Updates and your license · Pop Dispatch help

Every update is included while your subscription is active, and a lifetime license includes every update for good. You will be able to see the release date of your version, the date your updates run to, and what to do if a version is newer than your license.

Before you start #

You are the owner or an administrator.
You have your license key and have entered it in Settings, License.

What is covered #

A monthly or yearly license covers every version released while the license is active. Its updates end on the day the license ends.
A lifetime license has no end date and covers every version released at any time.
Every build carries its release date. A build is covered when its release date is on or before the last day your updates run to.

Steps #

Read the license details from the server (GET /licence). They include the release date of your version and, for a license with an end, the date your updates run to. The Settings, License screen in the apps does not show these two dates yet.
An update check can ask whether an update's release date is covered (GET /licence/update-covered). A covered update installs as usual.
If an update falls after the date your updates run to, renew your license and check again. Renewing moves the date forward at once.
If you installed a version that your license does not cover, Pop Dispatch starts, shows a plain message with both dates, and keeps your records open to read, export and back up. New work waits. Renew your license, or install the version you had before.

Technical details

GET /me and GET /licence include release_date (YYYY-MM-DD, UTC) and updates_until (the end of the covered updates, empty when there is no limit). GET /licence also says whether this build is covered.
GET /licence/update-covered?release_date=YYYY-MM-DD answers whether a release is covered, so an update check can ask before it offers a download. The app engine has the same helper, update_covered, and release_date.
Whole days are compared. A release on the last covered day is covered.
The release date is stamped when the program is built, from the release script's date, the date of the version tag, or the date of the source commit, never from the clock of the building computer.
The license file's updates_until decides for a license that has one. A license with an end date and no updates_until uses its end date. A lifetime license ignores updates_until. A license with neither has no limit.
A lifetime license keeps the other paid rules: the device limit, a check with the license server at least every 45 days, and the clock checks.

If something goes wrong #

"This version of the app came out on ... after the updates your license covers ended": renew in Settings, License, or install the earlier version. Your records are safe and exportable meanwhile.
The updates date is empty: the license has no limit, which is the case for a lifetime license.

Updates on the Mac and Windows #

The website serves update installers to a license key only, so the Mac and Windows apps send your key with the download request, and only to thepopstreet.com over https. The key never goes in an address and the app keeps no copy on disk: after you sign in as an owner or manager, the app asks the office server for it and keeps it in memory. Before it offers an update, the app checks whether your license covers the release date. When it does not, the app says so in plain words: the version, the day it came out and the day your updates run to. Renew or extend your license to get that version, or keep using the one you have. A Mac used only by a dispatcher or an advisor holds no key, so it asks you to sign in once as an owner or manager before it can download.