diff --git a/app/actions/views/channel.js b/app/actions/views/channel.js
index e1dbd8e2f..faaa1462f 100644
--- a/app/actions/views/channel.js
+++ b/app/actions/views/channel.js
@@ -223,7 +223,8 @@ export function selectInitialChannel(teamId) {
         const {channels, myMembers} = state.entities.channels;
         const {currentUserId} = state.entities.users;
         const {myPreferences} = state.entities.preferences;
-        const lastChannelId = state.views.team.lastChannelForTeam[teamId] || '';
+        const lastChannelForTeam = state.views.team.lastChannelForTeam[teamId];
+        const lastChannelId = lastChannelForTeam && lastChannelForTeam.length ? lastChannelForTeam[0] : '';
         const lastChannel = channels[lastChannelId];
 
         const isDMVisible = lastChannel && lastChannel.type === General.DM_CHANNEL &&
diff --git a/app/constants/view.js b/app/constants/view.js
index 24f3b4f99..f44fa70b4 100644
--- a/app/constants/view.js
+++ b/app/constants/view.js
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ export const UpgradeTypes = {
 };
 
 const ViewTypes = keyMirror({
+    DATA_CLEANUP: null,
     SERVER_URL_CHANGED: null,
 
     LOGIN_ID_CHANGED: null,
diff --git a/app/mattermost.js b/app/mattermost.js
index 90a1b0677..dc35cfbee 100644
--- a/app/mattermost.js
+++ b/app/mattermost.js
@@ -194,8 +194,10 @@ export default class Mattermost {
             try {
                 if (!isActive && !this.inBackgroundSince) {
                     this.inBackgroundSince = Date.now();
+                    dispatch({type: ViewTypes.DATA_CLEANUP, payload: getState()});
                 } else if (isActive && this.inBackgroundSince && (Date.now() - this.inBackgroundSince) >= AUTHENTICATION_TIMEOUT) {
                     this.inBackgroundSince = null;
+
                     if (this.mdmEnabled) {
                         const config = await mattermostManaged.getConfig();
                         const authNeeded = config.inAppPinCode && config.inAppPinCode === 'true';
@@ -206,6 +208,8 @@ export default class Mattermost {
                             }
                         }
                     }
+                } else if (isActive) {
+                    this.inBackgroundSince = null;
                 }
             } catch (error) {
                 // do nothing
diff --git a/app/reducers/app/build.js b/app/reducers/app/build.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2fb04f960
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/reducers/app/build.js
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2017-present Mattermost, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
+// See License.txt for license information.
+
+export default function build(state = '') {
+    return state;
+}
+
diff --git a/app/reducers/app/index.js b/app/reducers/app/index.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..52264ca07
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/reducers/app/index.js
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2017-present Mattermost, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
+// See License.txt for license information.
+
+import {combineReducers} from 'redux';
+
+import build from './build';
+import version from './version';
+
+export default combineReducers({
+    build,
+    version
+});
diff --git a/app/reducers/app/version.js b/app/reducers/app/version.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1b8c813f4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/reducers/app/version.js
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2017-present Mattermost, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
+// See License.txt for license information.
+
+export default function version(state = '') {
+    return state;
+}
+
diff --git a/app/reducers/index.js b/app/reducers/index.js
index e80bcabcf..5c66152e1 100644
--- a/app/reducers/index.js
+++ b/app/reducers/index.js
@@ -1,11 +1,13 @@
 // Copyright (c) 2016-present Mattermost, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
 // See License.txt for license information.
 
