How to Keep Content Fresh: Live Update Solutions for Apps and Games.

In the fast-paced world of app or game development, keeping your content fresh and up-to-date is paramount for success. Users and players expect new and engaging content almost daily. Live update / remote configuration solutions offer a seamless way to update your app’s content in real-time, ensuring a dynamic experience for your audience. You should be able to instantly update parameters and content in your game, and have it live to your real audience in minutes.

Benefits of Live Update Solutions

Enhanced User Engagement: Frequent updates keep your app relevant and engaging.
Rapid Response to Feedback: Quickly implement changes based on user feedback.
Reduced Development Time and Cost: Bypass the app store approval process and costly developer time for updates.

What Are Live Update Solutions?

The best live update / remote configuration solutions should at minimum fullfil the following requirements:

Allow the team to push updates to their app or game without needing to release a new version through the app store.
Allow changes to text, images, layout, economy, pricing, game mechanics.
Allow changes to be targeted to specific users or groups of users, and run AB testing.
Updates can be made without using developer time.
Updates can be made safely in multiple environments (dev, staging, production).
Automated revision history and rollback.
Manage your assets (images, videos, Unity asset bundles, etc) all in one place.

How Do Live Update Solutions Work?

Live update solutions typically involve a backend service where content or configuration are managed. The app or game can then retrieve the updated content easily using simple API calls in real-time, and apply them without any code changes.

Implementing Live Updates in Your Game or App

Integrate a Live Update / Remote Configuration SDK

Choose a live update solution, such as Joystick, and integrate their SDK into your app. This SDK will handle checking for updates and applying them to your app.
Design What to Update

Define which parts of your app you want to update. This can include text, images, videos, layout, economy, pricing, game mechanics, and more.
Push Updates and Monitor Performance

Once your updates are live, monitor user engagement and feedback to measure the impact of your changes.

Case Study: Gaming App

Consider a mobile game where player feedback indicated that early levels were too difficult. Using live updates and remote configuration, the team can adjust the difficulty settings in real-time:

Before

{
    "levelDifficulty": [
        {
            "level": 1,
            "enemies": 10
        },
        {
            "level": 2,
            "enemies": 20
        },
        {
            "level": 3,
            "enemies": 50
        },
        // more levels
    ]
}

After

{
    "levelDifficulty": [
        {
            "level": 1,
            "enemies": 5 // half the enemies
        },
        {
            "level": 2,
            "enemies": 10 // half the enemies
        },
        {
            "level": 3,
            "enemies": 15 // half the enemies
        },
        // more levels
    ]
}

A configuration change like this should be deployable instantly. You may only want to test a small segment before rolling out to everyone. After the update, early player retention rates improved, demonstrating the effectiveness of live updates.

Use Remote Configuration

Live update and remote configuration platforms provide a flexible and efficient way to keep your app’s content fresh and engaging. If you cannot make changes to your app or game without a new release, you are falling behind, and missing out on a huge opportunity to engage your users.