Two weeks ago, the tech giant informed developers that any app that hadn’t been updated for “a good while” would be removed from the App Store. However, Apple has given developers 30 days to rectify the situation by submitting an update.
Unhappy with Apple’s new policy, developers complained on social media and said the changes were unfair to independent developers. Apple listened to their complaints and decided to extend the update deadline to 90 days.
Details on Apple’s new policy
Apple has implemented a new policy against outdated and discontinued apps for three years. The new policy also goes after developers whose apps have “not been downloaded at all or very few times in a rolling 12-month period”. Apparently, there is a download threshold to reach but which the company did not specify.
Apple also said that ditching outdated apps makes new ones easier to discover. This policy also allows users to enjoy games and tools for the latest operating systems and devices. The rules are getting stricter as the company wants to give users a better experience on App Store.
The developers take this new policy as a boycott
We have to admit that old applications no longer work as well on the latest generation of phones, tablets and laptops. They provide a poor user experience. Thus, Apple requires all apps on App Store to work on all modern screen sizes, including SDKs, APIs, and other features offered in the iOS and macOS ecosystems.
However, it is very difficult for indie developers to keep up with platform changes let alone the amount of work required to deploy even a minor update. And 30 days is not enough for them to create an update. Luckily they had a grace period. Note that if the application was downloaded by a user, it will not be deleted from the user’s device.