Most mobile apps are updated regularly, but the updates brought by developers are minor ones. They mainly focus on small tweaks, minor additions, bug fixes, some polishing here and there or adding a new small feature.
As such, a major update is not as frequent as users would want, and it often implies a new version of the OS, a new UX design or new features.
However, as an app developer, how would you know when your app needs a major update? Thankfully, there are some hints that may help you with this.
Why is it important to update your app?
Numerous updates to mobile apps will provide bug corrections or program tweaks. Sometimes there may be a little new feature added too. On lesser-known occasions, a big update occurs. This could be an app that is 1.0 and upgrades to 2.0, 8.0, etc. There may even be a big update that changes the entire experience of using the app. If we take an Instagram major updates were when Instagram allowed posting videos, changed its design, and added Stories.
When there is a big update to an app, it could create a new experience for users and raise mobile app engagement by adding new features or having a completely remodelled visual design.
There are signs which will indicate when a big update is due for your app. Below are the criteria that your app should follow if a major update is required for it. You don’t have to meet each one of these criteria, but at least one of them for sure.
The fact is that the whole mobile development industry is changing rather quickly: new technologies are emerging, operating systems are being improved.
As the application owner, bore the responsibility for its effective functioning. It means, among other things, the necessity to update your app regularly - otherwise, it'll seem abandoned, "dead", obsolete. And, by the way, regular updates is a great way of keeping users interested.
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Prove of activeness
Without updates, users can be under the assumption that an application is no longer active, and that’s why it has not been managed. To keep away the feeling that the app has been dumped by its developers, it must be constantly maintained by regular updates. This might also keep them away from migrating to other competing solutions.
App update frequency: How often should my app be updated?
The more features you have in your backlog after the app release, the faster you will want to add those features in the upcoming updates. In this case, user feedback will significantly help to prioritize the list of features.
How often should you update your app? Any update must be motivated by important factors such as an understanding of your market, qualitative user feedback, and quantitative data. You have to balance all these factors mentioned against the rate at which you update your application.
Applications being frequently updated are more valued not only by customers but also by App Store and Google Play. But still, how often should you update your iOS app (as well as the Android one)?
In principle, there are several quite simple alternatives:
- Regular updates: It means there is a certain system of mobile app updates.
- Out of necessity: bug fixing, new feature release, and so on.
- At will: you update your app whenever you want, without any schedule.
The first two items seem more correct. After all, everything needs its own system. Moreover, you should coordinate the new feature development with a planned update release.
However, what is regular? Once a week, a month, a year? What should you take into account when determining the app update frequency?
Factors to consider
How often should you update your app? Can you do this every week? Why not, if it is so useful?
First of all, Apple and Google wouldn't allow you to update your app every week. And such activity may seem suspicious, and users can say: "It's only been a few days after the last update release! Couldn't you do everything at once?" On the other hand, if you delay the upgrade process, users will doubt the seriousness of your approach to your application business.
Therefore, everything needs a measure and a golden mean, including - when it comes to the frequency of app updating. It remains to find this measure.
Statistics data
Reasoning how often to update your app, you should be guided by the statistics data.
As you can see, free applications more often release updates. However, this is natural: in the end, a free application earns on paid features, in-app purchases, advertising... it forces mobile service owners to puzzle over the continual expansion of the app functionality, its improvement.
That is, you should not be fanatically concerned with the mobile app updates frequency, but you can not delay with the next upgrade either.
In general, comparing 500 top applications, we can summarize that the optimal app update frequency should be from 20 to 40 days.
How to Know?
New app feature
If there’s a new feature buzzing in and around your idea of responding to user needs and offering them a solution, or maybe a new trend that catches up people’s fantasies and pops-up as a galore of excitement, it’s time for a major update. Now, with this, you need to do a lot of research and shape up all your ideas into significant offerings that offer value to users in the form of that new feature – which needs to be well addressed for its identity and trait.
This may require you to functionally add and enhance a few collaborative elements or social components, integrating it with some third-party service (like payment gateway). Or, alternatively, you may need to sync it with multiple devices or add a new revenue model to it. Which would make it a major update for you!
New design
Designing is the most crucial aspect of any product development. You have to think it from all perspectives and most of the times visualize and anticipate schemes and elements of art and structure and align it with user experience while syncing it with the core traits of the product.
Redesigning an already existing app gets even tougher as you have to wipe off and eliminate what you already have and think of something new sans your existing design (which was once your element of thought and inspiration). Therefore, getting a new design done for your app calls for another major update.
Performance
When your app is already out in the market and you are expecting to do well with the target audience you ought to measure its performance. App’s performance can be attributed to the level or quantity of engagement and the quality or value it is creating for users. It is directly proportional to the success your app achieves and the profits it makes.
Further, you need to know is it doing enough to add new users and is it receiving repeat visitors and how much time they spend on your app and most importantly what’s the bounce rate (the rate of people returning after landing on your app). If your app fails to comply with any of these performance parameters, it’s time you should think of a major update.
User feedback
All efforts you are putting in is meant to serve users. So, it is a wise idea to maintain communication with them on various forums and through different communication channels to have feedback on your app. If you get a few suggestions and ideas you can shell them up and combine with other ideas to be updated when you plan your next phase of upgradation.
However, if you are receiving too many of complaints and your users have certain expectations that your app is not able to deliver, it’s time you need to rethink your underlying purpose and rework on the solution and update it with all things that matter.
Outdated codebase
Look at your mobile phone configuration and the apps you use on it. Are they the same as they were about a year ago? This shows how technology keeps growing and this is why you need to check into the fact that how well you are keeping up with the codebase of your app. A codebase created about a couple of years back stands obsolete and demands an update.
And if you are looking to change and upgrade the codebase of your app it requires a lot of precision and commitment. More so, if your code is lengthy and does not follow standards and conventions of the latest approach in programming.
Extending to different platforms and devices
The way mobile technology is changing you need to keep up with the shifting trends and pace up to keep doing well in the contest. And this chase never ends as mobile platforms and devices keep growing and expanding incessantly. With every new device introduced comes new display orientations and resolution aspects.
Every new platform that joins in or the ones that upgrade, demand newer approaches and sharper ideas – to allow you to extend to the latest practices and formats that keep you alive and going in the domain of mobile apps. And this requires a lot of effort to be made to reach those marks of success and prominence.
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