How to maintain an app: The Complete Guide

What is application maintenance?

Application maintenance is continuously updating, reviewing, and modifying existing software. It is a critical process for keeping applications running at peak performance. Competing businesses must constantly improve and manage their IT solutions to meet changing user needs. Application maintenance is more than just bug fixing. It involves continually modifying the product once deployed to improve performance and efficiency. Given the competitive nature of the mobile market and rapidly evolving technology, regular application maintenance is an absolute necessity. 

The importance and benefits of mobile app maintenance

• Regular updates allow apps to adapt to changing expectations and trends.
• Continuous improvements and the addition of new features increase user satisfaction and loyalty.
• By eliminating bugs and improving performance, apps encourage users to use them longer.
• Long-term application maintenance strengthens its market position and contributes to a better ROI.
• Regular updates ensure protection from threats, compliance with privacy policies and regulations (e.g., GDPR, CCPA), and interoperability with the latest devices and systems.
• With continuous updates, applications remain protected from cyber threats.

And what are the potential consequences of neglecting application maintenance?

• A lack of updates and patches can prevent users from becoming frustrated and abandoning the application.
• Unmaintained applications quickly become outdated, losing functionality and market appeal.
• Legacy software is more vulnerable to data theft and cyber-attacks.

Types of Mobile Application Maintenance

There are five types of mobile application maintenance. Each is tailored to a different kind of software. Below are examples that explain how each type works:

Emergency

Example: Imagine a popular social networking application suddenly crashes, preventing users from logging in. The development team quickly identifies server overload as the cause. Emergency maintenance is triggered to address the server capacity issue, and user access is restored within hours. This rapid response is critical to maintaining user confidence and interest in the application.

Perfective

Example: A fitness app receives feedback that users want more personalized workout recommendations. The development team decided to implement a feature based on artificial intelligence. It analyzes the user’s training history and preferences to suggest customized training plans. This perfective maintenance increases the app’s value and user satisfaction by better adapting its features to current needs.

Adaptive

Example: After the release of a new version of the Android operating system, the mobile banking app begins to experience compatibility issues such as poor performance and display glitches. The development team uses adaptive maintenance to update the app, ensuring that it runs smoothly on the new operating system and that users have a seamless experience.

Preventive

Example: To avoid potential problems in the future and improve the software’s overall performance, e-commerce application developers decide to refactor the code base. This preventive maintenance involves cleaning the code, optimizing database queries, and updating documentation. Such measures help reduce the application’s load time, making it faster and more responsive. This, in turn, improves the user experience and reduces the likelihood of future problems.

Corrective

Example: Users of a photo editing application report a bug that causes the application to hang when applying certain filters. The development team investigated these reports and identified a memory leak as the cause of the crash. The bug is fixed, and an update is released to users. This not only resolves the issue of the application freezing but also demonstrates the company’s commitment to quickly resolving issues reported by users.

How much does it cost to maintain an app?

On average, maintaining a mobile app costs between 5% and 20% of its initial value. As the app becomes more complex and gains more users, maintenance costs can increase. This includes supporting the latest operating systems, developing new features, and testing and updating integrations with external services.

12 best practices for updating mobile apps

1. Integration of new features

• Regularly adding new features keeps an app competitive and relevant by adapting to evolving user needs and preferences. This also helps in responding to market trends and offering fresh experiences to users.
• Key Activities: Use user analytics to identify feature gaps, gather feedback through reviews and surveys, and iterate to introduce impactful changes.

2. Bug fixation

• Regular bug detection and fixes are essential for maintaining a positive user experience. Bugs can lead to user dissatisfaction, negative reviews, and higher churn rates.
• Key Activities: Implement a continuous Quality Assurance (QA) process to identify and fix bugs swiftly. Prioritize critical bugs and ensure minimal issues during app updates.

3. App design updates

• Keeping the app design up-to-date with current UI/UX trends ensures that the interface remains attractive and user-friendly. A modern design enhances user engagement and brand perception.

