Mobile Apps

Mobile app maintenance and support

An app that’s left alone doesn’t stay as it was. Operating systems move on, stores tighten their rules, and eventually it stops working or gets removed.

Discuss Your Project

Apple and Google both release a major OS version every year, and they change what they require of apps. Google Play raises its target API level requirement regularly, and Apple requires apps to be built with recent versions of its tools. Fall behind and you can lose the ability to ship updates at exactly the moment you need to fix something urgent. Sooner or later, a neglected app is hidden from new users or removed.

A commonly quoted budgeting rule from UK agency guides is to set aside around 15 to 25 per cent of the build cost each year for maintenance. It’s a rule of thumb, and an app with few integrations may need less, but it’s a better starting point than assuming nothing.

Inherited an app?

We regularly review apps built by other suppliers. The first step is seeing whether it still builds at all with current tools, which can be a surprise after a couple of years. We also check who controls the store accounts, signing keys and back-end hosting, and get them into your name if they aren’t already. Losing an Android signing key or a developer account can be painful, so it’s worth checking this now.

What maintenance prevents

Apps breaking after OS updates

New iOS and Android releases change permissions and behaviour, and old code stops working as it should.

Store removal or blocked updates

Falling behind on store requirements can stop you shipping updates, or get the app taken down.

Unnoticed crashes

Without crash reporting, you only find out through bad reviews and quiet uninstalls.

What’s covered

OS compatibility

Testing against beta OS releases, so that the app is ready before your users upgrade.

Store compliance

Target API updates, privacy declarations and responses to store policy changes.

Dependency upgrades

Keeping frameworks and libraries current before upgrades get painful.

Crash and performance monitoring

Triage from tools such as Crashlytics or Sentry, with fixes in priority order.

Back-end upkeep

Security patches, certificate renewals and API maintenance.

Small improvements

A planned allowance for features and fixes between larger releases.

Where it fits

  • Apps whose original developer has moved on
  • Apps with no updates in over a year
  • Businesses wanting predictable support costs

Technology

  • Crashlytics
  • Sentry
  • Xcode
  • Android Studio
  • Fastlane
  • Firebase
  • App Store Connect
  • Google Play Console

App Maintenance questions

What happens if we don’t maintain our app?
It will gradually break as operating systems change, may lose visibility in the stores or be removed, and becomes more expensive to fix the longer it’s left.
Can you take over an app built by another company?
Yes. We’d start with a review of its code, dependencies and accounts. If source code or signing keys are missing, recovery is sometimes possible, but it depends on the situation.
How much should we budget?
Agency guides commonly suggest around 15 to 25 per cent of build cost each year. Your real figure depends on complexity and how actively you want to develop the app.

Related services

Further reading

Interested in Mobile App Maintenance?

Outline what you need, and we will reply by email with questions or next steps.

Start a Project