Phone apps updating

[andygo]

Why do phone apps constantly need updating.? It's always with the excuse that they have carried out 'bug fixes and improvements'.

How sketchy were these apps in the first place? I'm guessing that the 'improvements' purely relate to the addition of more trackers etc rather than any consumer benefitting features.

I realise that it's not a huge issue, but it gets a bit tedious after a few years!

[Riley Blue]

I asked the same question last year:

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[Brainpox]

If it’s tedious, just set them to auto update overnight, then you don’t need to think about it.

[Hoofy]

If it happens a lot, it's likely because they want to stay on the top of search listings, so I've heard, rather than it needing an update. They probably just move a } down a line then in two days' time, move it back.

[eeLee]

Bug fixes
Performance improvements
Addition of new functionality
Removal of old functionality
Adapting to new OS builds like Android 15 and iOS 18

You would not want to know what these App packages consist of; various SDKs to support functionality, integration with new phone and software functions.

And you would also not want to be using the App that you were using 2 years ago, you'd find it boring.....

[wyson]

Apps are built on top of 'packages' which are basically other apps and they rely on services provided by the OS and the internet. It's like an ecosystem. Anything in that eco system gets updated, it can break something or create a new problem elsewhere. Everyone in the ecosystem has to update.

The updates are so frequent because the pace of change is so rapid. Nature of the beast I'm afraid.

Edited by wyson on Thursday 3rd October 13:22

[grumbledoak]

Do you ever tinker with anything in a shed or garage? Software developers are exactly the same.

If it ain't broke...

...add more features until it is.

[Freakuk]

I worked for a major high street bank a few years ago and I was heading up the security around their mobile apps at the time. They had 3 different apps back then, and they were developing for iOS, Android and BlackBerry, plus for iOS there was a different set of Apps for the iPad.

So in effect they were developing 12 apps in parallel, they had a target of a monthly release cycle for each app.... very aggressive.

Each release would include a backlog of bug fixes that weren't critical for the apps to run, but would need some tweaks, plus new features that the business dictated, some simple, some complex, some that the customer would see and some not.

[Bluevanman]

I would imagine Android apps have to be updated more than iOS because they have to work on a wide spread of Android versions.....new versions come out yearly.......and dozens of different manufacturers devices rather than just one.Then there's the monthly Google security updates with may impact on the app's function.
And believe it or not,some developers do actually add worthwhile functionality to their apps occasionally

[andygo]

Ah, I get it. I just wondered if it was all necessary, seems like 'some' of it is..