Migrating Legacy Apps
You can migrate legacy apps to the new Adalo App Builder, with a few limitations.
Before You Begin
You will need a Legacy app to migrate
Ensure you have read how to Copy an App
Note that only Legacy Apps can be copied as a Legacy App. You can't copy a new app to Legacy.
Choose whether you want to copy as a new Mobile-Only or Responsive App...
Choosing a Destination App Type
Responsive Apps (Mobile, Tablet, and Desktop)
Responsive apps allow you to design a single app at three different screen sizes: mobile, tablet, and desktop. You can publish your responsive apps to Apple’s App Store for iOS, Google’s Play Store, and the web on your own custom domain. On the web, your users will automatically see the version of the app that’s best for their screen. You’ll know your app is Responsive if you see the screen size switcher above each screen in your app. The responsive app type was launched in April, 2023.
Mobile Apps (Mobile Devices Only)
The Mobile app type allows you to focus on a mobile-only experience for your users. Use this if you don’t need to support users on different device sizes. If you’re just getting started with Adalo, this is a great way to learn as it is simpler than responsive. You can always switch to responsive later and even switch back to mobile at any time if you prefer it. You can publish your mobile app to Apple’s App Store for iOS, Google’s Play Store, and the web on your own custom domain. On the web, all of your users will see a mobile-optimized version of your app. The current version of Mobile Only apps was launched in December, 2023. All mobile apps created prior to this date will be legacy apps (see below).
Walkthrough
Go to the Legacy App you wish to migrate.
Go to the left panel in the Adalo Builder, in the Settings section.
Go to Copy/Delete sub-section and select Copy app
Give your new app copy a name and select the toggle for "Copy As A New Mobile-Only App" or "Copy As A New Responsive App"
We recommend selecting "Copy As A New Mobile-Only App"
NOTE! When selecting a Responsive App, as the warning states, you will need to adjust the Layout settings for each component in your app to ensure Responsiveness. Migrated apps are not automatically made responsive.
Choose whether you want to Copy the Database structure or Share the same Database as the original Legacy App.
More than likely you will want to share the same Database so that when you publish the new Responsive build of your app, your app users still on a Legacy build of your app still have access to the any new app data created after the new Responsive App goes live.
If you have chosen to copy the database and you are on multiple teams, you can choose the team you wish to copy the app to.
Finally, click "Copy". You're done!
Now that your Legacy app has been migrated, you'll want to check your screens and components to make sure that they are behaving as you expect.
If you chose to copy as a Responsive App, then you should position and configure each component on each screen size. Check out the Layout Setup Guide for more information on this!
Once you have migrated your app to a new Mobile-Only or Responsive app and are ready to publish, you can see our Publishing Guides for more information:
Our all new Web App Publishing Guide!
Publishing your app to the Apple App Store would be as straightforward as adding the right information to your iOS Export Settings.
Publishing to the Google Play store would need a one-time intervention from your end to update some critical information.
Please add your package name, Frontend google-services.json and Service Account Key google-services.json from your existing Firebase Project used in the original app to your new app.
Publish a new build.
Reach out to our team to request we update the Version Code of your app. This can be found in your Google Developer Account. Alternatively, provide the link for both the New App and Original App and our team can look this up for you!
Learn More
Check out the Changelog Post for more info!
You cannot migrate Responsive Apps to a Legacy App.
Remember, that migrated apps are not automatically responsive. You should adjust the layout settings of your screens and components after migrating.
Help
If you need additional help with transitioning your app to Adalo 2.0, you can always ask in our community forum or hire an Expert to help!
Do you have a tutorial or help doc request? Let us know!
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