Apple has started to take critical steps for the App Store. The technology giant has decided to quietly remove applications that have not received updates for a while. Apple warns and then cleans apps that haven’t received updates for a “significant period”.
Developers who haven’t been to the App Store lately may have faced deletion of their apps. For example, the developer of the game Motivoto presented the last update in March 2019. However, the developer said that Apple gives a maximum of 30 days to update the app.
Apple removes non-updated apps from the App Store
Apple may have started cleaning apps that haven’t received updates. Complaining to Apple on Twitter, iOS developers reported that they had to release an update if they wanted the app to stay in the App Store.
Apple has started emailing developers who haven’t shared updates. Explaining what the developer should do in the e-mail, Apple especially draws attention to security updates. According to Apple, the update must be shared within 30 days to prevent the application from being taken down.
Another complaint came from the developer of the Apple Watch keyboard app called FlickType. Kosta Eleftherou, who said that the Cupertino-based company deleted one of its tools, said that Apple removed the “version that serves visually impaired people” of the FlickType keyboard.
In contrast, Eleftherou pointed out that games like Pocket God are still available in the store, even though they haven’t received updates for years. The developer named Simon Barker used the following expressions for his app on the App Store:
“I got an email this morning saying the same thing about one of my apps. There are no reports of complaints, five years later it still has the potential to be downloaded and does not need the (app) v2 version. But Apple decides it’s time to remove it due to version changes.”
But this isn’t the first time Apple’s intention to eliminate apps that haven’t been replaced for a long time. Earlier, the company informed developers that it would find and remove “non-updated problematic” apps to be compatible with the latest versions of iOS and macOS.
Also earlier this month, Google said it will take a similar step for the Play Store. He stated that he will restrict the visibility of applications that do not make API changes within two years after the latest Android version.
So what do you think about Apple’s move for the App Store that has not received any updates? Don’t forget to share your feedback with us on the SDN Forum or in the comments!
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