+import app from './app';
 import device from './device';
 import navigation from './navigation';
 import views from './views';
 
 export default {
+    app,
     device,
     navigation,
     views
diff --git a/app/reducers/views/channel.js b/app/reducers/views/channel.js
index 870624819..9c2b908c2 100644
--- a/app/reducers/views/channel.js
+++ b/app/reducers/views/channel.js
@@ -4,7 +4,8 @@
 import {combineReducers} from 'redux';
 import {
     ChannelTypes,
-    FileTypes
+    FileTypes,
+    PostTypes
 } from 'mattermost-redux/action_types';
 
 import {ViewTypes} from 'app/constants';
@@ -238,6 +239,14 @@ function retryFailed(state = false, action) {
     switch (action.type) {
     case ViewTypes.SET_CHANNEL_RETRY_FAILED:
         return action.failed;
+    case PostTypes.GET_POSTS_SUCCESS:
+    case PostTypes.GET_POSTS_SINCE_SUCCESS: {
+        if (state) {
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        return state;
+    }
     default:
         return state;
     }
diff --git a/app/reducers/views/team.js b/app/reducers/views/team.js
index c5d9184e9..12c4a03ec 100644
--- a/app/reducers/views/team.js
+++ b/app/reducers/views/team.js
@@ -17,11 +17,33 @@ function lastTeamId(state = '', action) {
 
 function lastChannelForTeam(state = {}, action) {
     switch (action.type) {
-    case ViewTypes.SET_LAST_CHANNEL_FOR_TEAM:
+    case ViewTypes.SET_LAST_CHANNEL_FOR_TEAM: {
+        const team = state[action.teamId];
+        const channelIds = [];
+
+        if (!action.channelId) {
+            return state;
+        }
+
+        if (team) {
+            channelIds.push(...team);
+            const index = channelIds.indexOf(action.channelId);
+            if (index === -1) {
+                channelIds.unshift(action.channelId);
+                channelIds.slice(0, 5);
+            } else {
+                channelIds.splice(index, 1);
+                channelIds.unshift(action.channelId);
+            }
+        } else {
+            channelIds.push(action.channelId);
+        }
+
         return {
             ...state,
-            [action.teamId]: action.channelId
+            [action.teamId]: channelIds
         };
+    }
     default:
         return state;
     }
diff --git a/app/screens/channel/index.js b/app/screens/channel/index.js
index 8717e0104..f0584fc87 100644
--- a/app/screens/channel/index.js
+++ b/app/screens/channel/index.js
@@ -51,27 +51,4 @@ function mapDispatchToProps(dispatch) {
     };
 }
 
-function areStatesEqual(next, prev) {
-    // When switching teams
-    if (next.entities.teams.currentTeamId !== prev.entities.teams.currentTeamId) {
-        return false;
-    }
-
-    // When we have a new channel after switching teams
-    const prevChannelId = prev.entities.channels.currentChannelId;
-    const nextChannelId = next.entities.channels.currentChannelId;
-    if (nextChannelId !== prevChannelId) {
-        return false;
-    }
-
-    // When getting the channels for a team and the request fails
-    const prevStatus = prev.requests.channels.myChannels.status;
-    const nextStatus = next.requests.channels.myChannels.status;
-    if (!nextChannelId && prevStatus === RequestStatus.STARTED && nextStatus === RequestStatus.FAILURE) {
-        return false;
-    }
-
-    return true;
-}
-
-export default connect(mapStateToProps, mapDispatchToProps, null, {pure: true, areStatesEqual})(Channel);
+export default connect(mapStateToProps, mapDispatchToProps)(Channel);
diff --git a/app/store/index.js b/app/store/index.js
index 25416ff94..e1fce8ba6 100644
--- a/app/store/index.js
+++ b/app/store/index.js
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ import appReducer from 'app/reducers';
 import networkConnectionListener from 'app/utils/network';
 import {createSentryMiddleware} from 'app/utils/sentry/middleware';
 
+import {messageRetention} from './middleware';
 import {transformSet} from './utils';
 
 function getAppReducer() {
@@ -193,7 +194,8 @@ export default function configureAppStore(initialState) {
         }
     };
 
