Apple To Remove Abandoned Apps From App Store

Apple has sent an email to its developers detailing some changes that are about to happen to in the App Store…

…And if any of the web chatter I’ve seen over the last few hours is anything to go by, the news seems to have met with almost universal approval by both users and the dev community.

Developers get busy trying to update their Apps to make sure they comply with the new guidelines. (Not really)

The email from Apple reads:

“Quality is extremely important to us…We know that many of you work hard to build innovative apps and update your apps on the App Store with new content and features…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of evaluating apps, removing apps that no longer function as intended, don’t follow current review guidelines, or are outdated.”

The new evaluation process will start soon, with thousands of Apps apparently already earmarked for removal from the Store in the first swathe of the audit.

Criteria for what does and does not make for a problematic App seems fairly clear cut. Apps that haven’t been updated for compatibility with recent iOS and macOS versions are set for an almost certain disappearance, alongside any Apps that no longer work the way they’re supposed to either, or those that just break or don’t meet current existing guidelines.

The good news for anyone who has downloaded and is using an App set for the chop, is that users will still be allowed to keep using it, which does mean that at least someone in Apple was doing some forward thinking when the plan to clean up the App Store was being devised.

Not all Apps with issues will be removed straight away however. Apple will attempt to contact developers who’ve left “abandoned” apps in the Store, but any required changes will have to be made in 30 days, or it will be Sayonara.

Spammy keyword rich Apps with stupidly long titles will also soon be no more either:

“Search is one of the most frequently used methods for customers to discover and download apps from the App Store. In hopes of influencing search results, some developers have used extremely long app names which include descriptions and terms not directly related to their app. These long names are not fully displayed on the App Store and provide no user value. App names you submit in iTunes Connect for new apps and updates will now be limited to no longer than 50 characters.”

It’s good news all round really.