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I don't know whether this question belongs to SO or UX (or Programmers.SE) but here it goes.

We have built a mobile app a couple of months back, which we intend to alter in some major ways (like authentication and security) in next release. We published it to AppStore/PlayStore and it has a download count between 5k-10k range.

Now the question is;

whether if we retire our current API rightaway and show current version users a popup which forces them to update the app (via stores)

or

create a new API under a different URL and maintain both APIs at the same time (in this case should we maintain it forever or should we set up an expiration date) ?

EDIT: It'll be our first and possibly last update, since our app is a cordova based hybrid app, we intend to use silent cloud deployments without relying on app stores.

JuniorDev
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    Presumably you are monitoring usage of the API? So you can make a reasoned decision when down the line it is no longer worth the effort to retain backward compatibility. – Jack Hughes Aug 06 '15 at 10:30
  • We have relatively low active users, e.g 10 to 15 new users and approximately 50-60 active users each day. So I thought since we are very young in terms of application history, we would get away with a dirty force update without irritating our user base too much – JuniorDev Aug 06 '15 at 10:42

1 Answers1

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I would say - for a mobile application, forcing your users to upgrade straight away isn't a unreasonable expectation. The exception to that is if you have users on an older operating system (e.g. old iOS) that cannot upgrade. Then you might want to maintain a legacy API.

Can you give a legitimate reason why a reasonable user wouldn't be prepared to update your app?

eddiewould
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    Just don't get into the habit of doing it all the time - that would quickly become irritating. – eddiewould Aug 06 '15 at 10:32
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    Also that's assuming your releases are thoroughly bug-free & well tested. If you've got a history of application updates causing issues, then it's not unreasonable for users to want to put off upgrading. – eddiewould Aug 06 '15 at 10:36
  • That's the reason why I'm having second thoughts, its irritating to me as a user aswell to being forced to update too. As you your point on unable to upgrade due to OS restrictions, I don't think my app is bound to those restrictions since it's a cordova based hybrid app. – JuniorDev Aug 06 '15 at 10:37
  • Yep - just don't do it all the time. Being forced to update once every 6 months is not an issue if users like your app. Once a week and they will look elsewhere. – eddiewould Aug 06 '15 at 10:38
  • Also it'll be our first and possibly last store update since we intend to move on silent updates via cloud deployment (since it's basically a web app running on native wrapper) – JuniorDev Aug 06 '15 at 10:38