What is the reason behind this big step?

When an application is outdated or the developer does not update it, this app becomes a threat to security. Concerns about apps will be removed to ensure that users get an entirely safe and secure application for their devices.  It appears that over 1.5 million apps that are available on Google Play and the Apple App Store are abandoned, which indicates that there has been no update in more than two years. Noticeably, 1.5 million apps account for 30% of the 5 million apps available for download that look to be discarded. Google Play and the Apple App Store have 314,000 “Super-Abandoned” apps. There have been no updates to these apps for almost five years. The Google Play Store contains 42 percent of all massively abandoned apps, while the Apple Store has 58 percent. 

What other actions are being taken? 

Apple has stated that it will remove applications which have no updates in three years. The developer will get an email for the same. Even Google has launched a new privacy policy and a new API target level too.  Both companies are going the extra mile in terms of safety and security at this time. The aim is to remove apps that are security threats and draw consumer’s attention toward better and safer applications. 

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