Why apps break even when you don't touch them
An app can stop working without a single line of your own code changing. Apple and Google ship new OS versions every year, tighten privacy and security rules, and periodically raise the minimum SDK an app must target to stay in the store. Third-party libraries get security patches or are abandoned. Certificates and API keys expire.
Left unattended, these forces accumulate until the app crashes on a new phone, gets pulled from the store for being out of date, or fails a security scan. Maintenance is the work of staying ahead of that decay.
- Annual iOS and Android releases change behavior and design expectations
- Stores enforce minimum target SDK/OS versions to keep apps listed
- Dependencies need security updates or replacement when abandoned
- Certificates, provisioning profiles, and API keys expire on schedules
- New device sizes and screen shapes can break older layouts
What ongoing maintenance covers
Maintenance is a mix of scheduled and reactive work. On the scheduled side: testing against new OS betas before they ship, updating dependencies, renewing certificates, and keeping store metadata compliant. On the reactive side: fixing crashes surfaced by real users, patching security issues, and responding when a store policy change lands.
We keep this predictable with a defined scope so you know what's included, and we monitor crash and error reports so problems get caught before your users start leaving one-star reviews.
- Compatibility testing and fixes for each new iOS/Android release
- Dependency and security patching on a regular cadence
- Certificate, profile, and key renewals before they expire
- Crash and error monitoring with prioritized fixes
- Store-compliance updates (privacy labels, permissions, metadata)
- Minor enhancements and small feature tweaks within scope
More on cross-platform apps
Frequently asked questions
How is maintenance different from new development?
Maintenance keeps the existing app healthy — compatibility, security, stability, and store compliance — rather than building new features. Small tweaks usually fit inside a maintenance arrangement; larger new features are scoped as their own work. We'll draw that line clearly so there are no surprises.
What happens if we skip maintenance for a year or two?
The app keeps running until something forces the issue — a new OS breaks a feature, a store deadline delists it, or a security flaw surfaces. Catching up later is usually more expensive and more urgent than steady upkeep, because several years of OS and store changes hit at once. We can also do a one-time 'catch-up' modernization if you've fallen behind.
Can you maintain an app your team didn't build?
Yes, in most cases. We start with a review of the codebase, dependencies, and store setup to understand its state, then propose a maintenance plan. If the app is on an unsupported or dead stack, we'll be upfront that modernization may be the better path than patching.