# Update your app after it is published

Source: https://saastostore.com/docs/update-your-app

Your app shows your live website. Most updates therefore happen by themselves: you change your site and people see the change the next time they open the app. A new build is only needed when the native part of the app changes.

## What updates on its own

- Text, images, pages and layouts of your website
- Your site's code, including calls to `window.saastostore`
- Your prices, your database and your sign-in
- Everything else your site does in a browser

## What needs a new build

- A plugin you turned on or off
- Tabs, header, side menu and colors of the native shell
- The app's icon, name or launch screen
- Selectors of [hidden website elements](https://saastostore.com/docs/hide-website-elements)
- A new address for your website, or extra domains

> A new build reaches people only after you publish it and the store accepts it. Until then they keep the previous version, which still shows your live website.

## Publish an update

1. **Change what you need** Open the project, adjust the Configuration tab and save.
2. **Launch a new build** In the Build tab, launch the same build type as your published app. The version number goes up by itself, and the same signing key is reused.
3. **Publish it** Send it from the Publish tab, or upload the file by hand.

## How many builds you have

SHIP includes 4 builds per platform for 12 months: the first one and 3 updates. Thirty days before the end of those 12 months, we email you. KEEP ALIVE then keeps one app up to date for 15 € a month or 129 € a year, with 10 builds a month for that app. You'll find it in the **Maintenance** section of the project page.

## Take over an app already on Google Play

If your app was first published with another tool, Google needs two things before it accepts a SaasToStore build. The Build and Publish tabs have a section called **My app is already on Google Play** for both.

1. **Register the upload key** Download the certificate (`.pem`) from that section, then send it to Google with **Request upload key reset** in the Play Console. Google tells you when the new key is valid: it isn't immediate. Your users aren't affected, as Google keeps signing the installed app with the same app signing key.
2. **Set the version code** Enter the highest version code your app has already received. Your next build starts right after it. Check the number first: once a build has used a version code, the following ones can only go up.

Keep the same package name as the published app. If Google refuses a build anyway, see [Troubleshooting](https://saastostore.com/docs/troubleshooting).

## Frequently asked questions

### Do users need to update the app when I change my website?

No. The app loads your live website, so they see the change the next time it loads.

### Do I have to rebuild every year?

Your app keeps working without a new build. Stores do raise their requirements over time, though, and Google Play can stop offering an app whose target Android version is too old. KEEP ALIVE covers those rebuilds.

### Will a new build log people out?

An update keeps the app's data, so sign-in sessions stay in place. Uninstalling the app clears them.

### Can I change the app's name after it's published?

Yes. Change it in the project, launch a new build and publish it. The name on the store page is edited in the store listing.