An email screenshot shared by a developer has the title ‘App Improvement Notice’. It suggests that Apple will remove apps that have not been ‘updated in a notable amount of time’.
Apple has allowed 30 days’ time to developers for an update on the application. After that, the iOS developer will remove outdated apps from App Store.
Apple writes in the email, “By submitting an update for review within 30 days, this app will be available for new users to come upon and download from the App Store”. It adds that apps will be removed if “no update is submitted within 30 days”.
However, apps that have been downloaded by the user will remain on their iPhones.
App developers are facing losses
Developers such as Kosta Eleftheriou, Robert Kabwe and Lazer-Walker are dissatisfied with the announcement. Taking to Twitter, Kabwe said Apple has threatened to remove his fully operating game Motivoto because it was not updated after March 2019. Creator of fast keyboard Apple watch FlickType Kosta Eleftheriou also expressed his dissatisfaction. He said that Apple removed a version of his app designed specifically for the visually impaired just because it has not been updated for two years. Eleftheriou further points out in his tweet that the once well known Pocket God application is still accessible on the Apple Store, in spite of the fact that it was last updated in 2015. Another developer, Emilia Lazer-Walker also claimed that Apple is eliminating ‘a few’ of her previous games from the App Store. Various other developers have expressed similar sentiments, stating that they simply haven’t had the tempo to upgrade their applications. “We are implementing an under way process of evaluating apps, roving apps that no longer operate as intended, don’t follow recent notice guidelines, or if outdated,” Apple says in its Apple Store improvements page. In 2016, Apple had announced that they would start removing outdated apps from the Apple Store. Apple has warned developers that they would have 30 days to upgrade their application. However, it’s unclear whether Apple has implemented this rule over the years or if it only recently began conducting a broader sweep. Another concern for developers is that Apple doesn’t specify what it considers as ‘Outdated’. Whether it is based on the time since an application was last upgraded or affinity with the latest version of iOS.
Critics are also not in favour
Reviewers of the policy claim that mobile applications should be available, regardless of their age, just as bygone video games are still played. Others argue that the approach is overly harsh on creators and that Apple does not fully regard the effort that goes into developing a game. Similarly, the Google Play Store also declared at the beginning of this month that it would start limiting the availability of applications that ‘Do not pick out an API level in less than 2 years of the most recent considerable Android release category.’ Android application creators have till November 1, 2022 to upgrade their apps, but they can appeal for a 6 month add-on if they are unable to meet the deadline. With both major app stores eliminating older apps, some creators may find it difficult to keep up.
