iOS Bundle Not Supporting Previous App Devices

Mobile Beta
1

Hello Bubble/@nick.carroll

After going back and forth with support, on an issue of our build not showing up on Apple Store Connect, we decided (recommended by bubble support) to upload the .ipa build file ourself to the app store test flight.
We originally had a wrapped Mobile app with theBDK, v1.0 (old) and v1.1 (live) on Apple Store Connect.
So we attempted to manually upload the .ipa yesterday and we got an error message from Apple.

I have reached out to support and they are not helpful. Does anyone have any clue on what needs to be done?

Thanks in advance

appp
appp1101×734 46.6 KB

2

We are talking internally with the success team to figure out a path forward here as this is the first time we are seeing the issue (it only happens when a user has an existing app in the app store).

Do you know what the list of supported devices is for your existing app?

1 Like
3

No. The wrapper (theBDK) didn’t give us this information.

4

BREAKING NEWS

I just got word from support, If you have a previously wrapped app uploaded to the app store (Example theBDK), most likely it supported a wider range of devices, You cannot upload your New Native App as an update to it. Bubble’s Native App Builder doesn’t support some devices that the wrapped app previously supported.

As of today, you have no choice than to upload a new separate app with a different bundleID, and telling all your users to uninstall the old app and reinstall the new one.

This is really sad for me, but the support guy said i dont have any choice than to do that.

@nick.carroll If i am wrong, please correct me.

1 Like
5

Oof. Hopefully, it’s just not supported yet. That’d be pretty rough.

6

We are looking into how we can support this (would require opening up more access to the native bundle). One issue is that we currently can’t tell what the versions that BDK or the existing app are supporting - this would have to come from the user as well - so its a little hard to troubleshoot right now.

The direction to submit a new app to the app store is the current work around, but will not be the required path once we figure out how to open up support for previous builds.

2 Likes
7

Thanks @nick.carroll. I think this will be a hot topic once the mobile editor is opened up to the masses. I have an app wrapped with The BDK that I would love to have swapped out for a version built in the mobile editor once IAPs are supported.

Can we do anything (e.g., contact Gaurav - if he’s willing to assist :face_with_monocle:) to help the team expedite supporting existing wrapped apps?

8

Yeah if you could reach out to Guarav and figure out what the supported devices are, that would help us troubleshoot because we can compare to whats on our end. Let me know!

9

The same question from an app already wrapped with ‘Natively’

10

I messaged him. We’ll see.

Is there any other way to expose the supported devices? I am happy to hop on a call to go through the builds in the App Store Connect if that helps. We also get the aab file for Android–maybe there are some clues tucked away in there?

11

So i spoke to Guarav with regards to my “Specific Case”.

When we did our build with Bubble’s Native Builder, We will get an email that the build was successful, but it wasn’t submitting directly to Apple Store Connect. We originally thought it was an API bug or some form of bug. We reached out to Apple support and Bubble Support, and after several days of investigation, We learnt that our new app cant be uploaded as an update to the old app because the previous app (BDK Wrapped) supported more devices than the new app (Bubble Native).

Continuing with the investigation, We learnt that during our App Wrapping process with theBDK, there was an option for you to choose if you wanted an “iPhone Only” or iPhone and iPad" build, and the option we selected “iPhone & iPad”.

Due to this option, and Apple’s policy, We could not upload the new Bubble Native App as an update, because as of today, Bubble Native Apps are iPhone Only, and according to Apple policy, all subsequent app updates MUST continue supporting existing devices initially selected during first launch.

We had no choice than to remove the old app :cry: and create a new bundle ID (you can’t reuse the old one…lol).

Maybe in future, Bubble might create an option for both devices.

P.S.: If during your theBDK Wrapping process, and you selected “iPhone Only”, MAYBE, you can submit as an update. I am not sure, but worth trying

1 Like
12

I wondered if that was the case.

I did select “iPhone Only” for my app, so maybe I will give it a shot in the coming days to see if it’s compatible. I’ll report back if I do attempt it.

Thanks for the insight and for calling this out @miracle!

13

Hello, I used WebViewGold to wrap my app in both iOS & Android, will I also need to submit a new app or can I update my app? I have the source code which I can toggle the iPhone Only options

14

I am not familiar with WebViewGold, but if during your first iOS app launch it was set to iPhone Only, then it worth giving it a shot, because Bubble’s Native today only supports iPhone only

1 Like
15

I’m about to try deploying the app. What happens immediately after clicking Deploy with the version numbers? Does the app go straight into review? Would I be able to stop the review manually since this is just a test? I mainly want to make sure I do not disturb the current users on the application.

16

@dreadnaught73849 Since you goal for now is to test this, just make sure your APIs and Keys are set up correctly, before you deploy. When the deploy is completed, you will get an email telling you what to do next. If there is an error, it will tell you as well.
Note, it doesnt just go straight into review, for iOS, it will upload as a “Build” inside your Testflight. You can now add to beta testers, or you can send it in for Review

17

@miracle Thanks, so I still would need to go into Apple Connect to setup the screenshots, etc before I use Apple Connect to send to review? & also I noticed I cannot edit the version numbers, & my current app is already on version 4. Will that be an issue?

18

For the screenshots, yea (recommended) before sending to review. I don’t think you can manually change the version number in the Bubble. This will just increase base on your builds. Major, Minor, or Patch. (even if the build failed).
If you submit an update that is lower in version number than what is already live in app store, i don’t think it will go. I have not personally faced this issue.

1 Like
19

Message from Gaurav below re: the BDK apps. He’s not part of the mobile beta but wanted to comment on the thread:

In App Store Connect, you can tell whether your uploaded build is iPhone‐only or universal (iPhone and iPad) mainly by looking at the “Build” details and the screenshot requirements. Here are the most straightforward ways to confirm:

Check “Build” Details

• Log in to App Store Connect.

• Go to My Apps and select the app in question.

• Navigate to the App Store tab (on the left) and select the latest version you’re preparing for release.

• Under Build, click on the build number to see “Supported devices” or “Compatibility.”

• If it says iPhone only, then it’s restricted to iPhones.

• If it says iPhone and iPad, then it’s a universal build.

Look at Screenshot Sections

• Still within the App Store → Prepare for Submission or App Information section, you’ll see a place to upload screenshots.

• If the build supports iPad, you will see an option (and sometimes a requirement) for uploading iPad screenshots (e.g., “iPad Pro (3rd Gen) 12.9-inch,” etc.).

• If you only see slots for iPhone screenshots, then it’s currently recognized as an iPhone‐only app.

People can determine whether their app request was iPhone only or iPhone + iPad both from their build settings they submitted on their BDK project page.

You can only add support for devices. Not remove support. So even if you built an app with say react earlier for both iPhones and iPads, you need to submit updates which support both platforms. Apple doesn’t allow removing support as it isn’t a good experience for their customers.

The real issue here appears that bubble’s native builder is iPhone only as of now. It doesn’t support iPads

20

Let me know how this goes!