About Native Update
Native Update is an open-source Capacitor plugin for shipping
over-the-air (OTA) updates, App Store / Play Store update prompts, and
in-app review requests in cross-platform iOS and Android apps.
It is published under the MIT license, maintained by Ahsan Mahmood, and
comes with a self-hostable Laravel + Nova reference backend so you can
run it entirely on your own infrastructure.
Project history
2024 — Project started. Built as an in-house solution
for a Capacitor app where waiting on store review for every fix was
unacceptable. Open-sourced on npm shortly after.
v1.x — OTA + App Update + Review modules. Three
independent modules unified behind one TypeScript API.
v2.x — Bundle signing + percentage rollouts. RSA /
ECDSA signature verification, automatic crash-rollback, percentage
rollouts with one-click pause, plus the Laravel + Nova reference
backend.
v3.x — HTTP-only backend contract. Removed the
bundled Firestore branch; committed to a single documented HTTP
contract so any backend in any language works.
Who this is for
Indie developers shipping a Capacitor app solo or in
a small team — same-day hotfixes without store review, MIT-licensed
OTA pipeline that costs nothing on Free.
Startups running A/B tests + percentage rollouts +
beta programs against production traffic.
Enterprises with compliance requirements that prevent
signing keys or bundles from leaving their network — self-host the
Laravel backend on your infrastructure.
Frequently asked questions
Is Native Update genuinely open source?
Yes — under MIT. There are no features paywalled in the codebase. You
pay for the hosted SaaS — the operational convenience of not running
your own backend — not for plugin features.
Why build another OTA solution? What about CodePush?
Microsoft retired App Center CodePush in March 2025. Native Update is
one plugin that covers OTA + native-store updates + in-app reviews,
with a self-host option for teams that need it.
Who maintains the project?
Ahsan Mahmood (creator). Hosted SaaS operated by Zaions. Issues + PRs
on GitHub at github.com/aoneahsan/native-update.
Should I bet a production app on it?
Continuous releases since 2024 with point updates for Capacitor
major-version bumps. Bundle-signing logic and the HTTP backend
contract are stable across the v3 line. The reference backend is the
self-host fallback even if commercial support ends.
Last updated 2026-05-16. Maintained by Ahsan Mahmood
(aoneahsan@gmail.com).