Release Channels
Release Channels are a powerful way to manage your applications on ArborXR, whether you're deploying them to your own devices or groups, or sharing them with other organizations.
A Release Channel is created, by default, when you upload an app on ArborXR. The automatically created Release Channel, 'Latest', will always point to the highest version, and will start as the default Release Channel for the app. However, you can always create or delete additional Release Channels, and assign them as the Default.
When deploying an app to a device, group, or sharing it with other organizations, you'll select the Release Channel with the desired Target Version. You can also update the Release Channel to have it point to another Target Version, and any groups, devices, or other organizations on that Release Channel will update to that newly selected version automatically.
Because of this, on December 13th, 2023, when we launch Release Channels, we'll be performing a migration to this new system, which this article will explain.
To learn more about Release Channels as a feature, read more here.
Release Channels Migration
We understand you may be concerned about how this change might affect your current workflow with ArborXR. Don't worry though, we'll run you through the different scenarios we're accounting for so that you can see that this change will only improve your processes.
See exactly how migration will work in the scenarios below:
1. You've Deployed or Shared the Latest Version of an App
Currently | After the Migration |
You have an app 'X' | You'll have an app 'X' |
You have multiple versions of app 'X' | You'll have 1 Release Channel, Latest, with the Target Version being the latest version |
The latest version is on device 'Y' | Device 'Y' will have Latest (Default) Release Channel |
2. You've Deployed or Shared a Specific Version (Not Latest)
Currently | After the Migration |
You have an app 'X' | You'll have an app 'X' |
You have 3 versions (Let's say v1, v2, v3) | You'll have 2 Release Channels, Latest (Default), with Target Version v3, and Release Channel, with Target Version v2 |
You have deployed or shared a specific version, v2, to a device, group, or another org | Release Channel will be deployed or shared to a device, group, or another org |
3. You Have an App Not Yet Deployed or Shared
Currently | After the Migration |
You have an app 'X' with 3 versions | You'll have an app 'X' |
Your app 'X' is not deployed to any device or device group, or shared with another organization | You'll have 1 Release Channel, Latest (Default), with Target Version being the latest version (determined by highest versionCode) |
Before and After Release Channels
First, let's both show and explain the biggest changes you'll see once Release Channels is rolled out.
App Page
Before
After
Explanation
With Release Channels you'll see a new section below versions on app pages. As soon as one or more version is added to the app, a Latest Release Channel is created by default, and will be the default Release Channel.
Here, you can create additional Release Channels, or edit existing one, as long as you always have one Release Channel.
App Sharing
Before
After
Explanation
When sharing an app, instead of just selecting to share the latest version, or choosing specific versions, you'll instead select the Release Channel(s) you want to share.
To learn more about Release Channels and how you can make the most of it, read this article.