Last Updated on May 26, 2026 by Don Espe

I have had at least a couple of popular apps that I attempted to improve greatly. The improvements were well done and useful, but I released them as separate apps. I think that cost me because I lost any of the original traffic that the original apps had and I haven’t been able to direct that traffic to the new apps. It also meant starting over with reviews and other metrics that tend to draw in new users.

So, if given the chance again I would probably replace the original version with the new version and hope for the best. I’m sure it would upset some users, but in both cases I worked hard to keep the original functionality in place while adding new features.

So, if you have an app that is successful and you want to upgrade it, take the time to think through how you want to release the new version. If the original functions stay in tact it might be better to simply update the old app to the new version instead of creating a stand alone app.

So, lesson learned and money lost. But, here we are.