Insight

7 signs your app needs updating

James Paton

head of digital product design

8 minutes

time to read

June 22, 2026

published

This blog has been refreshed in 2026 to keep up to date with how app development is evolving.

Launching an app is only the beginning of its journey. The most successful digital products continue evolving long after they reach users, adapting to new technology, changing expectations and the needs of the people using them.

Regular updates help businesses improve performance, introduce new features, strengthen security and make sure their app continues delivering value. Without ongoing investment, even a successful app can quickly fall behind.

But how do you know when your app needs attention? In this article, we explore seven signs that your app is ready for an update and what they could mean for your product’s future.

But how do you know when your app needs updating? In this article, we examine seven key signs that your app is ready for a refresh and requires an update.

1. Users are reporting bugs

Bugs, crashes and performance issues are some of the clearest signs that your app needs attention. If users are consistently reporting problems through app store reviews, support channels or feedback forms, it’s time to investigate what’s happening behind the scenes.

Poor experiences quickly impact user trust. Research from Pendo Mobile Apps Report shows that mobile users have high expectations around reliability and usability, with poor experiences often contributing to users abandoning products.

Bugs hurt user experience, which can lead to bad ratings, frustrated users, and ultimately, uninstalls. Deliver the goods, and you are far more likely to encourage loyalty amongst your customer base. That’s why we put so much focus on perfecting our apps’ UX. It is key to maximising the value our customers derive from our products.

Usually, customers provide feedback in the app store, so keep an eye on the app’s rating and make sure you reply to feedback. Some individuals may choose to contact you directly. In these cases, it’s good practice to respond as quickly, comprehensively and professionally as possible.

2. Your performance metrics highlight problems

However, customer comments aren’t the only relevant feedback mechanism. There is a diverse array of performance metrics to consider, too. These include:

Active users – Often expressed as Daily Active Users (DAU) and Monthly Active Users (MAU), this measures the number of unique users engaging with your app over the designated period.
Session time – Sometimes referred to as Average Session Length, this measures the amount of time users spend on your app each time they access it.
Retention rate – Measures the number of users who revisit your app over a given period. You can measure retention over any timescale, but monthly, quarterly and yearly retention are all considered important metrics.

This is just a small sample of the metrics available to app owners and developers. At The Distance, we go much deeper, ensuring we have a real insight into how an app performs. Metrics like Cost of Acquiring a Customer (CAC), Average Revenue per User (ARPU), Average Order Value (AOV) and App Load Time can also tell us a great deal about whether an app needs an update to improve performance.

These metrics help you understand what is happening, but the real value comes from understanding why it is happening. A drop in retention could point towards usability issues, outdated features, slow performance or a gap between what users expect and what your app delivers.

According to Google research, users expect fast, seamless digital experiences, with delays and friction increasing the likelihood of users leaving a journey behind.

3. New features are required

Digital technology and eCommerce move fast. If you’re caught standing still, you risk losing customers to more agile competitors. In app terms, this often means introducing new features to keep up with trends within your industry and to maintain pace with customer demand.

Adding new features based on user feedback or industry trends can reinvigorate interest and keep users coming back. Whether it’s a sleek new design or enhanced functionality, updates ensure your app stays relevant in a competitive market.

User expectations move quickly. Features that feel innovative today can become standard tomorrow, meaning businesses need to continually review where their app can improve.

Artificial intelligence is a great example of this shift. AI-powered features such as personalised recommendations, smarter search, automation and conversational experiences are changing what users expect from digital products.

The challenge is not adding technology for the sake of it. The strongest product improvements come from understanding where new capabilities can genuinely solve problems and create better experiences.

Research shows that organisations are increasingly exploring AI to improve customer experiences and business operations, making it an important consideration for product teams planning future updates.

4. Your codebase is ageing

Another consequence of tech’s ever-evolving nature is that the foundations on which you build it change quickly. With apps, this manifests in codebases that rapidly become outdated. An outdated codebase means it’s more difficult to maintain, and worse, it could lead to performance issues or vulnerabilities.

Modern development practices also mean apps are expected to integrate with APIs, third-party services, and cloud infrastructure more than ever before. An ageing codebase can quickly become a blocker to introducing anything new.

Technology moves quickly, and the foundations your app is built on need regular attention. Over time, outdated dependencies, unsupported frameworks and technical debt can make even simple changes slower and more expensive.

A warning sign is when your team spends more time working around limitations than improving the product itself. An ageing codebase can restrict your ability to introduce new features, improve performance or respond quickly to user needs.

Regular technical updates help keep your app stable, secure and ready for future improvements.

5. Changes to mobile devices

Mobile devices are evolving at lightning speed. With every new iOS or Android update, there are new opportunities (and challenges) for your app. New display orientations and screen resolutions affect how your apps look and the way users interact with the app. Fresh technologies impact the type of features you can introduce. Consider the reemergence of the flip phone. Its foldable touchscreen is shaking up the industry in several exciting, new ways.

Mobile technology continues to evolve, bringing new opportunities for app experiences. From changing screen formats and device capabilities to new operating system features, apps need to adapt to keep delivering a seamless experience.

Recent years have seen the rise of foldable devices, wearable technology and more advanced mobile capabilities. Businesses that regularly review their apps are better positioned to take advantage of these changes rather than being forced into reactive updates later.

Whether it’s a new screen size, hardware feature, or operating system change, you need to make sure your app is fully compatible. Changes like these are one of the main reasons working with an industry-leading app developer like The Distance makes so much sense. We constantly stay up to date with the latest developments and ensure you know when your apps need updating.

6. Responding to security concerns

Security is no longer something businesses can review once and forget about. As apps become more connected to APIs, third-party services and new technologies, protecting user data requires ongoing attention. Regular updates help businesses address vulnerabilities, maintain compliance and build trust with users.

This is becoming even more important as businesses explore AI-powered features. Understanding how data is collected, stored and processed is essential when introducing new technology into an app experience.

While many larger businesses can ride out the negative press – Amazon, Slack and Klarna apps all suffered from significant data breaches in 2021 (DarkReading) – smaller companies find it much harder to survive the fallout.

Digital security is a never-ending race between those who want to steal personal data and organisations that want to protect it. Cybercriminals are always searching for new ways into secure systems and regularly find them. That means businesses must stay aware and always respond to evolving security threats. Ignoring security updates isn’t an option - after all, your app is only as secure as its most recent patch.

Read our article on App Security & Data Privacy

7. App stores alter their guidelines

App stores are constantly evolving their requirements, from privacy expectations and security standards to technical requirements for submissions. Staying compliant ensures your app remains available and continues providing a smooth experience for users. Apple and Google regularly update their developer guidelines, meaning businesses need to keep an eye on changes that could impact their products.

App store guidelines dictate whether you can distribute your app via that platform. Whether it’s changes to privacy policies, app submission processes, or design standards, staying on top of app store guidelines is key to maintaining visibility and ensuring your app doesn’t get left behind. Fall foul of the rules, and Google or Apple could choose to remove your app from the store.

At The Distance, we keep a watchful eye on industry developments and make it our job to know what’s happening with all of the major app stores. It enables us to plan and prepare updates that acknowledge changes to the guidelines and guarantee customers can still download and access your app.

What next?

An app should never be considered finished. The strongest digital products continue evolving based on user feedback, business goals and changes in technology.

Whether you need to improve performance, modernise your codebase, introduce new features or explore emerging technologies, regular updates help your app continue delivering value.

At The Distance, we help businesses create, improve and maintain apps that support long-term growth. With over a decade of experience building digital products, we understand how to identify opportunities for improvement and turn them into meaningful product experiences.

Let’s get started!