Mobile App Maintenance is 60% of a mobile app life cycle, while development is only the 40%. However, in terms of cost, mobile app development consumes almost 80% of the total budget, and maintenance is a recurring but unavoidable expenditure. While launching a mobile app in the market, most of the app owners are either unware of the app maintenance charges or they neglect them totally. 

This blog educates mobile app owners and enthusiasts about the post-development mobile app maintenance process and charges. So, let’s understand the life journey of a mobile app more closely today! 

Aftermath of Mobile App Development 

Mobile Apps are just like babies for a business. While Development is only the birth, app maintenance is the process of nurturing and rearing up. Throughout the lifespan of a mobile application, its owner has to ‘feed’ the mobile app and ‘take care’ of the same. Once, you get a mobile app for your business, it has to be maintained to keep up with the ever-evolving technical environment. As you must be already aware, technology is evolving continuously. That’s why every day some new hardware types, software updates, operating system updates, network updates and more keep on coming our way. 

All of us have witnessed a journey from 1G to 5G, simple iOS to iOS 18, and Windows 1.0 to Windows 11. Also, we know a lot has already been pipelined such as the 6G network, Apple Intelligence (iOS 18.1) and a lot more. As a result, your mobile app must also stay compatible with the latest hardware and software updates. Thus, mobile app maintenance becomes a necessity. Broadly speaking, there are 3 major post-development app maintenance activities that you will need to invest in mandatorily for the app success. Let’s discuss them: 

1. Mobile App Launch

Got your mobile app done? Now it's time to launch your app to a platform from where the end-users can download the app. But, have you ever wondered how to launch an app on App Store or Play Store? Well, luckily, it’s not your job to upload an app on the App Store or Play Store. Rather, a reliable mobile app development company in UK will always provide you with complete app launch support. The mobile app developers have 3 options to launch a mobile app: 

Launching An App on the App Store 

If you are about to launch an iOS app in the market, then the App Store is your launching platform. You must already be aware that launching an app on the App Store is a hard nut to crack due to the strict App Review Guidelines of Apple Inc. and Its security policy. Here is the whole story in a nutshell: 

Quality Concerns 

App Store Passes only high-quality mobile apps. The major concerns of App Store include: 

• Glitch-Free App Performance.
• Strong encryption for data security. 
• No discriminatory content (sexual, racial, ethnic, national, religious or any other form of discrimination)
• Only decent and ethical content (no hate speeches, violence promotion, or pornography)
• No misleading medical apps (suggesting the dosage of a medicine or providing inaccurate vital signs like BP, Heart Rate, Sugar levels etc.)
• In short, the App Store accepts only high-quality, high-performing, and highly ethical mobile applications. 

Therefore, make sure that you choose an experienced iOS app development company with a proven history of launching iOS apps on the App Store successfully. Otherwise, your patience and money will go in vain. 

App Store Fee 

While launching an App on the App Store, you get two options: 

Apple Developer Program 

• If you are launching an app for the general public, you will need to subscribe to the Apple Developer Program. In this case, you will pay an annual fee of £74 (approx) equivalent to $99. 
• It will be a recurring fee and you will need to pay for it every year. 

Apple Developer Enterprise Program

• On the contrary, if you are launching a mobile app that only your employees can download, then you will need to subscribe to the Apple Developer Enterprise Program. 
• Apple Developer Enterprise Program subscription will cost you around £224 per annum which is equivalent to $299.

Additional Commissions

• Both Apple and Google, that is App Store and Play Store respectively will charge 30% of the App Revenue coming from in-app purchases and subscriptions. 
• However, after 1 year of subscription, the percentage might drop to 15% for apps making a revenue lower than a million for both App Store and Play Store. 

Launching An App on the Play Store 

To launch a mobile app on the Play Store is easier as compared to App Store launch, however, it is not effortless still. Let’s have a quick view of the Play Store App Review Guidelines: 

Quality Concerns 

• Google lays strong emphasis on two aspects: 
  • Ads: You will need to disclose very transparently what ads you display on your mobile app. 
  • Privacy: Also, you will need to upload the detailed privacy policy of your mobile app. How does the app use user data and whether it is GDPR and CCPA-compliant? 
• Furthermore, you will need to be very careful of your app content. It needs not to be offensive anyway. 
• The mobile app must be capable of a glitch-free performance. 
• Also, the mobile app must demonstrate unmatched compatibility with different kinds of Android devices (including the fold and flip ones).

So, choose only a reliable Android App Development Company for a smooth Play Store Launch. Lest you end up waiting and keeping waiting for the launch. 

Play Store Fee 

• Unlike the App Store, the Play Store does not charge platform fees annually. Rather, Play Store takes a one-time platform fee of worth £19 (approx.) which is equivalent to $25.
• Later on, App modification and updates are almost free. 

Additional commissions

• As discussed above, out-of-the-app revenue comes from in-app purchases and subscriptions, and Play Store will charge 30% of the total revenue. The percentage will fall to 15% after one year of subscription. 

Third-Party Download 

However, your budget does not allow you to pay such a platform fee and you are unwilling to share your app revenues. Then, offering third-party downloads to the app users can be a good option for you. 

You can ask the chosen mobile app development company to provide app downloads through your website. In this case, you will not have to go through the Play Store or App Store review guidelines. Also, you may avoid the hefty platform fees and revenue cuts. 

Pros and Cons 

Let us have a short view of the pros and cons of each type of launch: 

So, while making the App Launch decision, be careful while choosing the platform. Always take the advice of a well-established Mobile App development company in UK, which method is right for the UK audience. They will guide you better on this. 

2. Mobile App Hosting 

Next comes mobile app hosting. Once, you have launched the app successfully on a platform, you will need hosting services. The hosting fee is different from the platform fee. 

