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Why are mobile app maintenance services important? Is it necessary and worth it? Many business owners have a mentality that their job finishes once they develop the app. If you are doing the same, then you need to know that it is just the beginning. The most important thing is the next phase- maintenance. Keeping your app in a top-notch form is crucial to give a boost to your business growth and user experience.
However, it isn’t an option for you. It is a necessary measure that you must do from time to time unless you decide to shut down the app.
Have you ever faced problems like the crashing of an app, UI stuck in the middle of usage, low latency, etc.? If yes, then you know how frustrating it is. Now, the users are more concerned about the experience while using the app more than ever. If your app doesn’t provide it, then another will. In such a competitive era, app maintenance is the best way to fulfill their needs and boost user engagement.
It only takes a few seconds for a user to scan the app and identify whether it is useful. They uninstall it and switch to another if they don’t find it to their liking. So, it is necessary to keep maintaining the app to satisfy the users, be up-to-date with the changes, fix bugs, and so on.
Mobile app maintenance is a never-ending process. As long as the app exists, you need to keep doing it. It is a necessary step to keep living up to the users’ expectations.
14 reasons mobile app maintenance services are important
The users are changing
The users’ expectations, needs, and expectations are changing. They want the best in everything they own and do. So an app that has been long developed, can it fulfill all the necessities of current users?
Everything has an expiry date, including the mobile app. If it fails to fulfill the users’ needs, then they discard it. They switch to an alternative. But, they also give feedback to the owner about the need to update the app and what they want in the app, and whatnot. It is necessary to listen to their voice and update the app.
It is crucial to maintain the app to meet the users’ expectations.
Cybercrime is increasing
Cybercrime has increased more than ever. Since people are now more engaged in mobiles, everything from personal to payment details is stored in them. So, hackers target smartphones by inserting malicious code into mobile apps. And the only way to avoid it is by updating the app with the latest operating system version and security patch.
In this era, where hackers attack every second, using the right technology to secure the data is the most crucial thing to do when developing an app. As time passes, it gets outdated along with the security measures, giving a breakthrough for hackers to compromise the data.
So, maintaining the app to keep it up-to-date with the latest security protocols is the best move to tackle cyberattacks.
Better user experience
As stated earlier, the users’ tastes and preferences don’t remain the same; they keep on changing. They like something unique, innovative, and fresh because it makes an app engaging, enhancing their experience. The biggest advantage is that it prevents them from uninstalling it.
It is a truth that the new and better UI and UX keep us hooked on an app. It draws our maximum attention. But, the old interface looks dull. That is why we need to update the interface time-to-time to enhance the user experience.
Fewer bugs and glitches
No one likes an app full of bugs. When an app becomes outdated and isn’t maintained for a long time, new glitches occur, completely ruining the experience. Sometimes, they crash in the middle, hang, slow down the mobile, etc., which the users don’t expect and want at all. They may occur because of outdated app versions, incompatible with the latest OS, framework, etc.
So, regular reviewing of source code is necessary to identify the bugs and fix them as quickly as possible. Otherwise, you will lose your users the longer you take to resolve the issues. So if you want to keep them and your app healthy and engaging, maintenance is important.
Increase brand image
An app is a face of a business. Nowadays, users connect with a business through mobile apps. They buy products and services, review them, provide feedback, everything from it. Moreover, people expect a firm to have it. So, a mobile app plays a crucial role in increasing the brand image.
However, their needs change as time passes. They want new features in the app. And they expect the company to listen to them. And those who address their voice become the favorite of the users. Their brand value increases in the market. So it is necessary to maintain the app to fix the bugs, add new features, redesign the app (if necessary), etc.
Let’s understand this with an example. There are many Android phones that are cheaper. Despite that when given the option, people opt for iPhone even though it is expensive. Why? Because their brand image is so huge and famous, the name itself is enough. Because they care for their customers, their needs, and never stop themselves from bringing unique and innovative features to their products, people have high expectations of them. And they never fail to live up to their expectations.
So what matters most is what your users want. Is your app fulfilling their current needs? If not, then you need to do everything to meet their expectations. If people don’t get what they need, they start to criticize, ruining your reputation. So updating and maintaining your app is crucial.
Keep up with the changes
Those who adapt to the changes are the winners. The apps that are maintained time-to-time and keep up with the changes are the ones at the top of the App Stores.
For example, there are hardly any players that play classic mobile games like Tetris nowadays. Now, they are more into Candy Crush, battle royale games (PUBG Mobile, COD, Free Fire, etc.), and so on. Even the old versions of an app won’t run on smartphones. You need to have the latest one to use it.
So it is necessary to keep up with the latest trends and changes.
