Why You Should Release More Updates for Your iOS Apps
Users like it when their apps work. Apps that do not work quickly get deleted, and if an app on the App Store looks like it might not work it won’t even get downloaded in the first place.
When users are about to download an app and they see that it has not been updated within the last six months, that is a red flag for them. It looks like the app may no longer be supported, and is possibly broken. It can make potential users think twice before downloading your app. On the other hand, if users see that an app was updated a few weeks ago, they will have more confidence in the app.
Your Version History becomes your track record. Good apps help their users grow. Great apps grow with their users. Notice how the App Store has a “What’s New” section that is prominently displayed on your app’s listing page if it has been updated. This is your chance to tell potential users that “yes, I care about my apps and I like to make sure that they work and will continue to fix bugs and add new features”.
You don’t need to add a flashy new feature every couple of weeks. A simple bug fix update now and then will do.
New iPhone came out? Update your app to support its screen size.
Found some inefficient code in your app? Fix it and release an update saying that you made some under the hood optimizations.
Resized a button? Release an update saying you tweaked the user interface.
As a developer, it also helps you get a better idea of how many users still have your app installed. Using Apple’s App Store Connect, there isn’t a very good way to see how many active installs an app has. There are plenty of analytical tools for seeing how many daily installs and users your app has, but there is not a very good way to tell how many people still have your app installed. There could be users who haven’t opened your app in months, and they will be very hard to account for.
Whenever I release an update for one of my apps, I see a huge spike in the number of users who update to the new version, thanks to automatic app updates. I use this as a crude way to estimate how many users still have my app installed. The graph below shows that about 1.14k users updated to my newer version right after it was released, so it is safe to say that at least that many users still have my app installed since not all users have automatic app updates turned on.
Frequent, small updates also lets you try new designs and features in your apps. You could change the styling or the placement of a button and see how users react to that change. Maybe tweak your app icon a little and see if that leads to more downloads. It is better to make small, iterative changes to your app as opposed to a dramatic redesign. This will help you find reasons to make more frequent updates.
The key takeaway is to not only make your app look like it is constantly evolving and getting better, but that it has not been abandoned. Not every update is going to be groundbreaking, but it is a way to show that you care about your apps and your users. This makes new users more likely to give your app a try as well as keeping your existing users interested in your app.
