When I push my most recent app version, it erases the data in the app that's already on there! HELP!

[Laurence5905]

So I swear in the past when I have pushed updates to our apps before, it would preserve the data that was already in the previous version of the app...

In other words, someone had used version 1.0 of the app, then I uploaded version 1.1 to Meraki and pushed it to the devices -- everyone's data stayed intact.  In fact, if we wanted to delete the data, we had to delete the app first and then install it fresh.

So why, suddenly, is the newest version of this app causing the data from the old version to be deleted completely?!

Is this a Meraki setting somewhere?  I know this isn't an iOS forum, but I'm sure lots of people here have plenty of experience with iOS -- so might there be an XCode setting or iOS setting somewhere that's causing the new version of the app to delete the data before it installs itself?

The distribution profile of my old version expired today, so I cannot run it anymore, and the new version is overwriting data that needs to be preserved.  So I'm kind of stuck here...  Any help will be appreciated...

[Richard_W]

Have you checked with the app vendor?

[Laurence5905]

I am the app vendor...  😂

I wrote the app and I've never had this issue before.  It always preserves the old data when I push updates...  I had hoped it was a Meraki setting of some sort (like a "delete old app before installing new one" vs. "update app in place" setting), or perhaps an XCode setting that someone might would know, seeing as how there are probably hundreds of app developers in this forum, developing their own apps and then using MDM to push them to their devices...

[PhilipDAth]

Perhaps @HodyCrouch might know.

[HodyCrouch]

I don’t have anything Meraki-specific to share. If possible, you should test the app upgrade path independent of any MDM solution (rebuilt from a previous version if necessary) and confirm that data is preserved correctly.  If you make changes related to how you store data, it can appear that everything got deleted, when your new version is just trying to access the information somewhere else.

with that said, I can’t think of any MDM setting that would update an app in place and remove stored user data.

[Laurence5905]

I appreciate your response @HodyCrouch .   I was hoping there was some sort of setting that tells the Meraki management app to "delete the old app before installing the new one" that I could turn off -- figuring that it was deleting the old app (and its data) before installing the new app, which would account for the missing data...

I will try installing the new app independent of MDM, as you suggested.  See if it does or doesn't overwrite the data...  That's a good suggestion...  Thanks.

Laurence MacNeill

Ball Ground, Georgia, USA

[Laurence5905]

Well, this definitely seems to be a Meraki issue.  Or maybe it's an Apple DEP issue?  I'm not sure...

Here's what I've done.  I have one iPad that has a DEP Profile that will let me connect to Apple Configurator 2.  (Long story on how that happened, unrelated to this problem.)

Anyway, on that one iPad, because I can connect to Apple Configurator 2 (tired of typing that, let's just call it AC2) I can install version 1.3.3 of my app (which won't run) and then push the .mobileprovision file from the updated 1.3.9 version of the app, and all of a sudden the old 1.3.3 version *will* run.  At which point I can create some data in there and use it for testing and whatnot... Then I can drag-and-drop the 1.3.9 version of the app, which installs, and does not overwrite the data.  (So clearly it's the pushing of the app from Meraki that is overwriting the data somehow.)

So what I'm thinking is, if I can get our other iPads to let me connect them to AC2, I can copy the new .mobileprovision file over and run the "expired" 1.3.3 app and upload the data to our servers.  Then it won't matter if Meraki overwrites our data...

I tried to turn one of our "cannot connect to AC2" iPads into a "good" one by pushing the proper DEP profile to it and then factory-resetting it -- and it will connect to AC2 then.  BUT, if I restore the iCloud backup so I can get our data back, it reverts to the old DEP profile somehow...  So I cannot get those iPads to connect to AC2 to let me install the appropriate .moboleprovision profile file...

So we're back to trying to figure out why pushing the app from Meraki overwrites the data, but pushing the app from AC2 does not...

I either need to figure out how to get Meraki not to overwrite the data, or figure out how to get DEP setup to allow AC2 to work after I've restore the iCloud backup.

Thanks for any help you can give.

[Laurence5905]

Ok... VERY weird...

On that one iPad where I can connect to AC2? If I push the app from Meraki to that iPad? It *does not* erase the data!!

WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!!!! WHY IS IT ERASING THE DATA ON ALL THE IPADS EXCEPT FOR THAT ONE?!! This is RIDICULOUS!!!

[Laurence5905]

Another update...  When I push the update, I see the icon of my app get dark, the text beneath it says "cleaning", then it says "waiting", then "installing", then it shows the icon in it's normal brightness...  

What is that "cleaning" business?!  That certainly sounds like Meraki is deleting the data!!!  How do I get this "cleaning" thing not to happen?

[PeterJames]

Hi @Laurence5905 ,

If the app names are identical; I would be looking in the keychain. It might be App is not re-installing, but simply cannot access the data because the old/new keychain are different somehow.

I hope that helps!

Thank you,

Peter James

[Laurence5905]

@PeterJames I appreciate that suggestion.  I will see if I can take a look at the keychain...  My experience with Apple programming is limited, unfortunately, because I write apps using HTML/CSS/JavaScript, then compile them into native apps using Cordova.  I use XCode only at the end for on-device debugging, final building, and distributing -- so I know very little about what goes on behind the scenes in XCode, but I'm sure Google will have something regarding keychains in XCode-built apps.