I have an Android app, where a part of the app is a list of data which is currently contained in a string-array (in an xml resource). I currently release updates every so often to the actual app, which do nothing more than update this list of data. (yes, in hindsight this method was a bad idea to start with).
My goal now is to change this so that I will be able to only update that one part of the app that needs to be changed. I have a webserver, and am now serving a JSON version of the data off a URL. So all the app has to do is hit that URL, check if it changed (perhaps using a version number), and then update.
My problem lies in the actual implementation:
- Where/how should I store this data? As a raw file? SharedPrefs? Database? [i.e. what are the pros and cons of each]
- How can I preform a seamless upgrade where even if something devastating happens during the update [such as a user pulling a battery…], it still won’t break the app?
- Should the updating code live in a service?
I would separate your data crud into a small background service. Use the provided SQLLite. To verify data consistency you could use md5 checks, database rollback features and most importantly design a small set of tests. One only sending a partial file, i.e. “the broken transmission test”, garbage file, etc. Keep it a separate and testable component of your app.