OTA Updates for White-Label Apps

The White-Label Challenge

You've built a white-label mobile app platform. Now you have 50, 100, or 500 branded versions of the same app. How do you push updates efficiently?

Why White-Label Apps Are Different

Traditional single-app thinking doesn't work:

The Manual Update Nightmare

Without OTA updates, updating 100 white-label apps means:

1. Build 100 binaries
2. Submit 100 app store updates
3. Wait for 100 reviews
4. Coordinate 100 launches
5. Repeat for every bug fix

That's weeks of work for a single update.

OTA Updates for Multi-Tenant Architecture

With Upflux, you can:

1. Share a Single Codebase

All white-label apps use the same JS bundle:

App Shell (Native) → Different per brand
JS Bundle (OTA) → Shared across all brands

2. Update All Apps Simultaneously

One release updates all white-label instances:

# Releasing to 'production' updates everyone subscribed to it
upflux release --label v2.0.0 --rollout 100

3. Or Update Specific Brands

Create brand-specific deployments:

deployment: brand-a-production
deployment: brand-b-production
deployment: brand-c-production

Then release to specific brands:

upflux release --deployment brand-a-production --label v2.0.0

Architecture Patterns

Pattern 1: Shared Everything

All brands share one deployment:

All Brands → Single Deployment → One Release

Pros: Simplest to manage Cons: All-or-nothing updates, risky

Pattern 2: Tiered Deployments

Group brands by tier:

Enterprise Brands → Enterprise Deployment
Standard Brands → Standard Deployment
Beta Brands → Beta Deployment

Pros: Different update cadences, safer Cons: More coordination

Pattern 3: Per-Brand Deployments

Each brand has its own deployment:

Brand A → Brand A Deployment
Brand B → Brand B Deployment
...

Pros: Full flexibility, safest Cons: More deployments to manage

Best Practices for White-Label OTA

1. Use Configuration Over Code

Brand differences should come from config:

const brandConfig = {
  brandId: 'brand-a',
  primaryColor: '#FF5733',
  logoUrl: 'https://cdn.example.com/logo-a.png',
  features: ['feature-a', 'feature-b']
};

This way, a single bundle works for all brands.

2. Feature Flags for Brand-Specific Features

if (brandConfig.features.includes('premium-feature')) {
  // Show premium feature
}

3. Staged Rollouts Across Brands

Roll out to beta brands first:

# Deploy to beta brands
upflux release --deployment beta-brands --label v2.0.0

# After validation, deploy to all
upflux release --deployment production --label v2.0.0

4. Coordinate with Client Communication

Before major updates:

• Notify white-label clients
• Provide release notes
• Offer preview in staging

Enterprise Considerations

Security

• Client keys are scoped to deployments
• Each brand can have isolated keys
• Audit logs for compliance

SLAs

• Upflux infrastructure is designed for enterprise
• High availability by default
• Support for on-premise (Enterprise plan)

Summary

White-label apps multiply complexity. OTA updates simplify it:

1. Single codebase - One bundle, many brands
2. Flexible deployments - Update all or some
3. Instant rollback - Fix issues across all brands
4. No app store coordination - Skip 100 reviews

Scale your white-label platform efficiently with Upflux.