Apple obviously no longer wants antiques for downloading from its App Store. In a note sent to some developers, the Californian firm announces that applications that have not been updated for some time will no longer be available for download after thirty days. If the application can still be retrieved by all users who have already downloaded it in the past, it will however no longer be offered on the App Store for any new users.
Developers who want their applications to remain on the App Store will therefore have no choice but to update them within thirty days.
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
This sudden and unexpected announcement did not fail to raise concerns, but also raised questions among the developers concerned. Because if it is perfectly understandable on the part of Apple to require the updating of applications so that they can function on a maximum of devices, forcing developers to update applications that are still perfectly functional does not doesn’t make much sense. This is particularly the case for video games.
“Games can exist as finished objects! These free projects are not made to receive updates or adopt a live service model, they are works of art completed for years” adds a developer whose several titles are threatened.
.@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
On the dedicated page to the App Store Improvements that Apple has posted on its site, the firm explains that it has put in place ” an ongoing process of reviewing apps and removing apps that no longer work as intended, don’t meet current review criteria, or are outdated. »
We learn that the team in charge of the App Store evaluates the applications offered in order to verify that they work correctly, meet certain criteria and that they are above all updated. Apple also recommends that developers ” to update regularly [leurs] apps to fix bugs, offer new content, provide additional services, or make improvements to them “.
This isn’t the first time Apple has removed apps from its App Store. Already in 2016, the Cupertino company had already carried out a major sweep in its application store.
Source : The Verge