Software obsolescence, when does a digital application become obsolete?

In recent years, technological tools, programs and applications have become our everyday tools, facilitating our activities and operations, whether for entertainment, personal use, or work activities.

Just like everything else, applications or software developments have a useful life, if they are not constantly maintained or updated they lose their validity. They are like a car, when you take it out of the dealership there is no problem, but over the years you have to change the oil, alignment and balancing, change the battery, change the tires, wash it frequently to preserve the paint, etc.

The time that a car will last on the streets and highways will only depend on the maintenance and care that is given to it. In the same way, it is necessary to take care and maintain the digital developments that make our life easier.

“When you have software that has been with us for years, if it is not maintained and upgraded, it simply becomes more of a problem than a solution.”

This also affects programs that are in the cloud, such as CMS or content management systems like WordPress, Joomla or Drupal. At a certain point, they stop supporting the old versions of the databases, or the cloud servers install new versions leaving obsolete the CMS version that we have installed on our hosting.

In the case of Android, Google only supports its Nexus devices for 18 months. With iOS it is more or less the same, although the support cycle is somewhat longer.

“In general, if we use an app we should update it to continue enjoying it and avoid bad reviews, end-user dissatisfaction and bad ratings.”

Benefits from updating digital applications

Fix bugs: The technology world is constantly evolving, new versions are released every day and creating a bug-free application is practically impossible.

Adapt to new design styles: Operating system versions change every year, making design styles change very often. There is no interface that has the same design as an application 4 years ago as it does today.

Adapt to new tools and ways of doing: All updates have improved functionality, speed, performance, security, good development practices and currency.

Extend the application: If there is one feature that makes software powerful, it is the fact that it can be updated and, therefore, improved over time. This way, you will be able to make further increments in the development.

How often should you update?

Not all applications have to be updated with the same frequency. A simple application is not the same as a complex application with a multitude of options.

A feature-rich application will be more prone to bugs and changes. Therefore, it is normal that it has a higher update frequency than a simple application. It is very important that after having an application on the air you have a support and maintenance service, this will allow you to alert early the necessary updates.