Mobile Product Launch & Operations
The Mobile Launch Playbook
| Phase | Activities |
|---|---|
| T-Minus 4 weeks | Freeze new features; focus on crash/stability fixes; prepare store listing assets |
| T-Minus 2 weeks | Submit to TestFlight / closed track; run through full test matrix |
| T-Minus 1 week | Submit for production review; prepare support FAQs and internal release notes |
| Launch day | Monitor crash rate, ratings, and support tickets hourly; stage rollout to 5% |
| T+1 week | Expand to 100% if metrics are healthy; post-mortem any launch-day incidents |
Staged Rollouts
Always start at 5–10%. Google Play and App Store both support percentage-based rollouts. Monitor these metrics before expanding:
- Crash-free session rate (>99.5%)
- Rating trajectory (not declining)
- Key funnels (not regressing)
- Support ticket volume (not spiking)
Incident Response on Mobile
Mobile incidents are harder to fix than web — no “deploy fix and refresh.” Build a runbook:
- Detect via crash reporting and rating alerts
- Mitigate — disable the feature via remote config; roll back staged rollout
- Fix — develop, test, submit, wait for review
- Communicate — update store description, reply to reviews, notify affected users
- Post-mortem — add regression tests, improve monitoring
Version Fragmentation
Users don’t all update. Six months after a release, 70–80% of users are on the latest version. Support the last two major versions. Use feature flags to gate features on minimum OS version or app version.
Deprecating Features
Removing a feature from a mobile app is harder than adding one. Users who rely on it will leave angry reviews. Deprecation process:
- Announce timeline in-app and via email/notification (3 months notice)
- Replace or consolidate the feature where possible
- Degrade gracefully — show read-only view, then remove
- Monitor support tickets and rating impact during deprecation
Ongoing Operations
- Weekly crash triage
- Monthly store listing optimisation (A/B test screenshots and descriptions)
- Quarterly app store Q&A review — respond to every review, especially negative ones
- Bi-annual platform guideline audit — both Apple and Google update guidelines yearly
Start: Table of Contents