---
description: Control which Live Update channel your Capacitor or Cordova app receives updates from — the default channel, versioned channels, and runtime selection.
title: Subscribe to a Channel - Capawesome
image: https://capawesome.io/docs/assets/images/social/cloud/live-updates/channel-subscription.png
---

[ Skip to content](#subscribe-to-a-channel) 

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# Subscribe to a Channel[¶](#subscribe-to-a-channel "Permanent link")

Every device receives Live Updates from a single [channel](/docs/cloud/live-updates/channels/). This page covers how your app chooses which channel to subscribe to.

## The default channel[¶](#the-default-channel "Permanent link")

Every app starts with a channel named `default`. When your app doesn't request a specific channel, it receives updates from this one. The default channel exists mainly as a **fallback** to make getting started easy — you can publish your first update and watch it land without configuring any channels.

For production, we recommend moving to **versioned channels** — one channel per native app version — so a bundle only ever reaches devices that can run it. See [Binary-Compatible Changes](/docs/cloud/live-updates/binary-compatible-changes/) for why this matters, and the next section for how to set it up.

## Set the channel natively (recommended)[¶](#set-the-channel-natively-recommended "Permanent link")

The cleanest approach is to configure the channel **natively at build time**. Your app code then doesn't need to manage channels at all, and you can derive the channel from the native version code to get versioned channels for free. See [Get Started](/docs/cloud/live-updates/setup/#make-updates-version-compatible) for the Android and iOS configuration.

## Select the channel at runtime[¶](#select-the-channel-at-runtime "Permanent link")

If you need to choose the channel dynamically — for example, to opt a user into a `beta` channel — pass the `channel` to the method that fetches updates. Passing it explicitly at the call site keeps the selected channel unambiguous.

### With `sync()`[¶](#with-sync "Permanent link")

CapacitorCordova

`[](#%5F%5Fcodelineno-0-1)import { LiveUpdate } from "@capawesome/capacitor-live-update";
[](#%5F%5Fcodelineno-0-2)
[](#%5F%5Fcodelineno-0-3)await LiveUpdate.sync({ channel: "beta" });
`

`[](#%5F%5Fcodelineno-1-1)await cordova.plugins.LiveUpdate.sync({ channel: "beta" });
`

### With `fetchLatestBundle()`[¶](#with-fetchlatestbundle "Permanent link")

If you handle the [update lifecycle manually](/docs/cloud/live-updates/manual-updates/), pass the channel to `fetchLatestBundle()` instead:

CapacitorCordova

`[](#%5F%5Fcodelineno-2-1)import { LiveUpdate } from "@capawesome/capacitor-live-update";
[](#%5F%5Fcodelineno-2-2)
[](#%5F%5Fcodelineno-2-3)const result = await LiveUpdate.fetchLatestBundle({ channel: "beta" });
`

`[](#%5F%5Fcodelineno-3-1)const result = await cordova.plugins.LiveUpdate.fetchLatestBundle({ channel: "beta" });
`

### With `setChannel()`[¶](#with-setchannel "Permanent link")

You can also set the channel once with `setChannel()`, which persists it for all subsequent calls:

CapacitorCordova

`[](#%5F%5Fcodelineno-4-1)import { LiveUpdate } from "@capawesome/capacitor-live-update";
[](#%5F%5Fcodelineno-4-2)
[](#%5F%5Fcodelineno-4-3)await LiveUpdate.setChannel({ channel: "beta" });
`

`[](#%5F%5Fcodelineno-5-1)await cordova.plugins.LiveUpdate.setChannel({ channel: "beta" });
`

Prefer passing the channel directly

We don't recommend `setChannel()`. Passing the `channel` to `sync()` or `fetchLatestBundle()` on every call keeps the selected channel explicit at the call site and avoids relying on hidden, persisted state.

### Derive the channel from the version code[¶](#derive-the-channel-from-the-version-code "Permanent link")

A common pattern is to compute the channel from the native version code, so updates stay [version-compatible](/docs/cloud/live-updates/binary-compatible-changes/):

CapacitorCordova

`` [](#%5F%5Fcodelineno-6-1)import { LiveUpdate } from "@capawesome/capacitor-live-update";
[](#%5F%5Fcodelineno-6-2)
[](#%5F%5Fcodelineno-6-3)const { versionCode } = await LiveUpdate.getVersionCode();
[](#%5F%5Fcodelineno-6-4)await LiveUpdate.sync({ channel: `production-${versionCode}` });
 ``

`` [](#%5F%5Fcodelineno-7-1)const { versionCode } = await cordova.plugins.LiveUpdate.getVersionCode();
[](#%5F%5Fcodelineno-7-2)await cordova.plugins.LiveUpdate.sync({ channel: `production-${versionCode}` });
 ``

## Next steps[¶](#next-steps "Permanent link")

* [Manage Channels](/docs/cloud/live-updates/channels/) — create and configure channels for staging and production.
* [Choose an Update Strategy](/docs/cloud/live-updates/update-strategies/) — control when updates are downloaded and applied.

June 8, 2026 

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