Apple announces extension of standards and grace period to remove old iOS apps that haven’t been updated for a long time – GIGAZINE

In April 2022, it was reported that old apps that had not been updated for a long time began to be deleted in the Apple-run iOS App Store, and some developers said, “It’s normal without an update. There have been complaints like ‘It works for me'” And “I still have something older than my app.” In response, Apple announced on April 29 that it would clarify criteria for removing outdated apps and extend developers permission to update.

Clarify standards and extend new timing for App Store improvements process – latest news – Apple developer
https://developer.apple.com/news/?id=gi6npkmf&1651278071

Apple gives developers more time to update ‘old’ apps before removal – MacRumors
https://www.macrumors.com/2022/04/29/apple-outdated-apps-extension/

“Apple is removing old apps that haven’t been updated for a long time from the App Store,” said mobile app developer Protopop Games, who took over from Apple. The free game we developed (Motivoto) has not been updated for some time and will be removed within 30 days. “If you want to keep your app published on the App Store, please update within 30 days. I tweeted about the notice.

Old apps that have not been updated for a long time have been removed from the APPLE-GIGAZINE APP STORE

Other app developers have also reported that “Apple has informed me that I am deleting an app that hasn’t been updated for a long time,” and on SNS, “Some apps have not been updated longer than my own There have been complaints like “It has been deleted” and “There are drawbacks to deleting old apps” .

So on April 29, Apple published an article for developers titled “Clarification of Process Improvement Standards and Timing Extension in the App Store.” Accordingly, Apple has been in the process of removing apps that didn’t work as intended from 2016 and apps that don’t follow the latest review guidelines. As part of this process, Apple says it has removed about 2.8 million apps over the past six years.

The advantages of removing old apps is that Apple can’t find old apps in the App Store, which makes it easier for users to find great apps that meet their needs. New Apple devices We can provide secure apps that include security improvements by wearing software and We can provide a great user experience by keeping apps up to date. “

Apple’s new removal criteria are “Apps that have not been updated in the past three years and have not been downloaded at all or have been downloaded too few times in the past 12 months.” For apps that meet these conditions, we will send a notice to the developer that they “may be removed from the App Store”. Additionally, Apple reports that the grace period until the update has been “within 30 days” so far, but that it will be extended to “up to 90 days” in the future. In addition, developers can oppose the removal of the application.

In addition, it is not only the App Store that has started deleting old apps, but Google Play, an app store for Android, also announced that “old apps that don’t meet the API level requirements will be hidden on Google Play.” .

Google plans to hide outdated applications that do not meet the requirements of Google Play-GIGAZINE

by nicoroid