Why can't we deploy mobile only?

Mobile Beta
1

Why are the two options for deployment:

  • Web only
  • Web and mobile

Very head scratching decision :sweat_smile:

Why can’t we deploy mobile only? May I humbly suggest these options:

  • Web only
  • Mobile only (wild idea, I know)
  • Web and mobile
2

I think the short answer is because your mobile app is dependent on the web backend, so you need to deploy web when you deploy mobile.

3 Likes
3

yep, well said. Post launch, when you can have a mobile only project, we will need a better name for a “web + mobile” deploy - because obviously that project only has a mobile app in it - but a “web deploy”, for lack of a better word, is still needed for the backend updates

4

Thanks for the explanation! @thibautranger @nick.carroll

The issue I have with web deployment is that it tends to disrupt users who are online at that time — they have to refresh the page and lose whatever they were doing.

I do wish Bubble could tell the difference between frontend vs backend changes and allow us to only deploy what’s necessary.

Also, just to clarify — isn’t it true that some backend changes (like deleting a data type) would still affect the mobile app? So if we deploy “web only,” wouldn’t that potentially break things on mobile too — even the earlier versions?

In that case, wouldn’t it make more sense for every deployment to include mobile, just to be safe — since Bubble doesn’t know exactly what changes require what?

Or does that depend on our own judgment? If so, then wouldn’t it make sense for Bubble to also let us decide when to deploy mobile only?

It just seems a bit inconsistent to me. Apologies if I’m misunderstanding anything — just trying to wrap my head around it better. Thank you!

1 Like
5

I agree that Bubble should detect if we have updated just the mobile UI or the backend, and allow us to deploy mobile only so we don’t disrupt users that are on the web

1 Like
6

My first mobile build has been stuck with an error for a week now — still under investigation by Bubble. Based on what others are saying, i’m not optimistic that they’ll ever get to it.

I wanna try rebuilding it, but unfortunately, doing so would disrupt the experience for our web users. So… here we are.