Apple is reportedly purging older apps from the App Store

Apple seems to be cleaning house in the App Store. The company is reportedly removing apps that haven’t received updates in a while from the App Store.

In addition, Apple sent out an email blast letting affected developers know they have 30 days to update their apps or else the company will remove them. 

“You can keep this app available for new users to discover and download from the App Store by submitting an update for review in 30 days,” Apple writes in the email. “If no update is submitted in 30 days, the app will be removed from sale.”

Thankfully, Apple says any previously downloaded apps will remain on users’ devices.

READ MORE: Apple’s App Store can now increase subscription prices without asking

Purging old apps from the App Store has its benefits, but it comes with some unintended consequences. For example, this indie game developer hasn’t updated their free game, Motivoto, in over two years. With Apple’s new policy in place, the app is targeted for removal. The list goes on.

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

Another developer, Simon Barker, writes: “I received an email this morning saying the same about one of my apps. It hasn’t got any crash reports, still gets downloads after five years, doesn’t need a v2 and Apple decide it’s time to go due to swift version changes. I don’t have time to push a meaningful change.”

UPDATE 7/27/2022 1:30 PM ET: The Motivoto app was removed from the App Store.

READ MORE: Apple is luring more and more people away from Android devices

Did this new policy pop out from nowhere? Apple’s App Store Improvements page hints that this purge was a long time coming.

“We are implementing an ongoing process of evaluating apps, removing apps that no longer function as intended, don’t follow current review guidelines, or are outdated,” reads the page.

https://twitter.com/stroughtonsmith/status/1517935723374157824

Regardless of whether developers hate this new change, it seems the policy is here to stay. Apple runs a pretty tight ship when it comes to its App Store, and things like this prove it.

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