Many factors can affect the cost of maintaining an app. Such factors include project complexity, the skill set of the developers, regularity of updates, and other factors. Let’s study in detail the handling and maintenance of your app.
Introduction:
Today, almost everyone has a smartphone or at least a tablet. So, it is only natural that apps are in great demand all over the globe. You can build an app for fun, for business, for the government, for various organizations, etc., or even for your entertainment.
With nearly 3.48 million apps available on the Play Store and 2.22 million apps available on the App Store in the first quarter of 2021, an app developer must perform some research before releasing his new app on the market.
So, today we are going to talk about app maintenance costs. When you have developed and released an app using your own or a third-party company’s resources, it becomes available for its users. Does the story end there?
No, it doesn’t!
A robust app needs long-term application maintenance to help fix bugs, deliver a better experience for users, and minimize uninstalls. As an entrepreneur, you need to work hard to improve and scale your app to gain more followers and retain the existing ones.
Investment in the future of your apps is extremely important to the success of your product. If a user is not receiving useful features updates and is being bombarded with bug fixes, then they will stop using your app.
In this article, we will discuss the cost of maintaining an app and how it varies from one developer to another. But before this let’s take a close look at why application maintenance can be a key to your app success:
Key Importance of App Maintenance:
With the technologies advancing at a pace that is unprecedented and ever-changing user habits and preferences, it has become crucial for your app to keep up with the changes.
In 2016, Apple removed 50,000 apps from its App Store as many of them became obsolete. This is why it makes sense to invest in consistent app maintenance and upgrades.
Check out the below reasons why you should give priority to app maintenance:
1. Minimizes uninstalls
Apps with annoying bugs or crashes, or those that stop offering updated information and functionalities to users after a while, tend to drive users away.
Similarly, if an app doesn’t offer something unique enough for its users, they will see no reason to keep using it and may even uninstall it. Apps with flaws or inconveniences push users to click the ‘Uninstall’ button. As per Statista, over 70% of users uninstall the app from their mobile devices after 90 days of the installation
As an app developer, it’s in your best interest to make sure that users keep using your application once they put their hands on it for the first time. And two things can be done —maintenance of the existing features and adding new ones. This significantly increases the global retention rate.
2. Better User Experience
Application maintenance is imperative to keep your users happy. You don’t just want people to download your app but also want them to have the best experience while using it. This is because if they don’t, they’ll delete it and never download it again.
To create a long-term relationship with your users, you need to keep app maintenance important. And to keep up with the market trends, you should keep an eye on your app’s performance and user engagement.
Related Reading – Detailed Guide of Mobile App Development Process
3. Beat Competition
There are loads of mobile apps in the app stores that compete for users’ attention. It’s almost impossible to download and use all of them. To beat your competitors and grab a place in the sea of apps, you need to maintain and scale your app consistently.
Otherwise, users will start looking for a better option, and you’ll be left without a user base. Your competitors will take advantage of this situation and move forward, leaving you behind.
4. Safety from Cyber Attacks
With the growth in the number of mobile apps, there’s also an increasing need for regular application maintenance. With so many apps out there, it’s no wonder that hackers are always looking for ways to steal your data.
And if you don’t keep up with app maintenance, it may be easy to fall victim to their attacks.
Several mobile app developers usually focus on developing their apps and maybe neglect security checks. Hacking requires the right tools and knowledge, but if someone cracks the code, sensitive information will be exposed.
5. Maximises ROI
Apps can be great for growth — whether you’re looking to get more traffic or downloads. By updating and maintaining your app regularly, you’re offering opportunities for maximizing ROI in the long run and decreasing the cost of acquiring new users.
Once your app goes live, you’ll probably face bugs at regular intervals. Monitoring your app helps you fix those bugs and optimize them out over a longer period.
Not all apps offer an opportunity to update and maintain the app, but if yours does, take advantage of this to maximize your ROI. Everything’s important without a doubt when it comes to our app.
If you maintain the app, ensure its smooth functioning and properly monitor usage, you can save on costs. As an entrepreneur, it’s important to see whether your investment is paying off or not.
What is the Cost to Maintain an app?
App maintenance cost can be complex as it varies on many factors that can impact the final costing. However, the average annual maintenance cost is 50% of the initial development cost.
