App developers are a bit uncomfortable with Apple’s decision to remove outdated apps from the App Store. Apple has decided to send emails to developers with the title: “Application Improvement Notice”. This indicates that the company is about to remove your app from the App Store for not constantly updating.
Apple is removing apps without updating
Apple has unleashed the hassle of multiple iOS developers. Many complaints can be seen on various social networks according to TheVerge given this news. It is understandable, since not all applications require constant updating, like some games or applications that take a long time to perform this task.
The Twitter user who is quite angry about this policy, Protopop Gamesdecided to express his annoyance by sharing on his networks a screenshot of said leash that Apple sent him.
The email from Apple that has angered many people, indicates that apps that have not been updated for quite some time, will go to a registry to be removed from the iOS app store. This final deletion will take place after 30 days to receive this message. However, no special option is needed for users who have already downloaded it, since the app will continue to be available and functional for these users.
I feel sick. Apple just sent me an email saying they’re removing my free game Motivoto because its more than 2 years old.
It’s part of their App improvement system.
This is not cool. Console games from 2000 are still available for sale.
This is an unfair barrier to indie devs. pic.twitter.com/7XNcLfiEcR
— Protopop Games (@protopop) April 23, 2022
Controversy caused by Apple
This heated debate for Apple’s developer community may lead to more controversy. On the one hand we understand that some abandon projects, but Apple is not realizing important factors. Maybe there are some developers who don’t have enough support to continue or people like the developer Emilia Lazer Walker.
She showed her discontent on her social networks saying that there is no need to update her games anymore. Emilia considers her games as a project that ended and that users can enjoy. In addition to the fact that the applications were completely free, they were not a business model or updates, for her they are works of art that were finished years ago.
The medium The Verge points out the new interactions in the official improvements page on the App Store. Apple would be trying to improve its applications more and more, so it has decided to evaluate each one more optimally. Perhaps for this reason, removing those that do not work or meet the final objective, those that are no longer aware of the new privacy policies or that are obsolete for the functions that were devised, will be better removed.
However, there is no notification when this update happened on the page nor of exact data of how often they should receive updates so as not to eliminate them or the way it should be done so that it stays in the App Store.
We are clear that this will not be the first or the last time that the App Store is in the eye of the hurricane. It has already had multiple controversies and in some cases quite dense with the government and its accusations, as well as with the developers themselves. Like the case of Epic or the case of the Netherlands against Apple for dating apps.
In this case, Apple has not given any testimony. Nor has he come out to explain this sudden situation that changed the taste of users and developers again.
