As the owner of a mobile app, your task is not complete just by launching the mobile app in the App Store.
This is just the first part of the job. Mobile maintenance is critical to ensure that the user remains engaged with you through the app.
If you research why many mobile apps that are integrated with amazing features fail, then in many cases you will find that the underlying cause is lack of maintenance and updates.
Just to give you a perspective, different OS like Android, Windows, and iOS offer regular updates.
If you do not keep up by updating and upgrading your mobile app regularly, then you will not be able to compete with other mobile apps that offer better services and have no bug issues.
While you may feel that app maintenance cost is high (depends on the frequency of updates and additional features you want to integrate).
However, the result you get in the form of higher sales figures, brand promotion and viewer engagement more than make up for this cost.
You must remember that the app users stay connected with your business through your app at all times.
These users want high-end services and amazing features.
Thus, if you want to make the mobile app a successful revenue channel for your business, then you should regularly update your mobile app.
Why is maintenance of your mobile app important?
Change in rule at the App Store
You must be aware of the terms and guidelines of the App Store.
Your maintenance team should keep track of any change in rules by the App Store and in case of any change, provide the necessary updates to your app.
Furthermore, different operating systems are updated frequently to include new features and APIs.
If you want your mobile app to work seamlessly with such changes, you must upgrade your mobile app so that it works seamlessly on the OS.
Update the software libraries
To create a mobile app, you need the help of the software library. While some of the apps do not have a software library to operate, many of them do.
If your mobile app needs a software library to function properly, then updating is critical for its flawless performance.
Upgrading the user interface
As the owner of a mobile app, you must make sure that it looks professional and contemporary.
To do this you need to update your user interface regularly so that the users’ interest can be kept engaged.
Furthermore, regularly updating the user interface may solve some of those technical glitches that are affecting the user experience adversely.
Change as per user preference
There is a huge competition in the app market and if you do not update your app regularly, you may lose the hold of user preference.
User preference is very dynamic and it keeps changing.
And app maintenance plays an important role in keeping your app performing optimally and improving user experience, thereby generating more traffic.
Evolving security challenges
In the online platform, hackers and other forms of cyber-attacks are a huge concern for any business.
As the owner of a mobile app, you must continually check for any loopholes in your app that can be exploited by unscrupulous elements and damage your business.
Your apps and websites must be properly encrypted with prime protocols.
However, it is not a one-time job and you must be on your toes all the time to ensure that your app is provided with the latest security protocols.
Incorporating technical enhancements
Technology is evolving at an unprecedented rate and you must keep your mobile app updated to keep pace with any change in the technical environment, programming language and others.
App monitoring
To keep your mobile app regularly updated, you require a dedicated maintenance team.
However, this is not economically viable for small businesses to hire experts for regular maintenance of their app.
Therefore, you need the services of an external mobile app partner that can keep your app updated.
This partner can also take care of any technical or security glitches that may affect the service of the mobile app.
Monitoring your app at a regular interval will ensure that your app functions efficiently and is not affected by any bug.
Different type of mobile app maintenance
When we talk about app maintenance, we must remember that there are broadly five types.
Your app maintenance cost will depend a great deal, on which one of these you have chosen and how extensive is the maintenance contract.
The five different types of app maintenance include:
· Emergency maintenance: As the name suggests, this maintenance work needs to be done within a few hours.
· Perfective maintenance: It is done to include new features and functionalities.
· Adaptive maintenance: It is done to make sure the app works harmoniously with any change in the operating system or hardware upgrade.
· Preventive maintenance: This type of maintenance is done to prevent any occurrence of error while operating the app.
· Corrective maintenance: In this type of maintenance work, experts try to find and rectify any flaw related to design, application logic, framework and others.
Conclusion
Mobile app maintenance is not a one-off job. As the market is highly competitive, any mobile that is launched needs constant supervision by a dedicated team so that it gives the desired results.
If there are any issues related to security, user experience, dated look of the app and others, then it would reflect very poorly on the professionalism of your business.
This in turn can harm the goodwill of the business you have created in the market.
