Mobile App Update Preserving Client Customizations

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Solution Overview

Problem

Updating native mobile applications requires recompiling and redistributing the entire application across different platforms, which is time-consuming and inefficient, especially when clients have made personalized changes.

Innovation Solution

A method and system that allow updating a base application by adding common code while preserving client-specific changes, enabling deployment of updates without recompilation, using a web-based integrated development environment (IDE) to manage and synchronize changes across multiple clients.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If the entire native application is updated and reinstalled, then the base application can be updated with new features, but client-specific changes are lost and the update process becomes time-consuming

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvepreservation of client-specific changesVSAvoidupdate deployment time

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The application is segmented into base application code and client-specific customizations. The system separates the common base application from client-specific changes, allowing independent management and updating of each segment without affecting the other.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

Client-specific changes are captured and stored before the base application update is applied. The system performs preliminary actions to preserve customizations, then applies updates to the base application, and finally restores or re-applies client-specific changes.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

2Adaptability or versatility

If the entire application is recompiled for each platform, then the application can be updated across different mobile platforms, but the development time and complexity increase significantly

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecross-platform compatibilityVSAvoiddeveloper productivity

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

A single base application codebase is maintained that can be deployed across multiple mobile platforms (iOS, Android, Windows). The system provides universal functionality through the base application while allowing platform-specific adaptations through client-specific customizations.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Solution Approach 2:

The base application is copied to different platform-specific environments where client-specific changes are applied. Rather than recompiling from scratch for each platform, the system uses copying and adaptation of the existing base application.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #26Copying

3Reliability

If the entire application is redistributed, then updates can be deployed to all clients, but the download size and network bandwidth consumption increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveupdate deployment completenessVSAvoidapplication download size

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSQuantity of substance

Solution Approach 1:

Only the necessary portions of the application (base application updates) are extracted and redistributed, rather than the entire application package. Client-specific changes are separated and handled independently, reducing the amount of data that needs to be transferred.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Data Source

PatentUS11340893B2Mobile application update preserving changes to the application made by a client

Publication Date: 2022.05.24 KONY INC

AI summary

Systems and methods for providing an update to a natively rendered application installed on a mobile device are provided. A method includes updating a base application with a unique tailored solution for each client that has created its own unique tailored solution. The method further includes storing, for each client that has created its own unique tailored solution, the base application with its unique tailored solution, as separate versions of the base application in a storage system. The method further includes adding common additional code to each of the separate versions of the base application, while preserving the unique tailored solution for each client that has created its own unique tailored solution. The method further includes pushing the base application with the common additional code to the client.