What Is OTA? Instant Updates Without a Rebuild
Snapp OTA pushes your latest changes to installed apps in seconds — no rebuild, no store review. Learn when it works and how Snapp offers it automatically.
What Is Snapp OTA? Instant Updates Without a Rebuild
Once your app is live, you'll often make small changes — fix a typo, tweak a color, adjust a screen. Do you have to rebuild and wait for store review every time? Usually no. That's what OTA is for.
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Snapp OTA in one sentence
Snapp OTA (Over-The-Air) pushes your latest changes straight to the app already installed on your users' phones — in seconds, with no rebuild and no store review.
When your change is eligible, Snapp shows a "Send instant update" option in the Publish screen.
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When can I use Snapp OTA?
OTA works for JavaScript-level changes — which is most of what you'll do:
- ✅ Text, colors, layout, screens
- ✅ Logic, data, most features
- ✅ Bug fixes
- ❌ Adding a capability that needs a new permission (camera, location…)
- ❌ Adding a package with native code
- ❌ Changing the app icon or name
- Publish your Android app to Google Play
- Publish your iOS app to the App Store
OTA does not cover native changes, for example:
For those, you need a full build (a new store version). Snapp detects new permissions and native packages automatically: the instant-update option simply won't appear — you'll publish a full build instead. For a new icon or name, choose Full build yourself — an instant update won't change them.
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How it works in Snapp
1. Make your change and open Publish App. 2. If the change is JS-only, you'll see "Send instant update" (marked fastest). 3. Tap it. Within seconds the update is live: users on the current version download it the next time they open the app and see it the time after that.
No 20-minute build. No store queue. No review wait.
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Snapp OTA vs a full build — quick compare
| Instant update (OTA) | Full build | |
|---|---|---|
| Speed | Seconds | ~20 min + store review |
| Store review | Not needed | Needed |
| Good for | Text, UI, logic, fixes | New permissions, native features, icon/name |
| Reaches | Already-installed apps | New + existing (via store) |
Common questions
Will every user get the update? Users on the same underlying version download it automatically on their next launch and see it after they reopen the app. Users who never installed your app still get it the normal way — from the store.
Is Snapp OTA safe / allowed? Yes. Pushing JavaScript updates to your own app is a standard, supported practice (it's how Expo updates work). It's for your app's content and logic — not for loading a different app.
Why didn't I see the instant-update option? Either your change touched the app's native parts, or no full build of this app has been published yet — both need a full build. That's expected — publish a new build and you're set.
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What's next
Snapp Team
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