+    const additionalMiddleware = [createSentryMiddleware(), messageRetention];
     return configureStore(initialState, appReducer, offlineOptions, getAppReducer, {
-        additionalMiddleware: createSentryMiddleware()
+        additionalMiddleware
     });
 }
diff --git a/app/store/middleware.js b/app/store/middleware.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7696c2e5d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/store/middleware.js
@@ -0,0 +1,201 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2017-present Mattermost, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
+// See License.txt for license information.
+
+import DeviceInfo from 'react-native-device-info';
+
+import {ViewTypes} from 'app/constants';
+import Config from 'assets/config';
+
+export function messageRetention() {
+    return (next) => (action) => {
+        if (action.type === 'persist/REHYDRATE') {
+            const {app} = action.payload;
+            const {entities} = action.payload;
+
+            if (!entities) {
+                return next(action);
+            }
+
+            // When a new version of the app has been detected
+            if (!app || !app.version || app.version !== DeviceInfo.getVersion() || app.build !== DeviceInfo.getBuildNumber()) {
+                return next(resetStateForNewVersion(action));
+            }
+
+            // Keep only the last 60 messages for the last 5 viewed channels in each team
+            // and apply data retention on those posts if applies
+            return next(cleanupState(action));
+        } else if (action.type === ViewTypes.DATA_CLEANUP) {
+            const nextAction = cleanupState(action, true);
+            return next(nextAction);
+        }
+
+        return next(action);
+    };
+}
+
+function resetStateForNewVersion(action) {
+    const {payload} = action;
+    const lastChannelForTeam = getLastChannelForTeam(payload);
+    const currentUserId = payload.entities.users.currentUserId;
+
+    const nextState = {
+        app: {
+            build: DeviceInfo.getBuildNumber(),
+            version: DeviceInfo.getVersion()
+        },
+        entities: {
+            general: payload.entities.general,
+            teams: {
+                currentTeamId: payload.entities.teams.currentTeamId,
+                teams: payload.entities.teams.teams,
+                myMembers: payload.entities.teams.myMembers
+            },
+            users: {
+                currentUserId,
+                profiles: {
+                    [currentUserId]: payload.entities.users.profiles[currentUserId]
+                }
+            },
+            preferences: payload.entities.preferences,
+            search: {
+                recent: payload.entities.search.recent
+            }
+        },
+        views: {
+            channel: {
+                drafts: payload.views.channel.drafts
+            },
+            i18n: payload.views.i18n,
+            fetchCache: payload.views.fetchCache,
+            team: {
+                lastTeamId: payload.views.team.lastTeamId,
+                lastChannelForTeam
+            },
+            thread: {
+                drafts: payload.views.thread.drafts
+            },
+            selectServer: payload.views.selectServer
+        }
+    };
+
+    return {
+        type: action.type,
+        payload: nextState,
+        error: action.error
+    };
+}
+
+function getLastChannelForTeam(payload) {
+    const lastChannelForTeam = {...payload.views.team.lastChannelForTeam};
+    const convertLastChannelForTeam = Object.values(lastChannelForTeam).some((value) => !Array.isArray(value));
+
+    if (convertLastChannelForTeam) {
+        Object.keys(lastChannelForTeam).forEach((id) => {
+            lastChannelForTeam[id] = [lastChannelForTeam[id]];
+        });
+    }
+
+    return lastChannelForTeam;
+}
+
+function cleanupState(action, keepCurrent = false) {
+    const {payload: resetPayload} = resetStateForNewVersion(action);
+    const {payload} = action;
+    const {currentChannelId} = payload.entities.channels;
+    const {statuses, ...otherUsers} = payload.entities.users; //eslint-disable-line no-unused-vars
+
+    const {lastChannelForTeam} = resetPayload.views.team;
+    const nextEntitites = {
+        posts: {
+            posts: {},
+            postsInChannel: {},
