App Maintenance: Why and How Often You Should Update Your App

The digital world would be far easier if everything just worked once it was completed. Unfortunately, this is not the case and apps especially need regular maintenance across several fields in order to remain fully functional and keep delivering positive user experiences. Updates are a key part of the maintenance process and will form a considerable chunk of the work your app developers carry out and are frequently a far more practical solution than redeveloping, or replacing the app once it starts to show its age or no longer meets the user requirements. A question our experts at Appoly frequently face is that of why and how often an app should be updated, see the answer as well as some additional information on the subject below.

Reasons to Update Your App

The reasons to regularly carry out updates are pretty much endless and any app looking to retain functionality should have regular maintenance caried out on it. Some of the leading benefits are as follows:

• Security is key when it comes to apps, for some more than others. Ecommerce apps especially should look to protect their consumers while they submit personal information or carry out purchases. There are constantly new hacks and exploits discovered across the digital space and without regular updates your app will be privy to breaches due to not being equipped to deal with the latest and greatest (or nastiest)
• Appearance holds an integral part when it comes to user experience and can potentially be the difference between recurring visits and a switch to a competitor. While a change in appearance doesn’t have to be a whole thematic switch, you should always look to add new product images and subtle aesthetic features in order to show users that the app is still supported.
• User experience is probably the most important factor when it comes to updates, at Appoly we frequently see apps that aren’t particularly aesthetically pleasing and don’t really offer that many fancy features but still have a devout consumer following. This is -in most cases- down to an exceptional user experience that allows the consumer to access all of the features and information in an environment within which they are comfortable. Regular updates allow you to tweak your app’s user experience to cater to your client’s requirement.

How Much is Too Much?

Having seen the assortment of benefits that regular updates can have for your app; you might be inclined to update it as often as possible. This, however, isn’t always the right solution as users can quickly get fatigued of constant updates and may actually be negatively impacted by the changes. While the size of the updates plays a massive part in dictating how often they should be implemented, our team at Appoly recommends that you don’t surpass one or two small changes a month. Before settling on a regularity, you should keep user feedback in mind; Does the app need major updates? Are consumers happy with the aesthetic and user experience? Will we potentially make the app worse by updating it? By keeping these factors in mind, you should be able to gauge the right update frequency for your app.

Contact Appoly for App Development

If you are looking to develop a web or mobile app or have an idea that you’d like to discuss then get in touch and speak to one of our expert UK based development team members.

We’re always happy to discuss new projects, whether big or small.

You can get in touch via 01926 520 052, email, or by using the contact form on our contact page.