In the last month, Apple has sent numerous notices to developers, informing them that if they do not provide an update, their app will be removed from the App Store in 30 days.
Apple has since extended the deadline by 90 days and explained why in a recent blog post on their website.
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According to their blog post, an application must meet two requirements in order to be removed in the future. First, it must have remained unchanged for the last three years.
The second requirement is that it fails to meet a minimum downloading threshold, which means that it should not have been downloaded in any way or downloaded “extremely few times” in the previous 12 months, according to the company.
Apple justifies its decision to shut down these apps by citing the following reasons: app discovery, security and privacy, and user experience.
According to the company, removing old apps from the App Store allows users to more precisely locate apps that match their needs and makes the most recent apps more prominent.
According to the company, developers must update their apps to take advantage of Apple’s most recent security and privacy features available on both software and hardware.
Furthermore, Apple claims that keeping the applications up to date allows them to be compatible with the most recent screen dimensions, SDKs, APIs, and other features available on the most recent versions of iOS, iPadOS, and macOS.
When Apple began sending these notices to developers, those opposed to the policy, primarily mobile game developers, claimed that the policy should not apply to mobile games, regardless of their age. Developers of mobile games were able to compare them to older console games that could be played on today’s compatible platforms.
The App Store policy will cause a lot of problems for independent game developers who may be working as small-scale studios or all by themselves, because it’s not always logical for them to invest the effort and time to keep multiple games up to date from time to time, especially if they’re working properly.
Apple’s removal of outdated apps from the App Store
Apple could have started enforcing its policy against useless and ineffective apps more strictly.
The company then stated in 2016 that it would go out of its way to get rid of applications that had stopped working, had not been updated to the most recent standards, or had become obsolete.
Although it had received little attention in recent years, the policy was brought to the forefront this week.
The tweets were discovered by The Verge through a series of tweets. Apple notified a small group of independent developers via email that they needed to upgrade their games.
According to the email, “this application has not been updated in a long time, and it is set to be removed from the App Store in just thirty days.” “By sending an update to be reviewed within the next thirty days, you can keep this app for anyone new to the app to explore and download through the App Store.”
According to Apple, developers can earn money from microtransactions even if Apple removes their game or app from the app store.
Furthermore, users who downloaded their applications on their mobile devices can still use them. A few Twitter users who shared images of the announcement expressed concern that the new policy will unfairly affect developers with smaller budgets.
Winding-up
Apple has always done its best to incorporate more and more changes into iOS. As a result, it has the potential to become the most secure mobile operating system available.
And the prohibition of fraudulent and scamming apps is a prime example of this.
So, if you’re a small-scale developer with an older app that hasn’t seen much traffic in a few months, it might be time to shock start your operations; otherwise, Apple will remove your app.