When we wonder how much does it cost to maintain an app, the industry norm answers it all. Once you’ve invested in the acquisition of an app, later on, the cost of maintaining an app can be somewhere between 15% to 20% of the initial cost.
Effective Steps of App Maintenance:
Do you want to know the most important app maintenance strategies that can help you encourage users to engage in the app?
Here are the steps you must consider for maximizing the advantages from application maintenance:
Step 1 – Build your app well from the start
When creating an app, it is important to remember that software can never be perfect. As such, you need to invest in testing, including security, performance, and other types of testing. Testing documentation can also help you in the future if you decide to update or change the code.
Step 2 – Take care of Scalability
The success of your app depends on its performance and architecture. You can build and launch an app quickly, but if it lacks the right features or suffers from bugs, it will not have a solid user base.
Step 3 – Stick to your Development Team
Make sure you’re working with the right app development company. If you hire new developers each time, they’ll need time to get familiar with your project from the scratch and learn about the technologies used which can be time-consuming.
Step 4 – Make use of Analytic Tools
Use analytics to analyze how users are using your app after the app is live. You can find out what features they like the most, and which ones seem unnecessary. Then add new features to your app based on user feedback, so that you can retain users and keep them interested.
Step 5 – Fix Bugs Timely
App developers should regularly monitor their apps, including app crash logs, for potential problems and bugs. They should also monitor ratings and reviews to identify and respond to problems quickly.
Always watch out for technical errors and bugs and fix them instantly for a robust app.
Step 6 – Schedule System Maintenance
It is important for the business, but still, dealing with it regularly can become too much of a hassle. That’s why scheduling regular system maintenance is a perfect solution to avoid missing out on issues or bugs and ensure the smooth functioning of your app.
Factors affecting the App Maintenance Costs:
Finally, the cost of app maintenance is not the same for all types of apps. It differs depending on several factors such as bug fixing and updates, the location of the app development team, and hosting.
Below are a few factors that you must keep in mind when taking the cost of app maintenance into account:
1. Bug Fixing & Updates
Nowadays, updating your app regularly is one of the best strategies for app growth. There are primarily two things that affect the cost of app maintenance. They are the complexity of the app and changes in functionalities.
2. Hosting Maintenance
Many factors affect app hosting prices and server costs. These app hosting costs depend on the type of mobile app you have or you plan to develop.
For example, a mobile game app can be hosted on a dedicated server and it will cost you less than a marketing automation application that is meant to host your customer’s data and customer support apps.
3. Analytics
You will require a good analytics tool to help you decide what to do in your app development journey. Monitoring the app usage of your users gives insights into the app usage and its limitations. There are plenty of tools available like Google Analytics that offer valuable analytics.
4. Customer Support
Your app is only as good as the support you provide to your customers. This is where costs start getting incurred. The cost of mobile app maintenance should also include the cost of customer support if any.
When you choose a development partner, you need to factor in the total cost of maintenance and present it to your clients so they don’t end up shocked by any hidden app development cost.
5. Third-Party Services
If you are focusing on improving the app’s performance and its feature set, you primarily need to focus on the integration of several third-party paid services. This will require your app developers to carefully integrate data from multiple sources that can be used by the app.
6. App Marketing Aspect
If you want your app to succeed, investing in marketing strategies can be a great move for the success of your app. Communication and marketing tools such as social media engagement, push notifications, community development, etc., are the top marketing aspects to market your app updates adequately.
7. Development Team Location
The app maintenance costs vary around the globe. For example, the cost of hiring an app development team in California is different from app development companies in Texas.
Tips to reduce App Maintenance Costs:
- Invest in the right development platform - When it comes to app development, you have two options. You can either select a native or hybrid platform. Choose wisely!
- Develop MVP first – An app’s minimum viable product (MVP) refers to the first version of your app with just the most basic features, such as those core to your business.
- Discuss Strategy with Team – You can discuss the strategy related to app development services with your reliable team. They will also support you in proper planning under your budget.
Final Note:
Your work is not over as you launch the app. Getting your app to the app store and letting it loose in the wild is only the beginning of a long journey towards sustainable success.
With Mobcoder, you and your team can breathe easy knowing that we will manage all these aspects of your app efficiently, thereby giving your business a chance to scale up and generate more revenue!
Our developers provide maintenance services for many iOS and Android applications which are developed by Mobcoder. We keep track of the latest trends in technology so that your application remains updated at all times.
