Part 8 · 1 chapters · ~8 min
Mobile and Desktop Releases
Release trains, store review, staged and phased rollouts, crash-free rates as the gate, the long tail of old versions, minimum supported versions and forced updates, over-the-air updates (CodePush, Shorebird) and their limits, and desktop auto-update channels.
9
Shipping to devices you do not control
| tool or practice | what it buys |
|---|---|
| server-driven feature flags | turn features off without a release |
| minimum supported version (from the API) | force upgrades when an old client is unsafe |
| over-the-air updates (Expo Updates for React Native, Shorebird for Flutter) | ship JS or Dart code fixes without store review, within store rules (no changing the app's purpose) |
| WebView flows (Deriv course part 10) | change complex flows server-side |
| desktop channels (Electron autoUpdater, Sparkle) | beta and stable channels, staged by percentage |
A MOBILE RELEASE
store review, staged rollout and the update you cannot force
swipe the figure sideways, or tap expand for full screen
1/4
release train
Mobile teams usually ship on a fixed train (weekly or fortnightly): a branch is cut, stabilised and submitted, because each release costs review time and users update slowly.
fixed release trainseach release is expensive