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Hello AppSheet Community,
We're making changes to our support plan for mobile devices running on Android and iOS in order to ensure an optimal experience for users of your AppSheet apps and to provide you with a more consistent support timeline for specific Android and iOS versions.
What are the support plan changes?
- From now on, AppSheet will support its native app versions on the PlayStore and AppStore for 2 years. In the past, the support timeline for new native app versions was not clearly communicated.
- Moving forward, AppSheet will be supported on Android and iOS versions for 5 years after the last minor OS update. To ensure an optimal experience, we will no longer support mobile devices outside of this OS support window. Users with OS versions that are no longer supported will stop receiving updates to their PlayStore and AppStore AppSheet apps until they upgrade their OS. Until today, our documentation stated that AppSheet was supported on Android 5 (or higher) and on iOS 11.0 (or higher).
Combined together, these support plan changes mean that AppSheet apps wonโt run on devices with iOS and Android versions that are greater than 7 years old. After that timeline, app users will need to upgrade their OS version to run AppSheet.
In addition, app users who do not update their AppSheet app from the PlayStore or the AppStore automatically will be prompted to do so once support has ended, meaning two years after we release them.
As an example, the following diagram shows the support timeline for users on iOS 15 and Android 12, assuming a device cannot have its OS upgraded beyond these versions:
What does this mean for app creators and app users?
Starting on December 1, 2022, when they open the app, your app users may see a prompt to update their AppSheet app to the latest version from the PlayStore or AppStore. After the app is updated they will be able to use it for another 2 years until the end of 2024, regardless of their current OS (for Android 5 and higher, and iOS 11 and higher).
We recommend that you inform your app users that they will be prompted to perform regularly scheduled updates to guarantee an optimal experience. Other than that, there is nothing for you to do with respect to the apps you develop or have developed and make available through the AppSheet native apps. However, if you own a branded (aka whitelabeled) application, you will also want to know about our support plan changes for these types of apps in a separate announcement.
Thank you,
The AppSheet team
FAQ
For which Android version is AppSheet ending support?
- Android 5 to Android 7 - end of support in November 2024
- Android 8 - end of support in December 2024
For which iOS version is AppSheet ending support?
- There wonโt be any change in the short term as iOS 11.0 will reach the 5-year mark only in mid-2023.
Will my users be blocked from using their app starting on December 1, 2022?
- No, they will first see a warning in their app for 2 months. Starting on February 1, 2023, they will need to update their app from the Play Store or App Store.
Some of my app users have on their device an OS that is past the 5-yr support timeline. What happens to them?
- This is for users who are running Android 5-7.
- These users should first see if they can upgrade to a newer OS version and then download the latest possible AppSheet app
- If they cannot upgrade to a newer OS version, then they will have until the latest possible AppSheet app is two years old. After that, the app will not be supported anymore.
Are my users completely blocked after the given support timeline?
- Users can still use AppSheet apps on a mobile browser. However, they will not have access to mobile-only functionalities, e.g. barcode scanning.
Are you still fixing bugs for my OS?
- Users on unsupported OS may not receive some new features and bug fixes. Note that not all features and bug fixes need a new version of the AppSheet native apps.
I have a branded app (aka a white labeled app). Does this impact me or my users?
- Yes, please read this other announcement. If you brand your app and however you distribute your app to your users, you will need to take action.
Does this impact users accessing the app on a desktop browser?
- No, only users who download the AppSheet app from the Play Store or App Store.
