Apple in the footsteps of Google decides to clean up his App Store of older applications which are no longer updated. Earlier this month it was seen how the Mountain View company had introduced stricter rules on content published on the Play Store, hiding apps with APIs older than two years from the latest major release of Android. And now also in Cupertino we are moving in the same direction.
By mail Apple has warned the developers who have no longer updated their apps “for a considerable amount of time“which will remove the app from the Store if it is not updated within the next 30 days:
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.
If an app should in fact be deleted from the App Store because it is dated and no longer updated, however, it will remain available on your smartphone of those who had previously downloaded it. There are those who immediately sided in favor of the new policy implemented by Apple (which is not so new, given that something similar was “threatened” in 2016), there are those who believe that in this so some types of content – see retro games, for example – are permanently lost.
.@apple is removing a few of my old games b / c they have “not been updated in a significant amount of time”
Games can exist as completed objects! These free projects aren’t suitable for updates or a live service model, they’re finished artworks from years ago. pic.twitter.com/iflH70j7q4
– emilia ✨ (@lazerwalker) April 23, 2022
Page App Store improvements indicate: “We are putting in place a process of continual app evaluation, removing those that no longer work as expected, do not meet the current App Review guidelines or are out of date“. It’s still:
In order to keep the app in the App Store, you will be prompted to submit an update within 30 days. If within this time period you are unable to make the necessary changes, the app will be removed from the App Store until you submit an update and it is approved.
