The maintenance of a mobile application is one of the most crucial stages in its lifespan which is why a budget should be allotted separately to maintain the application. Mobile apps are the new trend nowadays. By end of 2025, the number of smartphone users will grow up to 7.49 billion, which will result in a mega opportunity for app developers.

When it comes to mobile apps, the focus is on the development (coding) phase. However, developers know the backend of the process, a major effort is required to design an application. Moreover, a process that involves publishing the app in Google Play or Apple App Store, and marketing it fashionably.

It is vital to maintain a mobile app and keep it up to date to avoid interruptions, major traffic breakdowns, glitches, etc.  All this comes with additional costs. More importantly, if investments are not held in mobile app maintenance, then it can result in app failure leading to drastic results such as uninstalling the application.

Importance of mobile application maintenance

Business owners should always invest in long-term maintenance for their application to save their application from being uninstalled. Here are some important factors why applications should be maintained in optimal condition.

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• Reducing uninstallation by updating the application

It is essential to know the requirements of users and curate features that reflect their likes and dislikes.

In 2017, over 20% of smartphone users uninstalled applications just because they did not logo off the application on their home screen. Notably, this proves that the users pay attention to detail, and if anything does not fit their expectations; they will delete the application. Hence monitor user preference by updating the application.

If your app rankings are decreasing, then the user may choose to remove the application from their stores. Therefore, update the application with new features.

• Providing a good user experience

Providing user experiences (UX) is the key to success for the application. Here are some advantages which a business owner may attain.

• Strong long-term relationships with users
• Positive user feedback and reviews
• Improve user trust
• Increase customer fidelity

• Security from cyber threats

The growth of the mobile app opens the door for cybercrimes therefore, there is also an increase in the quest for cybersecurity. As an app developer, securing applications and websites must be a priority.

When hackers are constantly searching for loopholes and finding new ways to steal personal and financial information developers must come up with solutions to tackle this problem. Update the applications with the latest security protocols.

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Types of Mobile application maintenance

• Emergency maintenance

In case of emergency, which implies the nature of the problems are impulsive, sudden, unpredictable, and unexpected. In such circumstances address the concerns immediately so the application does not suffer from any loss.

• Adjustable maintenance

With adjustable maintenance, keep in track of making changes in the application by updating it in optimal condition. Several adjustments require like working on the operating system or hardware or software ecosystem that would impact the application’s functionality.

• Obstructive maintenance

Obstructive maintenance indicates eradicating the occurrence of errors. The focus is on reducing complexities within the application and improving the optimization factor through code realignment, code optimization, and documentation updating.

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Mobile app maintenance costs

After publishing the application on Google Play Store or Apple App Store, examine the Daily Active Users (DAU) of your app. This will provide the stats of users who install and engage in your app.

Examine Monthly Active Users (MAU), which provides stats monthly. The basic formula is to have both DAU and MAU perform in optimal conditions for your app’s success.

In the app development lifespan, the maintenance part comes after the development and publishing part. Moreover, it is a necessary stage to keep the application running in the market.

Maintenance requires additional expenses. Therefore, the app maintenance costs may be considerably higher during the first year, which may be up to 50% of the total development cost, then decrease to 25% for each year coming after that.

The expenses also depend on the nature of the operating systems used. For example, maintaining Android is less costly than iOS.

On average an application owner will need to spend around 300$ and 500$ a month to keep the app functioning in optimal condition. However, the market price may vary from region to region across the globe.

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Here are things to keep in mind while maintaining an application.

• Hosting

The cost of mobile apps server is a critical expense. Decide what kind of server the application requires then calculate the hosting costs.

Type of data determines server cost check whether text-based, audio, or video-based data is shared by the user on the application. Additional data will lead to increased costs. A typical hosting server costs somewhere between 150$–300$ per month.

• Eliminating bugs

Constant updates help in resolving bugs and enhance UX. More importantly, to avoid uninstallation of the application, update the application which meets the need of the user. The cost of the updates varies on different factors.

The prices are dependent on the size or complexity of the application, and the nature of changes required. Moreover, the app owners need to be aware of the maintenance cost of regularly updating the application. A simple bug usually costs 50$ to fix.

• Customer service

Respect user complaints, it is a great gesture to allow them to voice their opinions. Consider investing in customer service, which will result in positive reviews from the user.

By bringing value to the application from adding customer service will result in additional cost, it is necessary to budget for these expenses.

Finally, hope you’ve understood the Cost to Maintain an App, for more info contact us.

Also check: software maintenance company | website maintenance costs|