User-Controlled Shipments

The feature that allows end-user to decide when to apply a new firmware update

By default, all shipments are delivered automatically if the device meets the shipment conditions. However, sometimes, when interrupting your hardware with firmware updates is not desired and you want end-users to control the device firmware updates manually - you can use the user-controlled shipments.

To enable user-controlled shipments you need to add the "Firmware Update Control" metafield to your template. By adding this metafield to your device template, you provide the ability for the end-users to control device updates manually for every newly created shipment. "Firmware Update Control" metafield works the same way as other metafields. It has a default state for auto-updates switch and you can require the end-user to set the state of the auto-update control during the device provisioning.

You can set the value for this metafield at the template level and later customize it for individual devices. For example, you can enable automatic updates for all devices using the template and selectively disable automatic updates for specific devices.

After adding the metafield, the user can disable or enable firmware auto-updates both: in the Blynk.Console and Blynk.App device information page.

"Firmware Update Control" metafield look in the mobile device information window

If the user disables auto-update, as soon as a new update is available, a button inviting to update the firmware will appear on the device information screen. The device shipment status at this moment will be Awaiting user action. This means an update for that device can't be applied until the user confirms it with a click on "Update Firmware" button on the UI.

After the user clicks on the "Update Firmware" button, the new firmware will be sent to the device if it is online or wait until the device goes online to send the new firmware. Note that the preferred shipment time is ignored in this case. Blynk will send an update as soon as possible.

Firmware Update pop-up window on the Blynk.Console

In addition, if you want to notify users who have disabled auto-update of a new firmware update, you can enable the "Send push notification" option in the shipment settings. The notification will be sent to all eligible users when the shipment is created.

Shipment Settings

For White-Label customers, Blynk also provides the ability to create a "Critical Shipment": such a shipment will ignore user-configured auto-update settings.

Alternatively, you can remove the "Firmware Update Control" metafield from the template to automatically propagate the update to every user.