App Versioning
aCalendar uses a 3-numbers versioning system: major.minor.patch, e.g., 2.3.4 (which is major version 2, minor version 3 and patch level 4).
Major version 0 (alpha/beta phase) was from 2010 until 2013.
Major version 1 was up until 2018.
The current major version 2 is an all-improved (architecture, design, functionality, and user experience) version written mostly from scratch from 2016 to 2018. This step was necessary, as the development of both, Android and aCalendar, went very fast and neither was designed from the beginning on for the complexity we see today.
Development and Test Cycle
With each minor release (usually every 2-3 months, but we release when it's ready, not according to fixed release dates) new features are added. Most of these will not add complexity to any day-to-day tasks, so the UI can stay clean and intuitive. Bug fixes, adjustments to changes in external interfaces (Google, Microsoft, Caldav, etc), translation updates, etc. are released as necessary in patch updates. All new features are tested internally in their development branch before they are merged into our internal alpha channel for testing of the new minor release before it hits our public beta channel for testing with a larger audience.
Beta Channel
Our beta channel serves two purposes:
- for new minor updates, it gives early access to new features, which may still be unstable or unpolished. This is not recommended for users with limited tech knowledge.
- for critical bugs, it gives fast access to patches (we recommend to leave the beta channel, once you received the patch, to avoid getting unstable versions in the future)
To join our beta channel, visit the aCalendar or aCalendar+ page in the Google Play Store app on your device and find the Join-the-beta button.
Update Rollout
All release updates are rolled out in stages over a number of days. Thus you may not see an update yet, while someone else already has it. This (together with alpha and beta testing) minimizes the impact of undetected bugs, as we can stop the update process before too many users are affected.
Amazon App Store
On Amazon App Store there are no staged rollouts and there is no beta channel. Sometimes we additionally need to make adjustments for Fire OS. Therefore, updates are usually later than on Google Play. Please do not ask about release dates, as there are no fixed dates. We release once it is ready.