What is Mobile App Hosting? 

Mobile App Hosting is the storage space for the data of your mobile. As the number of users increases on your mobile app, and as you update the software of your mobile app, it requires more storage. Without a proper storage space, the app users will not be able to create their profiles, upload any information, or perform any task on the app. 

Also, the users’ progress on an app will not be saved. Say, for example, a gaming app. If hosting servers do not exist, the player will have to start the game from level 0 every time he/she opens the app. 

Popular Mobile App Hosts in the UK

For mobile app hosting, you will need third-party hosts. Some popular mobile app hosting service providers in the UK are: 

• Firebase
• AWS
• Microsoft Azure
• Google Cloud Platform
• Cloudways

How Much Does Mobile App Hosting Cost in the UK?

Coming to the mobile app hosting cost in UK, it can range between £25 and £500 annually depending upon the chosen hosting platform and the app user database. You can discuss the hosting charges with the mobile app development company itself. It is because mobile app development companies usually have special tie-ups with the hosting providers. So, you may get good discounts and offers. 

3. Mobile App Updates 

As already discussed, you will also need to keep your mobile app updated so that it demonstrates compatibility with all the latest hardware and software. Also, from time to time, you may also feel revamping your app design to improve user experience further. Therefore, mobile app updates are another part of the post-development journey. 

However, luckily, there are no extra charges to update your app on any of the launch platform including App Store, Play Store, or your business website. So, software updates will be free. However remember the following points: 

• In case you are updating the UI/UX design of the mobile app, the mobile app development company will charge you for its services. 
• Additionally, the hosting charges might increase if your app now requires more storage space on servers. 
• Moreover, remember that you must have MacOS for updating an iOS App as per App Store Review Guidelines. 

So, stay tension-free when it comes to mobile app update. It is a crucial but free part of the post-development journey. When you choose a value-driven mobile app development company in London, UK like Ezulix, you get absolutely free app updates on time. 

Role of Mobile App Development Company in App Maintenance & Support

Now, the question is who provides App Maintenance, an app development company, the launch platform, or any third party company? The answer is simple! The mobile app development company that creates an app for your business is liable for the app maintenance as well. When you take mobile app development services in UK, the app hosting, maintenance and technical support must come handy as value-added or after-sale services. 

If a company refuses to provide app maintenance services, certainly, it is either not capable enough to manag a project or is not sure about its future existence. We, as a 9 year old and leading App Development Agency in London advise all the readers to never choose a company that does not provide app maintenance. Lest your mobile app will suffer a lot of hurdles in its lifespan. Ultimately it will worsen the user experience, and the app will fail one day altogether. 

Need and Importance of Regular App Updates and Maintenance

Moreover, always remember that regular app update and maintenance is not optional. Rather, it is an essential part of mobile app’s life. Lack of on-time technical support and maintenance invites following consequences: 

• If you do not update an app time to time, it will slow down and the user experience will be adversely affected. 
• In lack of app maintenance and support, troubleshooting of an app will end up interrupting your business for unknown hours. As you won’t be able to figure out and rectify the issues.
• The app might get bugs. You need bug fixes otherwise the app performance suffers. 
• Lack of app update and maintenance also makes an app vulnerable to malware attacks. Eventually, the user data might suffer malware attacks leading to
• Staining your brand image. Once, if your app is accused of stealing user data or being malware attack vulnerable, then it will experience frequency uninstallations.
• Also, the App Store and Playstore might remove your application from their platform. 
• Additionally, technical environment is dynamic and it is growing at a fast pace. With new hardware and software elements coming to the market everyday, your app needs update to stay compatible. Otherwise, soon it will become incompatible with the latest smart devices. 

So, remember that the right mobile app development services in London or any where else, are only those who provide complete aftersale services. Otherwise, you will land yourself into hot water. So, choose the a reliable company for mobile app development and save the future of your mobile application. 

Concluding Thoughts

App maintenance has an essential need after mobile app development. Therefore, while choosing a mobile app development company for a project, the app owner must be very careful. Always, the app owner must choose a company that provides lifetime app maintenance and support services. In lack of regular updates and maintenance, an app becomes obsolete. It slows down and ultimately stops working. This scars user experience and brand image of the app owner. So, always discuss with your mobile app development company if it provides after-sale services. For any other query relation to mobile app development, feel free to contact us. We shall clarify all your doubts. Keep updating your technical knowledge with us. See ya!

FAQs

1. If I have a cross-platform app, will I pay platform fee for both App Store and Play Store? 

In a word, yes! If your mobile app is a cross-platform application, that is, it runs on both App Store as well as Play Store, certainly you will pay the platform fee for both. However, Play Store charges one-time fee, Play Store charges annual fee every year. 

2. Which development framework is right for a cross-platform app?

React Native is the most popular cross-platform app development framework that runs on JavaScript. It helps the developers design native-like UI/UX for both iOS as well as Android Apps. Additionally, React Native provides smart recommendations for cross-platform UI. It provides better and faster app development. Therefore, choose React Native for a cross-platform app. 

3. What is Beta testing of a Mobile App? Is it part of App Maintenance?

Beta testing is a process in which the development team tests a mobile app by releasing it exclusively for limited public. It is part of mobile app development phase and not app maintenance. Before the launch of a mobile app to its specific platform or platforms, the mobile app development company performs Beta testing to ensure that a glitch-free, bug-free, and well-functioning app is uploaded for review on the launch platforms. It increases the chances of a smooth app launch without facing rejection from App Store and Play Store. 

4. How much does it cost to create a mobile app in UK?

Mobile app development cost UK depends upon chosen operating systems (or platform of launch), app complexity, features, and functionalities. Approximately, mobile app development cost UK can range between £800 and £68,000.