I am developing a few mobile apps for different platforms including Blackberry, Windows Mobile, Android and Symbian S60.
I want my mobile apps to have the capability of checking for updates before starting and in case a new version is available, prompt the user to upgrade. Moreover in certain cases (like security patches), the user must be forced to update or the app won’t work.
Surely I can cook some code to achieve the task but I was wondering if there are already existing framework to serve the purpose so that I don’t have to re-invent the wheel and test all over?
If you are seeking a single solution for all four of those platforms, I strongly suspect you are out of luck. While all four could just look at your Web site for some current-version page to see whether an update is available, the actual means of applying that update will vary widely.
In the case of Android, if you are distributing through the Android Market, you can link the user over to the Market app to pick up the update.