Quick Apps Lifecycle Pattern - a third option? Create in Dev, Modify in Prod

Appian recommends one of two lifecycle patterns when designing quick apps: Design in Non-Prod Environments or Design in Production. I'm wondering if a third option is available that combines both and provides the best of both worlds? Is it possible to:

1. Design the first iteration of the app in a non-prod environment
2. Promote it to prod
3. Perform subsequent modifications directly in prod
4. Deploy downwards to lower environments by deleting the quick app in the lower environment and then re-deploying full app

This allows the first iteration (highest risk) to be developed in a dev environment, but then allows the app to continue to be managed as a Quick App directly in production so that Quick App Creators can make modifications without needing full Appian Designer access.

Appian documentation mentions that due to identifiers changing on updates, a "quick app can not be predictably merged with other versions of itself using Appian's import / export functionality". However I think my design pattern above should work. Can anyone confirm this or has anyone tried it?