How Wealthsimple Ships New Features
Get to Know Our App Release Cycle
Like most tech companies, we develop our app iteratively with a new version marking a new set of changes. Mobile app development is a lengthy process as updates need to be approved by the app stores, deployed, and then updated to client’s phones. A schedule helps us remain consistent and stable throughout our app releases.
Our App Release Schedule
Every week, we release a new version of our app on the following schedule:
- Build: Monday - Wednesday*
- Build testing: Thursday
- Approval + Release: Friday - Monday
On Fridays, we submit updates to the Apple App Store and Google Play Store for approval. Assuming approval, the new version gets released on Monday.
*We continue to build on Thursday and Friday, but these changes go into the following app release.
Phased Rollouts
With phased rollouts, we can catch bugs earlier without affecting all clients. However, it also increases the time it takes to get a fix or feature out to all users. We use it with this trade-off in mind.
Testing as Both a User and Builder
We have an internal version of our app available to employees, called the “nightly build.” We use it to test out upcoming features first-hand, before our clients do. This is a big part of our “dogfooding” philosophy at Wealthsimple, ensuring that we are both builders and users of our product.
Wide Version Support
We have clients on a range of different app version at any given time, so we must develop new features and provide client support with this in mind. Everything we do, we do for the client.
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Written by Anisha Latchman, Software Developer Intern
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