The Anatomy of an Educational App Update

We have been making apps since 2009 and throughout the years we have made hundreds of updates throughout our apps. Creating educational apps requires a great deal of upkeep. We always want to make sure our apps don’t get left behind. When we started creating apps in 2009, the iPad was not even out yet. While it does seem like another lifetime, it was just the other day. Our apps back then were the most advanced apps at the time they were created, however if you were to play with some of those original versions today you would certainly be disappointed, which is why our apps need regular updates.

As Apple makes each device more advanced, we also strive to make sure all our apps are also as wonderful as each new device. Updating over fifty apps takes a significant amount of time and effort on our part and we absolutely love looking at our apps with critical eyes and ask ourselves, “How can I make this app better?” Each year, we probably release updates to each app, as Apple updates their iOS systems.

An update is a must when Apple’s operating system goes through major changes that make apps stop working or behave strangely.

We also always take note of customer feedback when updating our apps. We love receiving suggestions from our customers and we try very hard to look at every suggestion and criticism as an opportunity to make our app better.  While our apps go through in-house testing, clinicians and parents out there can have major insights as to how certain features would be helpful to specific children and adults we aim to help through our apps.

Many times, when we create a new app we realize we should have used that new feature on all previous apps and that’s how we go back and start adding that feature to all our apps.

Another source of ideas for our updates comes from chatting with users at conventions. As we have just returned from the 2016 ASHA Convention in Philadelphia, we are pumped with ideas of new features for some of our most loved apps. If you have a suggestion, write to us, we would love to hear from you.

Ultimately, we strive often to make sure anyone who opens and buys Smarty Ears apps feels like they have just unlocked the best of what is out there, regardless if that app is a brand new release or an app that was created in 2009.