Ionic Pro manual update error

I have a slight issue with the manual Javascript update method in Ionic Pro.

The entire process works perfectly.

My only issue is that whenever i open the app and haven’t updated it before, it says update available.
If i then update it registers as up to date. its only the initial first time that says update even though versions are the same.

This happens even though my app and latest commit are the same.

I have exported the app with

ionic cordova build ios --prod

Could this issue be because i must export it with --release?

Thanks