Have you updated your app recently? No, then when was the last time you updated it?

Updating an app is just as important as App Development. Want to know the reasons? Here are a few for you.

Why should you update your app?

Keep up with the changes

Regular updates can keep your app up with the changes in technologies and therefore, can offer the best user experiences required to drive users to your app. Imagine that you downloaded an app to find its interface and screen size all messed up. You might have seen the apps that end up showing badly on a new device while it may be yet showing up good on the conventional ones. All these problems are only because of the lack of regular updates to an app.

Retain users with best user experiences

Updating your application on a regular basis can increase its ability to retain users with top-level user experiences. If your users have a good time using your app, they will definitely continue using it and also recommend it to their friends and relatives too. Hence, if you want to keep on building the user base for your app, you need to ensure that you are updating your app regularly.

App store optimization

With regular app updates like optimizing app design, keywords, screenshots, title, reviews and more, you can make your application list up in the app store. Research and test out various things to find which can work and which cannot for your app. Regular updates can bring good reviews for your app with improving user experiences with the passing time and therefore, improve its rankings in the app store.

Build a loyal following for your app

Frequent updates for your app show your commitment to it and send out a message to your audience that it is still being maintained with bug fixes and better features. Moreover, it will keep your app on the fresh in the minds of your audience who can view it frequently in the updates list in the app stores. Hence, periodic updates can also build loyal following for your app and can help to spread a word of it through personal recommendations from the users. Word of mouth is more powerful than the conventional marketing. Hence, with updates you can make your app more popular among it target audience.

How often should you update your app? Is there any fixed time period for this?

Actually, there is no rigid timeline fixed for updating an application. However, experts recommend weekly updates for an app and in many cases where the enterprises cannot make for such frequent updates, monthly updates are suggested. Updates driven by quantitative data, quality user feedback and proper analysis and understanding of the market can drive your app well.

One of the most important elements driving the frequency of your app updates is the type of features you are trying to tackle through your app update. If you are going for a major update with more number of features to update or a longer and comprehensive feature update then you need to know that it will consume a lot of your time. The best way is to tackle your feature updates in such a way that it doesn’t take more than two weeks for feature build process. If it is a complicated feature update,then try to figure out a scope that shall manage the build within two weeks. This is because following the build session would again be the testing, refining and app store approval sessions that will also consume the majority of the time thereby putting at the lower end of the threshold of the app update release cycle.

You can very often get on with bug fixing updates to your app, in order to improve app experiences for the users. Bug fixing updates can stabilize your app and make your app better for use. Periodic bug fixes can also pave a way to make your app more popular with its target audience. There is no fixed time for this as bug fixes are necessary as soon as any loopholes with the design or any other usability feature of an app are found. They can risk your app’s reputation in the market and hence, need to be fixed as early as possible.

Wrapping up….

App updates are very important to stabilize your app with more advanced and better features. They can tune your app with latest changes in the app store and attract more users to it. One to four updates a month are often welcome, but however, it requires larger teams and more mature applications to come up with frequent updates. Smaller teams can, however, go with one or two updates a month. Whatever be the number of updates, make sure you can add up to at least one update a month for your app to get it on the minds of the users. Continue adding up the latest and much-desired features in your app and keep fixing its bugs with time in order to offer the best user experiences. This approach towards app updates can build a positive identity for your app as well as your firm among your target audience.