Agile | Coaching | Product Management

Future Strategy: Fast, Safe Mobile Releases with CI/CD & Feature Flags

To meet growing demands for faster updates and reliable mobile experiences, we’re transforming how we deliver mobile apps. Our new approach emphasizes automation, flexibility, and control through CI/CD pipelines, feature toggles, and regular release cycles.

1️⃣ Separating Code Deployment from Feature Launch

By using feature flags, we decouple code deployment from feature activation. This means we can ship code early but only make it visible to users when we’re ready.

text
Code Merged → CI/CD → Staging/UAT
                        ↘
                         → Production (Feature OFF)
                         → Enable in Production (Feature ON)

💡 Benefits:

Release features silently (aka “dark launch”)
Gradually roll out new functionality
Instantly turn off features without pushing a new build

2️⃣ Environment-Based Versioning

Each environment follows a structured version format for traceability:

Environment	Version Format	Example
Internal	`vX.Y.Z-dev`	`v1.16.0-dev`
UAT	`vX.Y.Z-uat`	`v1.16.0-uat`
Production	`vX.Y.Z`	`v1.16.0`

This helps stakeholders understand what’s running where, and when.

3️⃣ Using Trunk-Based Development

We aim for faster integration and fewer conflicts by adopting:

Short-lived feature branches off main
Frequent merges (ideally daily)
Continuous testing and validation for each change pushed

🔒 Each commit must meet quality gates for test coverage, static analysis, and feature flag use.

4️⃣ Flag-First Development

Instead of waiting to build a complete feature before release:

Features are integrated into the codebase with flags OFF
QA tests both flag OFF (baseline) and flag ON (new behavior)
Once stakeholders give the green light, the flag is flipped ON in production via remote config tools

🎯 This ensures readiness without the need for a new build.

5️⃣ Weekly CI-Driven Release Cadence

To maintain momentum and predictability:

CI pipelines generate build tags (e.g., v2025.16.1)
QA runs full validation against the build
Store submissions proceed only after sign-off
Failed validations trigger flag rollbacks or hotfixes

6️⃣ Unified Tools for Collaboration & Tracking

To align teams and ensure quality:

Shared dashboards show feature status, bug reports, and readiness
Automation enforces:
- Correct tagging
- Required checklists on PRs
- Proper flag setup and descriptions

🧩 Smarter Feature Flags & Experiments

Feature toggles give us real-time control and insight:

Configured differently across dev, UAT, and production
Enable experiments (A/B testing) to compare results between users
Can be turned off instantly if needed—no new builds required
Flags are tracked and logged to measure impact and performance

🧪 Example A/B Test

Group	Feature Enabled	Percentage	Metric Tracked
A	Yes	50%	Conversion rate
B	No	50%	Baseline engagement

🔄 Safe Rollbacks & Hotfix Paths

When something goes wrong, we act fast:

Method	What It Does	When to Use
Flag Off	Turns off a feature immediately	Minor issues or unexpected behavior
Hotfix	Pushes a code update	Crashes, logic bugs, or blockers

Rollback flow:

text
Feature Enabled → Issue Detected → Turn Flag Off → Patch if Needed

✅ Ideal Pilot Features

To roll this out smoothly, we recommend starting with:

UI tweaks that don’t affect core logic
Metrics or tracking changes
Features meant for internal use first

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