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Time to Update the Companion

Submitted by jeff on

Back at the beginning of January I wrote to explain how we are going to reduce the number of times you have to update your MIT App Inventor software installation by distributing a Companion App with the ability to update itself.

On February 11 we’ll implement this auto-update mechanism in MIT App Inventor 2, so that your Companion App will be brought up to the newest version. To take advantage of this new feature, you might have to manually update Companion one final time.

After you have completed this one-time update to install the newest version of the companion, future updates will happen automatically.

What you need to do

If you are running the latest version already (2.15ai2zx1) then no action is required.

If you are running version older than 2.10ai2 (and 2.10ai2zx1) you will be prompted that your Companion is out of date and you will have to manually update it by installing the new version using the instructions on the WiFi Setup Page. You probably already have been receiving warnings if you are running a Companion that old.

If you are running a version between 2.10ai2 and 2.12.ai2, and you did not download it from the Google Play store, then you will see a dialog on your browser when you attempt to connect to the Companion from App Inventor. This dialog will explain that the auto-update is about to happen. Click “OK” and the update will commence. Once you do this, on your device (or in the emulator) you will see the Android Package Manager start (it may take a few seconds). It will tell you that there is an update for the Companion and ask for your permission to install it. Depending on the version of Android you have, you may be asked a second time for confirmation. In both cases, grant the permission and the Companion will update itself. When it is done, you will be returned to your device’s home screen. You will then need to restart the companion, at which point you should see the new version.

If you are running in the Emulator, you should be able to select “Connect Emulator” again from the App Inventor Connect menu and you should get connected without issue. If you have difficulty, select “Reset Connections” from the “Connect” menu and try again.