Stand out from competitors
There are many similar apps in the App Stores. But the top spots go to only a few. The users only prefer some and others are left behind and fade away after some time. Developing and launching the app aren’t the only factors that make an app successful. You need to keep bringing innovative features and uniqueness to it. Then only people will notice it, start using it, and rate it, which helps in gaining a competitive advantage.
Moreover, you need to listen to your users. You need to know what they like and whatnot and what they want in your app. This way, you will be far ahead of your competitors in terms of user engagement rate, downloads, and brand value.
Add new features
Users love uniqueness and freshness. So, adding new features and making changes here and there is the perfect way to keep them engaging and care for them.
Old is outdated, which is for the people who don’t want to change. New is and will always be the breakthrough for anyone who wants success. It boosts your app’s performance and growth. Moreover, it keeps your app competitive. So, keep maintaining your app to attract more users and grow.
App Stores policy changes
App Stores like Google Play and Apple’s Store keep changing their policy to keep track of apps, identify harmful ones, remove them, secure the users’ data, etc.
Now, hackers are becoming more active than ever. They look for loopholes and develop malicious apps. If such apps are to be published in App Stores, then there will be a breach of data. There will be no way to stop them from compromising users’ information. So, to avoid it, App Stores change their policy to make them safer for people to download and use apps.
When policy changes, the apps must be developed in order to adapt to those changes. You won’t be able to release your app if you don’t follow those guidelines and principles. So, it is necessary to maintain your app to meet those rules.
Stay away from the shutdown
From time to time, frameworks, libraries, servers, etc. get updates. So, to make sure your app runs smoothly and doesn’t shut down, you need to maintain your app to make it compatible with them. However, updates aren’t the only cause of downtime. The issue in the database, source code, APIs, etc., also causes the app to close.
Shut down of the app even for a few seconds could cause heavy revenue loss to a business. So, it is necessary to maintain the app regularly, identify issues, and fix them.
Reduce bounce rate and uninstallation
When people don’t like an app, they immediately uninstall it, increasing the bounce rate. There are various reasons for it, like lack of research, not meeting the users’ expectations, issues in UI and UX, etc.
But how do you ensure people don’t uninstall your app? You need to research and identify the users’ needs and pain points. This allows you to meet their expectations. Plus, you will have ample time to know what’s best and whatnot for them, which will help you reduce the bounce rate.
Cost-efficient
When you don’t maintain your app regularly, you won’t know the underlying causes that might break the app completely in the future. Rather than waiting for that time, it is better to review your source code and test the app from time to time. Otherwise, the cost you incur later for app maintenance will be huge.
If it is about the regular review, one of your developers should be able to do it. If not, then you always have the option to hire an expert, like Truemark Technology, which can save you thousands of dollars.
Regular maintenance will prevent downtime, shutdown, cyber attacks, etc., which will save your money.
Grow traffic and sales
The traffic and sales will increase gradually, if not tremendously. When users get what they want after maintenance, they get attached to the app. If the app provides a better user experience, the users rate it well, further helping it to rank higher on App Stores.
The more downloads and rating an app has, the more the rank and visibility it gets. So, constant app maintenance makes the app compatible with the App Stores’ policies plus boosts users’ positive responses.
Leave the legacy system behind
The biggest reason to maintain an app is to prevent it from being obsolete. App getting a regular update means it is adapting to the change and meeting the users’ changing needs and expectations. This allows the app to adopt the latest trends and technologies.
When an app doesn’t get maintenance, it either doesn’t run or runs in an old version.
Even if an app runs, it crashes, hangs, slows down the smartphones, etc., which results in a bad user experience. It shows you don’t care about your customers. Consequently, they will do the same, uninstall it.
No one likes an outdated app. Since the world is changing, people are too. So, identifying what they like and whatnot, isn’t it the responsibility of a business? If you don’t care about them, then who will?
If you don’t update your app, then will it run on the latest versions of frameworks and operating systems? No, because you need to make it compatible to run.
So, investing in app maintenance is a must.
In Conclusion
If you are developing an app, then maintaining it is equally important. The market trends and technologies keep changing, so your app needs to stand toe-to-toe with such changes to stay ahead in this never-ending competitive environment.
Your app needs to be functional to meet users’ needs and expectations. And do you know what they want? It is not only about solving their pain points. They expect an app to adapt to the changes because they prefer freshness and uniqueness.
If you don’t want the users to abandon your app, then it needs maintenance. It needs to live up to the users’ expectations now and in the future. And to maintain the app, you need a reliable development partner that will help you. In such a case, Truemark will assist you in keeping your app up-to-date and in top-notch quality and performance. So, contact us right away to make your app bug-free and secure, implementing the latest trends and technologies.
Cover Image Credits: Fullvector from Freepik
