We’ve busted this myth before. Mobile app development is not a one-time venture especially if you want to reap the rewards of serving thousands of people for a very long time. Businesses must allocate resources for app maintenance throughout their lifetime. This is to ensure that your app is up to date on the latest technologies, operating systems, compliance protocols, marketing trends and user experiences among other factors. Ever experienced an app crashing mid-use or its screen freezing as you sign-up? Those are common signs that you need to update your mobile app.

App owners bear the responsibility of keeping their products flawless and fully functioning, and developers like us make it hassle-free for you. 

Types of Mobile App Maintenance

Corrective

This type of maintenance covers any faulty elements on the app. If there’s a problem in an application’s logic, user interface design or other features, corrective maintenance is performed to rectify any issue preventing a seamless and enjoyable user experience.

Perfective

Perfective maintenance is a set of updates that adhere to variable elements such as consumer preferences, user behavior and trends. Trends come and go, so your app must keep up with consumer expectations. This may include app design updates, the addition of brand-new functionalities and any other digital novelties.   

Preventive

This ongoing maintenance ensures that your app in its entirety is always error-free. It focuses on reducing complexities and improving maintainability through code optimization, restructuring and documentation updates. This type of maintenance is something you’d have to keep doing on an ongoing basis to safeguard your app’s performance, security and usability. 

Emergency

If a user hits an unexpected snag, emergency maintenance must be performed to sort issues at a whim to prevent further downtime and avoid revenue losses on your end.


 

Reasons to Maintain or Update Your Mobile App

Reduce App Uninstalls

Consumer preferences and expectations change frequently. In order to stay relevant, certain features, functionalities and design updates should be done to meet user satisfaction. One thing to remember is that people love novelties. Consumers always want something new and shiny on the pedestal so make sure that your users would always have something new to tinker with. 

Understand your audience by asking for feedback, and think of catchy, innovative ways to retain them and keep them coming back for more. 

App Store Listing Optimization

Prevent your listing from being rejected by adhering to all iOS and Android-mandated updates. App marketplaces maintain certain technological standards and apps that don’t comply can go down the ranks and lose downloads, or worse, get delisted. 

Related:Outdated mobile app features you should be upgrading this year

Avoid Revenue Losses

Mobile apps are designed to bring money to your business or cause. As a sales channel, it should always be up and running 24/7 with minimal to zero downtime. 

Downtime can be a major disaster for any business. Last year, Facebook now Meta lost over $60 million in ad revenue and 5% of their share value. Due to a widespread network outage, their services including Instagram and Whatsapp were inaccessible for almost 6 hours. The cost of failure of this incident is massive and it’s something all app owners should learn from. 

Maximize ROI

Prevention is better than cure. In app development, fixing occasional bugs and errors through regular maintenance is the best way to keep costs down for the long haul. As you extend your app’s life,  you get to spread over the cost of your repairs for extended periods of time and increase your return on investment. You wouldn’t want to invest all those money in building an app and just watch your investment go down the drain without an update, right?

Safe User Experiences

Updating your app can reduce security risks and give your users peace of mind. Hackers are smart, and they will find every way possible to steal your data. Strengthening your defense through consistent app updates is crucial if you want to reduce the risk of breaking customer trust and costly lawsuits. 

Cost of App Maintenance

Maintaining an app doesn’t cost as much as developing it. Regular maintenance may cost up to 50% of your initial development cost for the first year and may reduce in the following years. This is provided that no major updates or issues arise that would require more work and attention. 

The cost of hosting, analytics, bug fixes, updates, third-party services (if any) and customer support should be considered when budgeting for ongoing maintenance. Figures will vary depending on the type of app you built, how feature extensive it is, and which developer you’re working with to keep your app in tip-top shape. 

Owning an app is like owning a home (after all, it is your brand’s digital home). Upkeep is part of the deal and if you don’t give it the same love and attention as the initial app development, you run the risk of losing hard-earned money, ruining your reputation and decreasing the overall value of your brand. 

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