGS App?

Post by rickm » Mon Mar 29, 2021 3:29 am

mbvs wrote:
Fri Mar 26, 2021 7:48 pm
Mmh, I am not part of the beta, so I have no idea what they are doing ... if I understand you right, they updated the app outside the normal App Store update mechanism, so to speak below the radar, on the fly, without a bump in version number?
You could achive this by building an app which contains a webview which gets its complete source or part of the code from a remote host (think of a barebone browser with a fixed url bundled in an app) - but that's not how React Native is working - and btw it is explicitly forbidden by the Apple Store Review Guidelines. So i can't really tell what's happening - are you sure that it is not only the data returned by the backend server which has changed?
I normally run the Windows version. iPad and iOS are new to me. It seems that Apple's use of TestFlight is how they allow developers to run beta testing on unapproved/unreleased versions. The versions made available through TestFlight have an expiry date. I don't know if the expiry date just stops downloading the beta, or if the downloaded executable will actually stop running.

Yes, the app pulls updates without TestFlight knowing about it, with no bump in version number. Code changes. For example, a modal dialog was missing a Close button. After many people reported it, the Close button quietly appeared one day.

I might guess that the final release, which will come normally through the app store, will have to contain all the code locally as required by Apple's guidelines.

mbvs
Posts: 15
Joined: Wed Sep 09, 2020 4:09 am

Re: Future of PGS App?

Post by mbvs » Thu Apr 01, 2021 10:51 am

rickm wrote:
Mon Mar 29, 2021 3:29 am
I might guess that the final release, which will come normally through the app store, will have to contain all the code locally as required by Apple's guidelines.
Ok - so I must prove myself wrong: I looked a little bit deeper into this and it seems that downloaded JavaScript code interpreted by the webkit framework (so exactly what they are doing) goes okay with the developer guidelines - despite the obvious longer startup time. For the developer this has the advantage that updates are much easier to roll out.

btw rickm - what about some screenshots?

rickm
Posts: 45
Joined: Wed Sep 16, 2020 2:56 pm

Re: Future of PGS App?

Post by rickm » Sat Apr 03, 2021 7:18 pm

mbvs wrote:
Thu Apr 01, 2021 10:51 am

Ok - so I must prove myself wrong: I looked a little bit deeper into this and it seems that downloaded JavaScript code interpreted by the webkit framework (so exactly what they are doing) goes okay with the developer guidelines - despite the obvious longer startup time. For the developer this has the advantage that updates are much easier to roll out.

btw rickm - what about some screenshots?
Oh, that's good to know! Thank you so much for taking the time to verify that. Just to be clear, is that just for the Testflight beta system, or for apps released into the App Store too?

Sorry, we were asked not to share anything about the beta, test, or results. (I may have already exceeded that somewhat here, but I really needed to know what you have explained to me.) There is a video demo "sneak peek" showing it in action, published by Chris Vance on Xmas day, but you need a Facebook account and be a member of the private group (open to everyone). People will be pleased when it's done and released!

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