Keeping the app up to date

Every so often OutaStory shows a small strip at the top of the screen
telling you a newer version exists. Here is what it is, what the button
does, and the one case where it is a little ahead of itself.

What you see

On the web: "A new version is available" — "Refresh to get the
latest version of OutaStory", with a Refresh button.
In an app: "An update is available" — usually with the version
number in brackets, and an Update button.

There is an ✕ on the right if you would rather not deal with it now.

What the button does

On the web, Refresh reloads the page. That is all an update is on
the web: the newest version is served the moment you reload. Nothing is
downloaded and nothing is installed.

In an app, Update opens the place this app came from so you can
install the newer version there. The button is aware of which build you
are running, so it always points at the right one and never at some
other platform's.

A few builds have no listing to open. On those the button simply takes
you back to the home screen, and you update the app the same way you
installed it in the first place.

Dismissing it

The ✕ hides the strip for the rest of your session. It comes back
next time you open OutaStory, and it comes back straight away if a
newer version than the one you dismissed appears.

It is deliberately not a permanent "never tell me again" — an out-of-date
app is the cause of a surprising share of the problems people write to
us about.

Why it sometimes appears before the store has the update

This is the part worth understanding, because it looks like a fault and
is not.

A release goes out to several places, and they do not publish at the
same moment. The website is live immediately. Each app store then takes
its own time to review and publish — sometimes hours, occasionally
longer.

OutaStory therefore waits before it starts telling you about a new
version, and the wait is set separately for each platform, based on how
long that platform normally takes. Most of the time you will never see
the gap.

Occasionally you will: you tap Update, arrive at the store, and it
still offers the version you already have. Nothing is broken. Come back
in a few hours and the newer one will be there.

Which version am I on?

In the apps, the version number is shown on the about page — and it is
the single most useful thing to include if you ever write to us about a
problem.

Should I update?

Yes, and there is no risk in it. Your stories, favourites, reading
positions, drafts, credits and Premium all live on your account, not in
the app. Updating, reinstalling, or moving to a new device changes none
of them.

The one thing that is stored on the device is your offline
downloads. An update keeps them; signing out clears them. See
Reading offline.

If the notice will not go away

Update, then fully close and reopen the app. On a phone that
means swiping it out of the recent-apps list.
On the web, do a hard reload — hold Shift while clicking reload.
If the strip still claims an update you have already installed, tell
us at /help/contact with the version number the
about page shows.

Apps and platforms — where
OutaStory runs and how to install it on each device.
Troubleshooting the apps
Turning on push
notifications