Your app can't be updated anymore? We bring it up to date and look after it.
Google Play and the App Store require regular updates. If whoever built your app no longer answers, it gets stuck: no fix can be published, not even a security fix. We handle the technical side, and the app stays in your company's name.
Software engineer in Bucharest with 20+ years on apps people use every day: eight years looking after two large iOS apps, then Azure at Microsoft.
Remote across the EU, in person in Bucharest. English and Romanian.
- We start with no access to your app
- Everything stays in your company's name
- Fixed prices, agreed up front
- Based in Bucharest, Romania
Is this you?
- The agency that built the app has closed or stopped answering.
- The freelancer who built it no longer replies.
- The developer who knew the app has left the company.
- The store rejected your last update, or you can't publish one at all.
- It's a Xamarin app, and nobody can build it anymore.
- The app disappeared from Google Play or the App Store, but your website still links to it.
Why now
- Final deadline: 1 November 2026
Google Play
Since 31 August 2026, new apps and updates must target Android 16 (API level 36). The extensions Google granted end on 1 November 2026. Apps that target anything older than Android 15 no longer show up for new users on recent phones.
- Since 28 April 2026
App Store
Apple only accepts updates built with Xcode 26 and the iOS 26 SDK. An app left untouched for a long time has to be brought up to date before it can receive even a small fix.
- Unsupported since 1 May 2024
Xamarin apps
Xamarin stops at Android API 34 and Xcode 15, so it can't meet either requirement above. The only way forward is moving to .NET MAUI, which is exactly our field.
We checked 1,798 business apps from Ireland, the Netherlands and the Nordics that hadn't been updated in over a year. On Google Play, 339 of 467 no longer show up for new users on recent phones. On the App Store, all 1,331 must be rebuilt with Apple's current tools before their next update.
From public store data. We don't name the companies.
The bar rises every year: Google has raised the level each August and Apple the required Xcode each spring. The next round is expected around April and August 2027 (not announced yet).
If nothing changes, the app keeps working for a while, but any new problem, from a new phone model to a security issue, can no longer be fixed.
How we work
Step by step, with no access to anything until we know each other.
-
Free check-up
From public information, we tell you where your app stands on Google Play and the App Store: when it was last updated, which new requirements it misses, and how long it can still receive updates. No access to your app, no obligation.
-
30-minute call
Free, online or in Bucharest. We learn what the app does for your business, who built it and what is urgent. By the end you know whether and how we can help; if we're not the right fit, we tell you plainly.
-
Ownership check
We establish what you really own: the store accounts, the signing keys, the code, the server, the domains, the data. You sign in, we only look. You get a map of what belongs to your company, what sits with someone else, and the steps to recover each one.
-
Assessment
We help you move the accounts into your company's name, bring the code into a repository you own and check that the app can be built from it. You get the documentation, a list of risks in order of urgency and a fixed-price quote for bringing it up to date. The report is yours, whatever you decide.
-
Bring up to date
We bring the app up to date and publish it again: security fixes, Google's and Apple's new requirements (for example moving from Xamarin to .NET MAUI), backups proven by a test restore, documentation. Before every release you get a test version to try.
-
Care plan
We look after the app month by month: updates, new store requirements, backups, fixes. You hear about upcoming changes early, not from the stores' emails. You can stop with 30 days' notice and a full handover.
Everything stays yours
The store accounts, the code, the server and the data are in your company's name from day one. We work through delegated access that you can withdraw at any time.
- We never ask for passwords: you sign in, we only look.
- During the assessment we have read-only access.
- Named accounts in your systems, never shared ones.
- The app's signing keys never sit with us.
- Any access can be withdrawn at any time and is logged.
- You can end the work with 30 days' notice and a full handover.
- The Google Play and Apple accounts
- The signing keys
- The source code
- The server and the domains
- The data and the backups
- Delegated access, in a named account
- Only as much as the work needs
- Withdrawn by you at any time
Prices
Prices exclude VAT where it applies.
A typical example
A business app nobody has updated for two years, whose developer no longer answers:
- Ownership check: €150–250 (free for the first 5 clients)
- Assessment: €1,250–2,800, 5 working days
- Bring up to date: usually €3,000–12,000, 2–6 weeks, with the assessment deducted
- Then the care plan: from €450 a month
See what you get, on an example
Business hours on working days. We don't promise 24/7 availability.
About
Behind App Doctor is Tiberiu Jinga, a software engineer based in Bucharest with more than 20 years of work on apps people use every day.
For eight years he looked after two large iOS apps for a medical records platform: the architecture, the performance and every App Store release. He led the team behind a medical web application in ASP.NET and C#, and worked at Microsoft on Azure infrastructure, including live-site on-call.
That is where our way of working comes from: the app stays yours, every change is documented, and a store release is never a surprise.
LinkedIn profile We can meet in Bucharest or online.
Questions
Why not rebuild the app with AI?
AI tools write code, but someone has to hold the store accounts, the signing keys and the server, and judge what is safe to publish. That is what we take care of, while control stays with you.
Why not a freelancer, case by case?
A freelancer fixes a problem but doesn't answer for the app. The difference is the documentation, backups proven by a test restore, and someone who looks after the app next month too.
What happens if App Doctor stops existing?
Everything is in your company's name from day one, the documentation is updated after every change, and the contract includes a full handover at the end. Whoever takes over after us starts with no access problems.
Why pay for the assessment?
Because you get the accounts moved into your company's name, the documentation and a fixed-price quote. The report is yours either way, and the cost is credited against bringing it up to date if you order it within 30 days.
Why would we give you access to our app?
You don't need to at first: the check-up uses public information only, and in the ownership check you sign in yourself. Access comes only with the assessment, read-only, through named accounts, and you can withdraw it at any time.
How long does the whole thing take?
The check-up and the first call happen in the same week. The ownership check is one call, and you get the map within two working days. The assessment takes 5 working days. Bringing the app up to date usually takes 2–6 weeks, depending on what the assessment finds; after that, the care plan runs month by month.
What does it cost in total?
You always know the price before you commit to a step. The check-up and the first call are free. The ownership check is €150–250 (free for the first 5 clients). The assessment has a fixed price, €1,250–2,800. Bringing the app up to date has a fixed price set in the assessment, usually €3,000–12,000, and the assessment's cost is deducted from it if you go ahead within 30 days. Looking after the app costs from €450 a month.
Contact
Write or call us. We usually answer the same working day.
- Phone
- +40 720 055 032
- Tiberiu Jinga