Solfreaks App Rescue is for apps that have gone stale: slow, crashing, stuck on old SDKs or abandoned by whoever built them. We start with an audit and fix what actually hurts, rather than proposing a full rewrite by default.
Sometimes the original developer can't be reached and the source code has gone with them. That is a harder job, but it isn't an impossible one.
Why we audit before promising anything
The first step is a code audit and a look at your crash data: Android vitals in Play Console, Crashlytics if you use it, and the crash reports in App Store Connect. Crashes tend to cluster, so a handful of causes usually explain most of them, and fixing those is the quickest way to recover ratings. We also check the dependencies, the target SDK level, the backend calls, where secrets are stored and whether any tests exist.
You get a written report with problems ranked by risk and a plain recommendation: repair, staged modernisation or rewrite. Sometimes the answer is a rewrite: when repairing costs nearly as much as rebuilding, or the framework is no longer maintained, patching only postpones the bill. Sometimes the app needs less work than you feared. We'll tell you which.
What gets fixed
- Platform compliance. A current target API level for Google Play and a recent Xcode and SDK for the App Store, because both stores raise the bar every year and stop accepting updates from apps that fall behind.
- Crashes and slow screens. The top crash causes, slow start-up and heavy lists, measured against your own dashboards before and after.
- Security repairs. Libraries with known vulnerabilities, insecure local storage, hard-coded keys and weak API authentication.
- Step-by-step modernisation. Screens move to Kotlin with Jetpack Compose, or Swift with SwiftUI, one at a time, following the approach in our native development work, so the app stays shippable throughout.
- Backend clean-up. Slow endpoints, missing database indexes and unmaintained server code, which are often the real reason an app feels slow.
Keeping your users, ratings and listing
We ship the revamp as an update to the existing listing, with the same package name or bundle ID and signing identity, so reviews, ratings and installed users stay put. Local data is migrated, not wiped, and larger changes go out as staged rollouts. If the Play Console or Apple developer account sits with a previous agency, we'll help you move it to your own organisation, as covered in our app publishing work.
When the source code is missing
It happens more often than people admit. We first ask you to confirm that you own the app. Then we document how the published app behaves and what its API does, and rebuild against that. We don't pick apart someone else's app to copy it. The signing key is the one thing that can't always be recovered: with Play App Signing enabled, Google can reset a lost upload key, and without it you may have to publish a new listing.
How a rescue runs
- Access and inventory. We collect repositories, store accounts, backend access and any documentation, which usually takes a few days.
- Audit. Code review, crash analysis and a security pass, ending in the ranked report. This typically takes one to two weeks.
- Decision. You choose repair, staged modernisation or rewrite, with the evidence in front of you.
- Stabilise. We fix the crash causes and compliance blockers first and release that update before anything cosmetic.
- Modernise in slices. Screens, libraries and backend pieces are replaced one release at a time, with a redesign where the audit says it's justified.
- Hand back or carry on. You receive documentation and a repository you control. An app maintenance plan is optional, but an app left alone tends to fall behind again.
Is the app worth saving?
It suits apps with real users or revenue, a business idea that still works and code that has become a burden. A rescue is probably not for you if the app has almost no users and the idea itself needs rethinking; a small fresh build can cost less than rescuing something nobody opens.
What a rescue costs
How far behind the SDKs are, the size and condition of the codebase, whether the source is available, the state of the backend, whether a redesign is in scope and how much testing is needed all set the price. The audit is quoted as a fixed piece of work, and the repair can be a fixed scope or a monthly arrangement. Stabilising a stale app usually takes two to six weeks after the audit, while a staged modernisation typically runs several months, released in slices. The quote follows a short discovery call.
Why trust us with your code
The developer who reads your code is the one who talks to you. We're based in Rawalpindi, on Pakistan time, and we have apps published on Google Play, so the store rules described above are ones we've handled in real releases. You keep the code, the accounts and the documentation. If you have an app that needs looking at, send us the store link and we'll tell you what we would check first.
Open-source tools and references
A few public projects that come up a lot in this kind of work. They belong to other people and teams. We link to them because they are worth a look, not because anyone pays us to.
- android/architecture-samplesOfficial samples of modern Android app architecture.
- lysine-dev/okhttpThe HTTP client behind most Android apps.
- Kotlin/kotlinx.coroutinesCoroutines library, useful for replacing callback-heavy code.
Frequently asked questions
How do you decide between repairing and rewriting?
The audit decides, not a preference. We look at how many files would have to change anyway, whether the framework is still maintained, whether tests exist and how tangled the screens and data layer are. If repair costs close to a rebuild, we recommend the rebuild and show our working. If the app is healthier than it looks, we say that too.
Can you rescue an app if the original developer won't hand over the source?
Often, yes, as long as you can show you own the app. We document how the published app behaves and what its API does, then rebuild the screens against that. We don't copy code we're not entitled to. The store listing can usually be kept, but if the original signing key is lost and Play App Signing isn't enabled, a new listing may be needed.
Will our users lose data or have to reinstall?
No. The revamp goes out as an ordinary update to the same listing. We test the upgrade path from older versions of the app, migrate local data rather than wiping it, and use staged rollouts so that a problem is caught while it only affects a small share of your users.
Our Google Play app has a warning about the target API level. How urgent is it?
Take it seriously. Google Play asks that new apps and updates target a recent API level, and the requirement moves up every year, so an app that falls behind can lose the ability to publish updates. Raising the target touches permissions, background work and storage, and the older the app, the more that involves. We can't promise any particular review outcome, but we can plan the upgrade as part of the audit.
What access do you need, and is our data safe?
Repositories, store accounts and a staging backend are normally enough. We ask for read-only access to production logs where possible, work under an NDA if you want one, and avoid copying customer data to our machines. When the project ends, access is removed and we confirm in writing which accounts we have been taken off.
Talk it through with us
Tell us what you are building and where it hurts. You get a straight answer, a plan and a price, and if we are not the right people we will say so.
