Enabling Secure, Over-the-Air Updates for the Toyota One Mobile App at Global Scale
How can a customer-critical mobile application evolve quickly and securely without relying on slow app store release cycles?
Toyota North America operated a customer-facing mobile application responsible for critical vehicle functionality, including remote door access. Because of the sensitive nature of these features, reliability, security, and responsiveness were paramount.
However, any functional or security change to the application required a full rebuild and resubmission through mobile app stores. This dependency significantly slowed delivery, introduced release bottlenecks, and increased operational risk—particularly for time-sensitive security or behavioural updates.
The release model limited Toyota’s ability to respond quickly to emerging requirements and placed unnecessary friction on both engineering teams and customers. Each update cycle added cost, delay, and risk to changes that were often configuration- or behaviour-driven rather than true application changes.
Toyota needed a new approach: one that would allow secure, scalable updates to be delivered dynamically, without compromising security, customer trust, or platform integrity.
A secure, cloud-native OTA platform enabling dynamic updates without app rebuilds.
Westpoint partnered with Toyota to design and deliver a secure Over-the-Air (OTA) update platform, tightly integrated with the existing mobile application and built to operate at enterprise scale.
Architecture & platform design
- Centralised OTA update platform privately accessible by the Toyota mobile app
- Secure backend APIs designed for low-latency, high-scale access
- Cloud-native AWS architecture supporting high availability and resilience
- Strong security controls aligned with customer-critical automotive use cases
Core features delivered
- Dynamic delivery of configuration and behavioural updates
- Removal of app rebuild and app store dependency for most changes
- Controlled update distribution and rollout management
- Secure, private access restricted to trusted mobile clients
- Scalable foundation supporting millions of active users
Delivery approach
- Close collaboration with Toyota’s mobile engineering teams
- Secure polling-based integration into the existing application
- Pilot rollout to validate performance, security, and reliability
- Phased expansion to full North American scale with zero customer disruption
The result
Faster update delivery
Toyota reduced reliance on app store releases, enabling near-real-time rollout of configuration and behavioural changes.
Reduced operational risk and cost
By eliminating unnecessary rebuilds and submissions, Toyota lowered release overhead and reduced the risk associated with frequent updates.
Improved customer experience
Faster updates and fewer disruptions improved reliability and responsiveness for customers using critical vehicle functionality.
Secure, scalable OTA foundation
The platform now supports millions of users across North America, providing a robust base for future mobile capabilities.
THE CLIENT'S REQUEST
- Deliver updates without app rebuilds or store approvals
- Maintain strict security for customer-critical functionality
- Support low-latency updates at enterprise scale
- Reduce release risk and operational cost
WHAT WE DID
- Designed and delivered a secure OTA update platform
- Implemented private, high-performance backend APIs
- Enabled dynamic configuration and behavioural updates
- Built a scalable AWS-based architecture for millions of users
- Delivered the solution through phased, zero-disruption rollout