+            reactions: {},
+            selectedPostId: payload.entities.posts.selectedPostId,
+            currentFocusedPostId: payload.entities.posts.currentFocusedPostId
+        },
+        files: {
+            files: {},
+            fileIdsByPostId: {}
+        }
+    };
+
+    const retentionPeriod = Config.EnableMessageRetention ? Config.MessageRetentionPeriod + 1 : 0;
+    const postIdsToKeep = Object.values(lastChannelForTeam).reduce((array, channelIds) => {
+        const ids = channelIds.reduce((result, id) => {
+            // we need to check that the channel id is not already included
+            // the reason it can be included is cause at least one of the last channels viewed
+            // in a team can be a DM or GM and the id can be duplicate
+            if (!nextEntitites.posts.postsInChannel[id]) {
+                let postIds;
+                if (keepCurrent && currentChannelId === id) {
+                    postIds = payload.entities.posts.postsInChannel[id];
+                } else {
+                    postIds = payload.entities.posts.postsInChannel[id].slice(0, 60);
+                }
+                nextEntitites.posts.postsInChannel[id] = postIds;
+                return result.concat(postIds);
+            }
+
+            return result;
+        }, []);
+        return array.concat(ids);
+    }, []);
+
+    postIdsToKeep.forEach((postId) => {
+        const post = payload.entities.posts.posts[postId];
+        const skip = keepCurrent && currentChannelId === post.channel_id;
+
+        if (!skip && retentionPeriod && (Date.now() - post.create_at) / (1000 * 3600 * 24) > retentionPeriod) {
+            const postsInChannel = nextEntitites.posts.postsInChannel[post.channel_id];
+            const index = postsInChannel.indexOf(postId);
+            if (index !== -1) {
+                postsInChannel.splice(index, 1);
+            }
+            return;
+        }
+
+        nextEntitites.posts.posts[postId] = post;
+
+        const reaction = payload.entities.posts.reactions[postId];
+        if (reaction) {
+            nextEntitites.posts.reactions[postId] = reaction;
+        }
+
+        const fileIds = payload.entities.files.fileIdsByPostId[postId];
+        if (fileIds) {
+            nextEntitites.files.fileIdsByPostId[postId] = fileIds;
+            fileIds.forEach((fileId) => {
+                nextEntitites.files.files[fileId] = payload.entities.files.files[fileId];
+            });
+        }
+    });
+
+    const nextState = {
+        app: resetPayload.app,
+        entities: {
+            ...nextEntitites,
+            channels: payload.entities.channels,
+            emojis: payload.entities.emojis,
+            general: resetPayload.entities.general,
+            preferences: resetPayload.entities.preferences,
+            search: resetPayload.entities.search,
+            teams: resetPayload.entities.teams,
+            users: {
+                ...otherUsers
+            }
+        },
+        views: {
+            ...resetPayload.views
+        }
+    };
+
+    if (keepCurrent) {
+        nextState.errors = payload.errors;
+    }
+
+    return {
+        type: 'persist/REHYDRATE',
+        payload: nextState,
+        error: action.error
+    };
+}
diff --git a/app/utils/network.js b/app/utils/network.js
index c1963f326..a517929de 100644
--- a/app/utils/network.js
+++ b/app/utils/network.js
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 import {NetInfo} from 'react-native';
 
-import {Client4} from 'mattermost-redux/client';
-
 export async function checkConnection() {
-    const server = Client4.getUrl() || 'https://www.google.com';
+    // If the websocket cannot connect probably is because the Mattermost server
+    // is down and we don't want to make the app think the device is offline
+    const server = 'https://www.google.com';
 
     try {
         await fetch(server);
diff --git a/assets/base/config.json b/assets/base/config.json
index 6bc89e57d..a07e7ffa1 100644
--- a/assets/base/config.json
+++ b/assets/base/config.json
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 {
     "DefaultServerUrl": "",
+    "EnableMessageRetention": false,
+    "MessageRetentionPeriod": 30,
     "TestServerUrl": "http://localhost:8065",
     "DefaultTheme": "default",
     "ShowErrorsList": false,