Update Windows Desktop Standalone Apps

When you create a Standalone App, you can configure whether or not it can be updated if updates are published to the App Server.

 

If you allow updates, when new versions of a Model are published to the App Server, these can be downloaded to the device and update the app from within the app itself. Downloading and updating can be configured to be automatic or manual. Both primary and secondary Models within your Standalone App can be updated in this way. You can also distribute updates by rebuilding the Standalone App and redeploying it to your users, if you prefer.

 

If you prohibit updates and you later want to deploy changes to the Standalone App you will have to rebuild the app in App Studio and redistribute the complete app to your users. You can redistribute an updated app in any of the usual ways of distributing Standalone Apps to Windows devices.

 

If you want to make changes to the Standalone App's configuration, for example to change the colour of the Home screen or change a configuration setting or the App Server address, rather than a change to the Model, such as adding a new control to a form, you will have to rebuild the Standalone App and redistribute the new app. Changes to the app's configuration cannot be downloaded from the App Server.

 

If updates are allowed the Standalone App can also be configured to automatically check for updates when the app is loaded. This can be done as part of configuring the app when the app is built or manually within the app's configuration Settings on the device. If you configure the setting as part of the app's build, you can mark the setting as read-only, which means that users cannot change your setting on the device.

Alternatively, providing updates have been allowed, you can manually check for updates within a Windows Desktop version of a Standalone App from the app's Home screen:

Tap or click on the Home button, , (top left-hand corner of the window) to move to the app's Home screen.

Tap or click on the Updates button, in the toolbar. The app will check with the App Server for any published updates to any of the Models included within the Standalone App.

You can manually check for updates at any time, even if the app is configured to check for updates when starting.

 

The App Manager utility allows you to configure a published Digitise app to restrict access by User and/or Device and to specify whether an update should be automatically updated or allow users to choose whether to install the update or not. Automatic updates are designated in App Manager as a 'forced' update.

Only published apps which are either not restricted or which you have been given permission to use will update when the Standalone App checks for updates.

In addition, updates which are designated as forced will automatically be downloaded and installed when a check is made. Optional updates will notify the user of their existence and allow the user to choose whether to download or not. If a user doesn't install the update, the next time the app checks for updates they will be reminded again. If the app is running you will need to stop the app before it can download and install the update(s).

If you decline the updates or cannot download them because an app is running, you will see Updates Available displayed at the right-hand side of the Home screen's toolbar. When you are ready to download the updates, click or tap this link.

 

If you are not currently logged in when you request to download updates, a login dialog box may be displayed.

 

Whilst updates are being downloaded, a Cancel button, , will be displayed in the top right-hand corner of the window, allowing you to abort the download if required:

If you don't allow updates in the build configuration the app cannot be updated from the App Server, either automatically or manually. The Check for updates option in the app's configuration Settings, which instructs the app to check for updates on startup, will be disabled and the Updates button on the Home screen toolbar, which allows for manual checking, is hidden.

In this situation, if you want to deploy changes to the app, you will need to rebuild the Standalone App and redistribute it to your users.