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I have developed a game, in order for the game to work all users need to be on the same version of the game.

Apple have complained about this and said:

Your app includes an update button or alerts the user to update the app. To avoid user confusion, app version updates must utilize the iOS built-in update mechanism.

The problem with relying on this is that it makes updating purely optional, and I am worried that if I remove this a lot of users will end up complaining that the app doesn't work and leave bad reviews.

I have seen many games where they forcefully update.

Is there a work around for this?

bobo2000
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  • Did you contact the support team and asked for further details or assistance? – Julian F. Weinert May 18 '16 at 21:59
  • May be the problem is that you have a button to update? You should ask Apple's review team if it would be ok to just have a message. I know other apps do that. – almas May 18 '16 at 21:59
  • Yeah they seem to be hard nosed about it. It is like they don't care that this can lead to poor app store reviews. Really pissed off right now. – bobo2000 May 18 '16 at 22:00
  • Lots of app show an alert that there is an update. I just saw it today using Apple's Numbers app. So they do it too. But the app shouldn't force the user to update. If your game doesn't work because one user is using an older version of the app, or one user can't use the app because others have upgraded, then you need to rethink how your game works. – rmaddy May 18 '16 at 22:17
  • "All users need to be on the same version of the game" -- this is a limitation of your code. Your server code needs to be more tolerant of older clients. – Brett Donald May 18 '16 at 23:29
  • There are apps out there which require all users to be on the same version, it's not unheard off. As another poster mentioned clash of clans does this. – bobo2000 May 19 '16 at 06:49

1 Answers1

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You can force a user to have a certain minimum version. I do it in my apps, and many other apps do it, including Clash of Clans.

Just remove the update button. You should redirect them to your app in the app store when you alert them that there is an update.

For example, your app makes a call to your server, which includes the current version. Your server responds with a message that the user must update. Your app shows the message, and when they dismiss the alert, the app redirects them to your app in the app store.

Maybe these get approved because Apple never gets to see it work like that, but certainly, they must know that Clash of Clans does it.

Marcus Adams
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  • Thanks Marcus , how does this work, user logs into the app then goes to App Store? Can you send me a link to the code that does this? – bobo2000 May 19 '16 at 06:50
  • Take a look at UIApplication's `- (BOOL)openURL:(NSURL *)url`. – Marcus Adams May 19 '16 at 09:42
  • I take it that it goes straight to the app store page without notifying the user that they need to update their app right? Does that make it confusing? – bobo2000 May 19 '16 at 09:46
  • You show them a message that they have to update first, then redirect them to the app store. – Marcus Adams May 19 '16 at 18:40
  • App has been improved without making the change, turns out I had forgotten to point the app to the production api which was causing the update app notification to appear! – bobo2000 May 20 '16 at 07:13