Why your app needs updating every year, even when nothing is broken

Your app works. Customers who installed it a year ago still use it every day. So nobody thinks about it.

Then a new customer taps the “Download our app” link on your website, and Google Play tells them the app isn’t available because it was made for an older version of Android. Or a payment bug turns up during a sale, and your developer says the fix will take three weeks, because the app has to be upgraded before Google or Apple will accept any new version.

Neither of these means your app is broken. They happen because the stores change their rules every year, and an app that stands still slowly falls behind them.

What changed on Google Play this year

Every Android app declares which version of Android it was built for, called its target. Google raises the minimum every year, at the end of August.

Since 31 August 2026:

• Apps already on the store must target Android 15 or newer to stay available to everyone. An app that targets Android 14 or older can only be found and installed on phones running that version or older. Anyone with a newer phone who hasn’t installed it before can’t get it.^⁠[1]
• Every update must target Android 16. That includes a one-line bug fix.^⁠[1]

Customers who already have the app keep it and can reinstall it. The people you lose are new ones, and Google says plainly that this may hurt your downloads.^⁠[1]

There is one breather. You can ask Google for more time, up to 1 November 2026. The request form is in Play Console, and Google sends the link through Play Console notifications.^⁠[1]

Changing the target isn’t just changing a number. Each Android version changes how apps behave, and Google’s own guide tells developers to check that every third-party kit inside the app (payments, maps, push notifications, analytics) supports the new version too.^⁠[2] The further behind an app is, the more of these changes land at once.

Apple does the same, every April

Apple has a matching rule. Since 28 April 2026, App Store Connect only accepts apps built with the iOS 26 tools or later.^⁠[3] From April 2027 it will be the iOS 27 tools.^⁠[4] An app already on the store keeps working, but its next update needs the newer tools first.

Apple also clears out old apps. If an app hasn’t been updated in three years and is barely downloaded, Apple sends a notice in App Store Connect. The owner then has 90 days to submit an update before the app is removed from the store.^⁠[5]

And there is the yearly Apple developer membership. If it lapses, your apps can no longer be downloaded and you can’t submit updates.^⁠[6]

Why this catches businesses out

Every warning above goes to the same place: the developer account. Google’s notices go to Play Console, and Apple’s go to App Store Connect.

In many companies, those accounts belong to the agency or freelancer who built the app. If that relationship has ended, the notices land in an inbox nobody reads. The first sign is a customer complaint, or a fix that suddenly can’t ship.

The same is true of the Apple membership. Only the account holder can renew it,^⁠[6] so if that is a developer who has moved on, your app’s future depends on someone you no longer work with.

Check your app in 15 minutes

You don’t need to be technical for this. Ask whoever has access to the store accounts:

1. What does our Android app target? Android 15 (API level 35) or newer keeps it available today. Shipping any update needs Android 16 (API level 36).
2. Is there anything in Play Console notifications or App Store Connect messages? Look for target API warnings or notices from App Review.
3. When did we last release an update, and with which tools?
4. Whose name are the developer accounts in, and who pays the Apple membership?

You can also test it yourself. Borrow a recent Android phone that has never had your app, open your Play Store link and see whether it installs.

What to do about it

If your Android app targets Android 14 or older, ask for the extension in Play Console now, before 1 November, and book the upgrade. The upgrade means moving the target to the current version, updating the third-party kits, testing the flows that matter (sign-in, payment, notifications) on new and old phones, and releasing to both stores.

Move the apps into your company’s own developer accounts. Both stores let an app move to another account and keep its users, ratings and reviews.^⁠[7]⁠[8] The current owner has to start the transfer, so ask your old developer while you are still on good terms. More on this in who should own your code, hosting and accounts.

Put the upgrade on your calendar every year. Google’s rule moves every August and Apple’s every April. Plan one upgrade a year around mid-year and both are covered. Budget for it the way you budget for renewing your domain.

Our view

An app on the stores isn’t a finished product. It’s closer to a shop lot in a mall. The landlord updates the rules every year, and tenants who don’t keep up get moved further from the entrance, then out.

The deadline itself is rarely the real problem. The problem is finding out about it on the day you need an urgent fix, and learning that weeks of upgrade work have to come first. A planned yearly upgrade is smaller and calmer than one done in a rush, and it means a fix can ship when you need it to.

Common questions

Will customers who already have the app lose it?

No. On Google Play, people who installed it before can keep using and reinstalling it.^⁠[1] On the App Store, even a removed app keeps working for people who already have it.^⁠[5]

Our app is only for our staff. Does this apply?

Google exempts apps that are permanently private to one organisation and only distributed internally.^⁠[1] If your staff download it from the public Play Store, the rules apply.

What does the upgrade cost?

It depends on how far behind the app is and what is inside it. An app that is one version behind with a few third-party kits is a small job. An app untouched for three years can mean a chain of upgrades. Before anyone quotes, ask for the current target and a list of the kits inside the app.

How we can help

If the upgrade is a contained job, a Fix Sprint does it for a fixed price, from RM3,000 to RM10,000. If nobody knows what is inside the app any more, a Review tells you what the upgrade involves before anyone quotes. We build and look after iOS and Android apps; see mobile app development.