Maintaining an AI-built app after launch: what breaks, and who fixes it

Yes, an AI-built app needs maintenance, even if you never change a line of it. Apple and Google raise their requirements every year, memberships and certificates expire, libraries age and AI models get retired. A published app keeps working for its current users for a while, but every missed deadline makes the next update harder.

Dominique Siacci, CTO of GoodBarber, sums it up: AI cut generation from three months to three minutes, but the 1,094 days that follow haven’t shrunk. “Day one became free; so day 1,095 is what tells apps apart now.” Here is what happens during those days. For the launch itself, see our publishing guide.

The yearly rhythm

Apple ships a major iOS version every September, and Android also ships one major version a year. The stores then turn each new version into a requirement.

Date	What changes	What it means for you
April 28, 2026	Apple: uploads must be built with Xcode 26 and the iOS 26 SDK	Any update you send now must be built with these tools
August 31, 2026	Google Play: new apps and updates must target Android 16 (API 36). Extension possible until November 1, 2026	Your next Android update must target API 36
August 31, 2026	Google Play: existing apps must target at least API 35	Below that, the app is only offered on devices running the same Android version or older
April 2027	Apple: uploads must be built with the iOS 27 SDK (announced September 9, 2026)	Plan a rebuild before spring

Apple’s SDK rule applies to uploads, not to apps already on sale. The catch comes the day you need to ship a fix: the build must meet the current floor, with the changes that come with it. Expo, for example, warns that apps built with the iOS 27 SDK must use UIKit’s scene-based life cycle, or they don’t launch correctly on iOS 27. As of November 12, 2026, Google’s requirements page doesn’t list the next step after API 36 yet.

What happens if nobody touches the app

• App Store: an app not updated in three years that has been downloaded not at all or extremely few times over a rolling 12 months gets a notice from App Review. You have 90 days to submit an update, or the app is removed until a new version is approved. Current users keep it. An app that crashes on launch is removed immediately.
• Google Play: an existing app that targets API 34 or lower is no longer available to new users whose phones run a more recent Android version.
• Lapsed Apple membership: your apps are no longer available for download and you can’t submit updates. They still work for people who already installed them.

The renewals nobody puts in a calendar

Item	Lifetime	If it lapses
Apple Developer Program	99 USD per membership year	Apps no longer available for download
Apple distribution certificate	Expires, must be renewed	Live apps are not affected, but you can’t upload updates signed with it
Provisioning profile	12 months, according to Expo	Doesn’t affect live apps; a new one is needed for the next build
Push: APNs certificate	Expires	You can no longer send push notifications
Push: APNs signing key (.p8)	Doesn’t expire, can be revoked	Prefer it to the certificate
SSL certificate (web version, backend, API)	200 days max since March 15, 2026, 100 days from March 15, 2027, 47 days from March 15, 2029	Browsers show a security warning, and calls to your backend can fail
Domain name	Set by your registrar	The web version and the links in your app stop working

The SSL schedule comes from a CA/Browser Forum ballot (SC-081v3) voted in April 2025. At 47 days, renewal only works if it’s automated: Dominique Siacci counts roughly eight renewals a year.

Code that ages: Expo, SDKs, privacy manifests

If your project is React Native with Expo (Bolt and Replit produce this kind of project), the framework moves on too. Expo has released three major SDK versions a year for several years, and each SDK has a lifetime of about one year. SDK 58, released October 15, 2026, is built for iOS 27 and React Native 0.88, and the new Expo Go app supports only SDK 58. Skipping SDKs turns small upgrades into one big, risky one.

The libraries inside your app age too. Since May 1, 2024, Apple has required approved reasons for certain system APIs in a privacy manifest to accept an upload. When you add an SDK from Apple’s list of commonly used SDKs (about a hundred, including Firebase, OneSignal and Lottie), its privacy manifest, and a signature for binary dependencies, are required.

If your app calls an AI model

Models are the most perishable dependency of all, as Dominique Siacci points out. OpenAI promises at least 6 months’ notice before retiring a generally available model, and Anthropic at least 60 days. Examples: OpenAI is shutting down gpt-5 and o3 on December 11, 2026, and Anthropic retires Claude Sonnet 4.5 on November 30, 2026. After that date, requests fail.

A replacement model doesn’t just keep your app running: it can change what it does. Pierre-Laurent Medori, Head of Backend Engineering at GoodBarber, documented a case in its AI builder: after a model switch on September 23, 2026, edits that lost more than 60% of an app’s JavaScript went from 1.4% to 7.6%. His conclusion: the new model was the trigger, but the bug was a check their pipeline never made.

New store rules that apply to old apps

• Account deletion: since June 30, 2022, Apple requires apps that offer account creation to let users start deleting their account in the app. Google Play requires an in-app path and a web link; since May 31, 2024, non-compliant apps may face enforcement, up to removal.
• Age ratings: Apple asked developers to answer its new age rating questions for each app by January 31, 2026, to avoid interruptions when submitting updates.
• Data declarations: Apple’s privacy details and Google’s Data safety form must stay accurate each time you add a tool or an AI feature. It’s one of the classic reasons Apple rejects AI-built apps.

Who does what, by path

Path	What the tool handles (per its documentation)	What stays with you
You, with code (Expo project from Bolt or Replit)	Nothing by default. Expo’s services can manage credentials, build and submit	Everything: Expo SDK upgrades, Xcode, target API, credentials, privacy declarations, resubmission
Rork	Builds and submits to Apple when you press Publish. No longer creates Expo projects: new apps are Swift or Kotlin	Pressing Publish again for each update
Newly	Writes an Expo project you own, uploads to TestFlight and to Google Play internal testing	Its own guide says you press submit, so you meet the SDK floor; SDK upgrades aren’t documented
Draftbit	Builds and uploads from its Publish menu	Publishing again with a new version number; its FAQ doesn’t cover SDK upgrades
FlutterFlow	Upgrades the underlying Flutter version (3.38.5 on February 3, 2026)	Fixing custom code or dependencies if needed, rebuilding
Adalo	Content and data changes sync without resubmission; versioning is automatic	Layout and feature changes need a new build and review
Thunkable	Updated its builds to API 35 on August 7, 2025	Republishing: staff said the change only applies after you publish an update
GoodBarber	When an OS or store rule changes, rewrites the affected component once in its build engine; every app inherits it at its next build. SSL for the web version is provisioned and renewed automatically. Its GBTC publication service renews certificates if needed, builds, uploads and submits iOS updates	Deciding when to publish an update, the domain name, an active Apple account

The pattern is the same everywhere: the best tools update their engine, but an app only benefits once a new build reaches the stores.

A yearly checklist

• Before spring: rebuild with the latest Xcode and iOS SDK, and ship an update (iOS 27 SDK from April 2027)
• Before August 31: target the API level Google requires
• On each renewal date: Apple membership, certificates, push credentials (prefer the .p8 key), domain name
• Web version and backend: check that SSL renewal is automated
• Expo projects: upgrade the SDK before yours drops out of its one-year window
• New SDK or AI feature: update the privacy manifest, Apple’s privacy details and Google’s Data safety form
• AI model: check your provider’s deprecation page and test the replacement before switching
• At least one store update a year, even without new features

Our take

An app is not a finished object: it runs on Apple’s and Google’s calendar. Before choosing a tool, ask who will rebuild and resubmit your app every year. If it’s you, block time for it every year and keep the checklist above. If you don’t want to open a project every spring, choose a tool that updates its build engine for you and, ideally, handles submission. Either way, put April and August in your calendar: missed deadlines pile up, and the update you postpone only gets bigger.