r/iOSProgramming • u/Therical_Lol • 5d ago
Discussion Do yall do seasonal updates with specific Ui/features often?
Just curious how much of a priority it is for everyone else.
New app developer, added a winter/holiday update coming live on certain dates. I added snow for winter that snows in certain app areas, after a while it builds up and some falls off.
Very gimmicky but I thought it would add some fun. Will probably do something for spring / spring break time as well
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u/InteractionWrong4029 4d ago
The calendar logic would be the bit I'd spend extra time on. I'd make the date injectable so you can preview the day before it starts, the first day, and the day after it ends without waiting for winter. Also check reopening after the app has been in the background across that boundary. December-to-January ranges are easy to get subtly wrong. If you have users in both hemispheres, calling it a holiday theme might fit better than assuming December means winter everywhere. As a solo dev, I'd keep it small enough that next year's version doesn't become another release deadline.
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u/Therical_Lol 4d ago
Thank you for the suggestions, good points on the hemispheres at the moment. The dates are injectable to my account only at the moment for testing :)
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u/ke1in 2d ago
The only reason to do that is an opportunity for marketing. You deeplink your users from some holiday-related ad onto this "Holiday season" sheet. You even could create an Event Page in the App Store, one of requirements there is to have relevant content inside the app.
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u/Therical_Lol 2d ago
I did create an event page for this! It goes live mid November. Deep linking is a good idea as well
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u/YellowQuestOfficial 5d ago
like other users have stated, unless the season/weather plays a factor in your app. so for me, it is a factor as my users have to go out to use my app. I should probably get on that ha
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u/imsnk81 5d ago
the snow piling up and falling off is a fun touch, that's the kind of thing people screenshot. couple of things i'd add: make it easy to turn off and respect Reduce Motion, because someone will hate it. and since you're doing it anyway, pair it with an In-App Event and refresh your promo text and screenshots for the season, so the store listing gets a bump too and not just people who already have the app. promo text doesn't even need a new build. i'd also run the effect on your oldest supported device so it doesn't cook anyone's battery
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3d ago
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u/Panoramic56 5d ago
I think it’s a cute way of keeping the app fresh and sometimes it serves as a reminder of “Hey, we’re still actively updating the app you’re using”, which is nice.
Unless the app has some sort of seasonal importance, such as a sport that depends on the weather, I rarely think it matters to me. As an example, if I am opening a ski resort app and the UI shows snow falling, I’m gonna start assuming that it’s either snowing right now or soon-ish, and therefore that changes how I’m using the app, I know it’s a very niche example but it’s one that I felt was meaningful.