In recent years, Apple has said it will begin removing ‘abandoned’ apps from the App Store that no longer receive updates, warning that developers will have 30 days to update their apps before they’re removed. Now, developers with apps on the App Store seem to be facing the same threat once again.
It seems that Apple plans to remove apps from the App Store that have not received any updates for a long time. The incident is reported by application developers who received a mail from Apple titled “Application Improvement Warning”.
‘Completed’ games and apps that don’t require updates will also be removed
Apple is warning developers that it will remove apps that haven’t been “seriously updated” from the App Store. And it looks like developers have a month ahead of them to update their apps. In the email sent accordingly, the tech giant said, “You can keep this app available for new users to discover and download from the App Store by submitting an update for review within 30 days.” it says and “If no updates are made within 30 days, the app will be removed from sale.” he adds. On the other hand, it is reported that while outdated applications will be removed from the App Store, users’ previously downloaded applications from these applications will remain on their devices.
This of course affects application developers the most. A number of app makers, such as Protopop Games developer Robert Kabwe, are voicing their concerns about the change. Accordingly, Kabwe says that Apple is threatening to remove its full-featured game Motivoto because it has not been updated since March 2019.
Kosta Eleftheriou, the developer of the FlickType Apple Watch keyboard, says that Apple has removed a specially made version of its app that has not been updated for two years. However, Eleftheriou points out that the once super popular Pocket God app is still available on the App Store, even though it got its last update in 2015.
Apart from this, many developers also state that their un-updated games and apps are removed from the App Store before they have time to update, as they do not require any updates. In a tweet on the subject, a developer said, “Games can exist as finished objects! These free projects are not suitable for updates or live service model, they are works of art finished years ago.” saves as.
Removing apps that don’t follow current guidelines
On the company’s App Store Improvements page, the company says, “Removing apps that no longer work as intended, don’t follow current review guidelines, or outdated, evaluate apps We are implementing an ongoing process for It is not known when Apple published or last updated this post, as there is no date marker on the page.
However, it’s unclear whether Apple has enforced this rule for years, nor does the company specify how it decided that an app was ‘outdated’. So the decision might be based on the time since the app was last updated, or it might be about the app’s compatibility with the latest version of iOS.
On the other hand, critics of Apple’s policy argue that mobile applications should remain usable regardless of age, just as old video games remain playable on consoles. Others accuse the company of not fully respecting indie games, stating that the policy creates unnecessary difficulties for developers.
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