A first look, in writing
Before any promise or price, we read the code and check the store accounts, and tell you plainly what state the app is in.
App maintenance
Your app, kept working after the people who built it moved on.
An app is never finished, because the phones under it change every year and both app stores set dates it has to meet. We take over the app you already have, bring it up to date, and keep it that way.
Why an app is never finished
Your app had two store deadlines in 2026.
You didn’t set either one. Since April 28, Apple accepts an upload only if it was built with Xcode 26 or newer, the program iPhone apps are made with. Since August 31, a Google Play update must be built for Android 16 or newer, and an app still built for Android 14 or older is no longer offered to new users on newer phones.
An app that misses them keeps running on the phones that have it, but a bug can’t be fixed until someone rebuilds it. The dates keep coming: Apple has already announced the next one, for April 2027.
Apr 282026: Apple’s date. Uploads must be built with Xcode 26 or newer
Aug 312026: Google Play’s date. Updates must be built for Android 16 or newer
3years without an update is when Apple may flag an app as outdated
90days is what Apple then gives it to submit an update
What three quiet years do to an app
Say the last update went out in October 2023 and nobody has opened the project since. The app still runs on the phones that have it. This is where it stands with the stores in October 2026.
Apple won’t take a fix until the app is rebuilt with the tools it now requires. On a newer Android phone, people who don’t already have the app can no longer find it in Google Play, and a link to it says it was “made for an older version of Android”. And three years without an update is where Apple’s process for removing outdated apps can begin.
Most of this can be put right with one piece of work: a rebuild, a round of testing and a new release. How big that work is depends on the code, which is why we look before we quote.
What you’d get
An app that stays current, and stays yours.
Both stores’ yearly dates, met
The app is rebuilt, tested and published ahead of Apple’s spring date and Google Play’s August 31.
Tested before your customers update
Apple and Google give developers each new system months early. We run your app on it then, so release day is quiet.
Crashes found and fixed
We read the crash reports that come back from customers’ phones, find the cause and publish the fix, with the small changes you ask for.
Renewals done ahead of time
Apple’s developer membership runs out every year, and so does the certificate some apps use to send notifications. We keep the dates and renew before them.
Accounts and code in your name
The app moves into store accounts your business owns, and the code to a place you control. Both stores carry its ratings and reviews across.
The part nobody sees
Under the screens sits the toolkit the app is built with, and that moves too. We build with React Native, which puts out a new version about every two months and keeps only the newest three supported. The one from February 2026 is already listed as unsupported. Moving up in small, regular steps is easier to test than one big jump after years. See what it takes ›
- The code, kept where your business can reach it
- Store accounts in your name, with the membership paid
- Signing keys and certificates, kept safe and renewed
- The toolkit under the app, moved up before its support ends
How taking over an app goes
- 1
Talk
A free call. You tell us what the app does, who built it and what has gone wrong.
- 2
First look
We read the code and check both store accounts before promising anything. Nothing is changed yet.
- 3
Proposal
What we found, in writing, with a scope, timeline and price before any work starts.
- 4
Into your name
The store accounts and the code move to your business. Then the app is rebuilt, tested and published.
- 5
Keep it current
Monthly maintenance if you want it: the stores’ dates, new systems, renewals and fixes.
Before you ask
The developer who built my app has stopped answering. Can you take it over?
Usually, if you can get us the code and a way into the store accounts. We start with a first look at both and tell you in writing what state the app is in, before any promise or price. If the key that signs your Android updates went missing with the old developer, Google can reset it for apps that use its Play App Signing. We build with React Native, a toolkit that makes the iPhone and the Android app from one set of code, so it also depends on how yours was built. If we’re not the right people for it, we’ll say so.
What happens if nobody updates my app?
It keeps running on the phones that already have it, and the stores close around it. Apple accepts no upload that isn’t built with the tools it currently requires, so a bug can’t be fixed until the app is rebuilt. On Google Play, since August 31, 2026, an app still built for Android 14 or older is no longer offered to new users whose phones run a newer Android. Apple also removes apps that crash on launch, and asks for an update within 90 days from apps that have gone three years without one and fall below its download threshold.
Apple or Google sent me an email with a deadline. What does it mean?
Most often it is one of the stores’ yearly dates. In 2026 Apple’s was April 28, when uploads began to require Xcode 26 or newer, and Google Play’s was August 31, when updates began to require Android 16 or newer. Google lets you ask for an extension to November 1, 2026. From February 1, 2027, Google Play also won’t release an update that doesn’t support a newer way phones arrange memory, called 16 KB pages. Send us the email and we’ll tell you what it asks for and what happens if the date passes.
Will we lose our reviews or our customers if the app moves to our own account?
Not on either store. Apple says an app stays available during a transfer, keeps its ratings and reviews, and its users go on receiving updates. Google Play moves the app’s users, statistics, ratings and reviews to the new account. The transfer has to be started from the account the app is in now, so we find out early whether its holder will cooperate.
What does app maintenance cost?
It depends on the state the app is in, which is what the first look is for. You get a written scope, timeline and price before any work starts. Once the app is up to date, keeping it there is a monthly arrangement if you want one. The code and the accounts are yours either way.