4. Compatibility Testing

• Apps need to be compatible across multiple devices, operating systems, and screen sizes. With frequent updates to iOS, Android, and various device models, ensuring compatibility is crucial for delivering a consistent user experience.
• Key Activities: Regularly perform compatibility tests across different devices, screen sizes, operating system versions, and platforms (such as Android and iOS). Utilize automation tools like BrowserStack or Sauce Labs for more efficient compatibility testing.

5. Monitoring Performance and Analytics

• Continuous monitoring of the app’s performance metrics helps in identifying bottlenecks, performance issues, and user dissatisfaction points.
• Key Metrics: Monitor indicators such as Net Promoter Score (NPS), user satisfaction, error rates, app loading times, and the number of installs and uninstalls. Use analytics tools like Firebase, Mixpanel, or Flurry to gather insights and make informed decisions.
• Key Activities: Implement performance monitoring tools to track server health and ensure low latency, and use collected data to proactively address performance problems.

6. User support and feedback

• Providing responsive user support is integral to retaining users and maintaining loyalty. Engaging users through feedback loops helps prioritize feature requests and quickly address pain points.
• Key Activities: Establish multi-channel support (in-app, social media, email), conduct user interviews, and collect regular feedback through app store reviews, surveys, and direct interactions. Use customer support systems like Zendesk for centralized management.

7. Schedule system maintenance

• Scheduling regular system maintenance helps prevent unexpected downtimes, bugs, and disruptions by addressing issues proactively. A maintenance checklist ensures thorough evaluations are performed consistently.
• Key Activities: Schedule maintenance windows to evaluate and resolve potential issues, create a maintenance checklist, and conduct emergency maintenance when unforeseen problems arise.

8. Monitor and renew licenses

• Apps often rely on third-party services, libraries, and tools, which require licenses. Monitoring these licenses ensures that apps don’t lose critical functionality or face compliance issues.
• Key Activities: Create a schedule to monitor and renew licenses, review license agreements for compliance, and ensure that all third-party dependencies are up to date.

9. Backup and recovery

• Having reliable backup and recovery mechanisms ensures that data is secure in case of outages, data corruption, or cyberattacks. This also minimizes downtime and prevents potential data loss.
• Key Activities: Establish automated backup schedules, ensure backups include user and app data, and create a disaster recovery plan to quickly restore app functionality during unexpected incidents.

10. Security updates and protection against threats

• Security threats are constantly evolving, and a robust defense against them is essential for maintaining user trust and preventing breaches. Regular updates help eliminate vulnerabilities.
• Key Activities: Conduct regular security audits, patch vulnerabilities promptly, and follow secure coding practices. Implement multi-factor authentication (MFA), and stay vigilant with security monitoring for any threats that may arise.

11. Invest in automation

• Automation can improve the efficiency of both app maintenance and monitoring by reducing manual errors and expediting issue detection and resolution.
• Key Activities: Use AI-driven tools to automate performance monitoring, bug detection, and testing. For example, implement automated test scripts to run checks on different devices and scenarios and use AI to analyze monitoring data to predict and address potential problems early.

12. Marketing and user acquisition

• A crucial but often overlooked component of app maintenance is ensuring the app remains visible and attractive to new users through effective marketing campaigns.
• Key Activities: Invest in marketing through multiple channels, including app store optimization (ASO), content marketing, paid ads, and social media. Constant user acquisition is needed to keep the app growing and to recover users lost over time.

Using artificial intelligence and machine learning for predictive app maintenance

AI can significantly improve mobile app maintenance. Automating routine tasks like generating code documentation significantly reduces developer time and effort. AI improves the analysis and prioritization of bug reports, allowing you to focus on the most critical issues. Using machine learning algorithms, AI tools learn from previous bug fixes and suggest solutions for similar problems in the future. This speeds up repairs and creates a knowledge base to support future maintenance.

Work on a mobile app never stops. There will always be updates to the software and the addition of new features and functionality. When choosing a technology partner, remember that this long-term relationship requires good communication and trust.