Force update of an Android app when a new version is available

Question

I have an app in Google Play Store. When an update version is available, the older version will become unusable – that is, if users do not update the app, they do not enter in the app. How can I force users to update the app when a new version becomes available?

Answer 1

I agree with Scott Helme's point in another answer here. But in some extreme situations (security issues, API breaking changes...) where you absolutely need the users to update to continue using the app, you could provide a simple versioning API. The API would look like this:

versionCheck API:

Request parameters:

• int appVersion

Response

1. boolean forceUpgrade
2. boolean recommendUpgrade

When your app starts, you could call this API that pass in the current app version, and check the response of the versioning API call.

If forceUpgrade is true, show a popup dialog with options to either let user quit the app, or go to Google Play Store to upgrade the app.

Else if recommendUpgrade is true, show the pop-up dialog with options to update or to continue using the app.

Even with this forced upgrade ability in place, you should continue to support older versions, unless absolutely needed.