Best Practice
It's best to wait to update your version of an operating system as it can cause issues that impact live performance. Always make sure to backup your device as well as backup your OnSong library before installing any update. It's good to wait a few weeks from the release of an iOS/iPadOS version before updating your operating system to ensure that app developers have time to resolve any last-minute compatibility issues. If there are any known issues, OnSong will typically notify you of these issues. Usually, these issues will be resolved within 2-3 weeks at most.
Additionally, we also recommend playing it safe and only updating your operating system when you will have a few days afterward to practice with changes and ensure that no unexpected issues arise for you in OnSong due to unforeseen circumstances. You wouldn't want to chance something going wrong by updating right before a gig! If you notice anything, please report it to OnSong immediately so we can ensure the matter is addressed.
Active Development
OnSong is under active development and we work hard to ensure compatibility with major updates to the operating systems that OnSong runs on. This includes testing OnSong on pre-release versions of iOS and iPadOS and updating OnSong to work great on the platforms we support. We also actively participate in developer communities by reporting issues with these beta versions with the hope that Apple will correct any flaws that are discovered. We respond to operating system updates in the following ways.
Major Versions
Apple typically releases new versions of iOS and iPadOS in June and the first versions of the operating system typically have issues that are reported. By early July, the new operating system is usually stable enough to begin testing and development. Progress on OnSong and the operating system continues into August when we have handled any changes and ensured compatibility. However, there is always a likelihood that Apple will make changes late in the development cycle that can affect OnSong and other apps that you depend on for live use. Apple releases a "Gold Master" version of its operating systems in September right before the launch of new hardware. This gives developers about a week for final testing and development. In addition, some issues may not come to light until the operating system is "in the wild". The first versions of major operating system versions can have problems and it normally takes a few minor revisions to achieve maximum stability.
Our practice is to prepare a version in tandem with the release of major versions of the operating system. We then wait until after the official release to address any issues reported by our users. These issues are addressed as quickly as possible with an update to OnSong between September and October. Once released, we will ensure that all issues are mitigated and notify our users that it's safe to update.
Minor Versions
Apple uses a dotted version number that indicates the changes they make to the operating system. Major versions are the primary number and indicate major architectural changes and features that affect developers like OnSong such as iOS 13. Minor versions of the operating system indicate additional features or changes to core apps in iOS that should not affect developers such as version 13.1. Apple makes between three to five minor version updates in the course of a year.
It is usually safe to update to these versions but integrations with OnSong or other apps could have trouble. For instance, OnSong may be playing a track through the Music app that is updated with a minor version, and issues found in that app could affect your live performance. It's still good to be cautious when updating to these versions.
Security Patches
Apple will also make changes to iOS to fix security issues or bugs that do not affect developers and do not make changes to their core apps. This normally appears a second dotted version such as iOS 13.1.2. You should be able to install these security patches without affecting the apps you use to live.