Weekly updates and new store rules: why apps never sit still

There was a time when you could launch an app and leave it alone for a while. That time is over. Today an app that nobody touches starts to break, gets flagged by an app store, or falls behind on security within months.

The app stores keep raising the bar

Both big app stores raise their requirements on a schedule. Google Play requires apps to target a recent version of Android, and that target moves every year. Apple requires apps to be built with a recent version of its tools, and has added rules such as privacy declarations for the libraries an app uses and letting people delete their account from inside the app.

Each rule makes sense on its own. Together they mean that when we upload a new version of an app, there is very often something new to meet first. We plan for it now instead of being surprised by it.

Operating systems update constantly

Phones and computers used to get one big update a year. Now security fixes and smaller updates arrive all the time. On our own devices it often feels like there is a new one every week, sometimes twice.

Most of those updates change nothing an app user would notice. But some change how notifications work, how permissions are asked for, or how the browser shows a page. The only way to know is to keep checking.

The libraries underneath move too

Every app is built on top of other people's code: payment libraries, web frameworks, login tools. They release new versions to fix security problems and to keep up with the same platform changes. This month we moved one of our payment libraries forward six major versions in one go, because staying on the old one was becoming the risk.

How we keep up

• Small changes, often. A small update is easy to review and easy to undo. A year of skipped updates done in one go is neither.
• Automatic checks on every change. Tests, a security scan and a check of every library for known problems run before anything ships.
• Watching the platforms. We track what the app stores will require next, so a deadline is a task on the list, not a refused upload.
• AI where it helps. AI helps us read changelogs, find the code an update touches and draft the change. A person still reviews it before it ships.

What this means if you have an app

Budget for upkeep, not just for the launch. An app is closer to a garden than a building: it needs regular attention to stay healthy. If you would rather not think about store deadlines and security updates, that is exactly the kind of work we take on.