Maintenance is what keeps a working app working after the project ends. Android and iOS both make breaking changes on their own schedule, dependencies stop being patched, and an app nobody has touched for two years will eventually stop being installable at all.
What this includes
- Platform and dependency updates on a schedule, before a store deadline forces them.
- Crash monitoring watched by a person, with a defined response time for the serious ones.
- An agreed allowance of change work each month, so small improvements do not need a new contract each time.
- Store account and certificate renewals tracked, because an expired certificate blocks every release.
Is this the right choice for you?
Right for any app that is in real use. The cost of a support arrangement is almost always smaller than the cost of an emergency.
Wrong if the app is being retired. If it is going away within the year, keep it on life support and put the money into whatever replaces it.
Worth knowing before you commit
The most expensive maintenance is the kind that has not happened. An app three years behind on its dependencies cannot be updated one step at a time; the versions in between have gone, so it becomes a rebuild wearing the word update. Staying current is cheaper than catching up.