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Minor background here: not an app programmer here.

If you look at the tags for this post, you can see that I tried to choose the ones that I know (please let me know of any other that I may have missed) of that are wrappers around the native language of the phones, namely iphone and android.

So, someone wants to know if it is easy to update an app once it's been downloaded on a phone?

And how easy/hard is it for the creator to update the app?

Thanks in advance.

edit

the person in question forwarded me the questions as she wanted them to be:

  1. how easy/difficult will it be to update the app? So for example, if we want to add a new restaurant to the list, or a silent auction item, how much time and effort will it take?

  2. Let's say I download the app from the website on Monday. On Wednesday we update the app with new restaurants and other items. Will the version of the app on my phone update automatically?

second edit

is it possible to have an app available via web and not through formal measures via Apple's iTune, etc? It's mostly informational and meant to benefit a charity.

third edit

Ok, normally I don't care about the downvotes. Still don't. But since this question is getting downvoted a little too much, I just wanted state that this is a genuine question. Really. And honestly, do you realize how much information there is online when you're trying to google for specific question on an arena you're not that familiar with to begin with?

user273072545345
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  • Hm ... didn't realize that this question was overly broad. Apologies for that. How do I narrow this question? It's just for a charity event with an app that's for informational purposes meant for both ios and android? If there's no good way to narrow this question, please delete it then. – user273072545345 Apr 22 '14 at 22:36

3 Answers3

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The answer is it depends.

I can speak to Android, but for iOS, an update to the source code that's pushed through the store takes an average of 6ish days between submitting it to Apple and the update showing on the store.

This means if you downloaded your App on Monday of week 1, and I pushed an update on Wednesday of Week 1, it's probably Tuesday of week 2 at the EARLIEST that Apple has approved the app and put it on the store.

From here, the updated version isn't automatically the version on your phone necessarily. Some people have automatic app updates, some don't.

But, and this is a massive but... sending source code updates through the app store isn't the only way to "update" your app.

The updates you talk about aren't what many developers would consider updates at all--they certainly don't require source code changes or pushes through the app store. All you're "updating" is your backing data.

A well designed app would grab this data from the web, and in this case, the app can be updated immediately.

nhgrif
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  • hey thanks for your response. I forgot to add to my post (will update after this comment), but what if the app is not available via Apple? This is just for a charity event. It is possible to have an app available on a website without having to go through formal measures via Apple? – user273072545345 Apr 22 '14 at 22:07
  • You can create a web-app that's not installed to a phone, and users use the app by navigating their device's web browser to the website. – nhgrif Apr 23 '14 at 11:20
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For IOS you have to submit the compiled code to apple and wait for them to approve and test your app (for new apps or updates) and it might take some days sometimes 1 or 2 weeks. Android, I think you can upload it almost instantly. And as "nhgrif" stated, you should feed any dynamic info on an app from a web server so you don't have to update frequently.

user2387149
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  • so you do HAVE to submit it to Apple? You can't create one and make it available on a site? Please excuse the naivety of the question, as I really don't pay that much attention to apps stuff. – user273072545345 Apr 22 '14 at 22:14
  • also, does this pertain to phonegap too? do you have to submit it to Apple still? – user273072545345 Apr 22 '14 at 22:16
  • To sell/download it through iTunes YES you need to submit it to apple with a developer account which costs 100 dollars annually I think. There are other ways other than iTunes but I don't have knowledge about. – user2387149 Apr 23 '14 at 23:25
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For both iOS and Android, it is possible to have a file online (APK for Android, IPA for iOS) that allows users to install the app. There are no real restriction on Android, but there are on iOS. apparently you can only install on a max of 200 devices, there might be some certificate issues, etc.

Take a look at this question to see what restriction on iOS are: iOS installing apps without app store

The iOS restrictions might be circumvented with TestFlight (But just maybe).

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  • thanks! I didn't realize that putting it out without Apple's vetting process meant circumventing it. Not what I had in mind. So thank you for that heads-up. – user273072545345 Apr 22 '14 at 22:38