In this week’s newsletter, we’re talking about reinvigorating stale products as something that’s a good idea to do. But if your product happens to be an app in Apple’s App Store – it’s something you have to do.
Back in April, Apple started removing apps from its App Store altogether if they hadn’t been updated in quite some time. The news upset many app developers, including indie developers who had fully functional games and apps that were removed. Those apps simply hadn’t been updated in over a year, which caused them to get flagged by Apple’s App Improvement system – whether the apps were still functional or not.
It does raise a big question, though…
What makes an app stale? And when should you do something about it?
In the specific case with Apple’s App Store, Apple decided to define that by the last time the app was updated. Even if your product isn’t on the App Store, though, your customers are likely noticing if your product hasn’t been updated in quite some time. While they don’t have the power to pull your product down altogether, they may have the power to simply move on from your product.
The question of when to do something about it is a tricky one. I’d argue that you should always be working towards ensuring your product isn’t stale. Your product is never “done” – it only evolves.
But one thing is for sure – you don’t want to wait until it’s too late. Otherwise, you may find yourself scrambling like many app developers in the past who saw their entire products evaporate right before their eyes.
