How to Close a Charity App Responsibly
Closing an app people used for health information is product work. What to decide, who to tell and what to remove, from shutting down a breast cancer app.
On 3 February 2026, a UK breast cancer charity closed its support app for people living with and beyond primary breast cancer. I had worked on it for years, across the app, its backend and the content system behind its 300+ cards of advice, and I helped carry out the closure.
Most writing about apps is about launching them. Very little is about ending one well, although every app eventually closes. For a charity app that people used during a hard period of their lives, how it ends is part of the service.
The case study covers the app itself. This post is about the closure.
Deciding to close
The charity's reasoning was clear. Fewer people were using the app. People had started finding health information through quick searches and AI assistants, and a standalone app was no longer the best way to reach them. The charity chose to put its effort into its website, helpline, forum and support groups, and not to launch a replacement app.
That is a product decision, and a good one to make on purpose. The alternative is an app that slowly stops being updated, fails an app store review or an operating system update, and disappears without warning. Closing deliberately lets the charity choose the date, the message and where people go next.
Tell people early, and tell them where to go
The people using a health support app are not customers who will shrug and find another tool. Some will have relied on it. They need notice, a reason, and a clear route to the support that continues.
We told users what was changing and where to find the charity's other services, and the charity published the same explanation on its website: when the app would close, why, and where support continues.
If your app has push notifications or email, use them, but do not rely on them alone. Many people disable notifications. A message inside the app, shown when it opens, reaches the people who still use it.
Remove the app from the stores
Apple and Google both let you take an app off sale without deleting it. In App Store Connect, you remove the app from sale; in Google Play Console, you unpublish it. People who already installed it may keep a copy on their phone, so the app should handle the backend going away: show a closing message instead of an error or an empty screen.
Plan the order. Remove it from the stores first, so no new users arrive, then keep the backend running for the notice period, then switch it off.
Handle the data properly
An app that knew about someone's health has to end with their data dealt with, not abandoned on a server. Decide with the charity's data protection lead what is deleted, what is kept for legal or reporting reasons, and for how long. Then delete it, including backups on the schedule your policy sets, and record that it was done.
The content is a different matter. Cards of health advice written by a charity's team are an asset. Some of it may belong on the website or in other services. Export it in a format the charity's team can reuse before the content system is switched off.
Switch off everything else
An app has more moving parts than the app itself: the backend, the content management system, domains, analytics, crash reporting, push notification keys, developer accounts, and the monthly bills for all of them. List them all, and close each one. A forgotten server holding personal data is the most likely way a closed app causes harm later.
What I would put on the checklist
- Agree the reason and the date, and do not move the date once announced.
- Tell users in the app, on the website and by any other channel you have, with a clear route to the support that continues.
- Remove the app from sale on both stores before switching anything off.
- Make the installed app fail politely when the backend goes.
- Agree deletion and retention with the data protection lead, then do it and record it.
- Export content the charity can reuse.
- List every service, key, account and bill, and close each one.
If your charity is deciding what to do with an app that has run its course, I am happy to help plan it.