Apple App Store Gives Outdated App More Time. If there is one thing apple takes great pride in doing it is selecting quality apps for its app store and digital content. And that’s due to its mostly manual curation of what goes into the store and what is kept out.
Once you get past the initial scrutiny that comes with launching a new product right on the App Store, what you place in it is pretty much set for life – or, at least, until you push an update that once again starts the process anew.
Apple App Store Gives Outdates App More Time
In the coming months, this reality would be getting some big changes in the coming months and outdated apps would be kicked out. After backlash following its initial announcement, Apple would be giving developers more time to set things straight, but it is not backing down from its hardline stance.
On one hand, there are tons of reasons why apple only offers updated and regularly updated apps on its store. To add, keeping up the appearance of a living and thriving ecosystem, this mandate also ensures that the app is working properly on the most recent versions of iOS and MacOS. The app store, after all, promises a “great user experience,” that does not just cover privacy and security but also ensures access to the best apps to do the job. Being able to discover apps that take advantage of the latest platform features only works if all the apps are actually updated.
On the other hand, keeping apps updated even when they don’t really need to be updated can be a ton of work for developers, particularly indie devs who just do apps that are on the side. Every update would place the app at the risk of being removed all thanks to Apple’s review process, even if very few changes in the actual code. Fortunately, Apple is working on its new policies for dealing with outdated apps and is offering developers a bit more wiggle room to meet those requirements.
New Guidelines for Old Apps
To begin with, Apple would only consider an app “outdated” if it hasn’t been updated once within the last three years. That Label will be especially true if the app is yet to be downloaded at all within a rolling 12-month period or its download number has gotten really low. Developers that have such apps would be emailed, reminding them that their apps need to be updated or they would be removed from the app store.
In the previous version of the new App Store policy, Apple only offers developers about 30 days to update their apps upon receiving that email. That’s not enough time for the indie or solo devs to respond, especially when the app in question is a big game. Well luckily, Apple has decided to extend the grace period to about 90 days, which is enough time for them to work on it.
Apple did reassure both developers and users that apps that get delisted from the App Store would still function on devices on which they have already been installed. Developers would continue to receive revenue from in-app purchases also, but getting back into Apple’s good graces would probably involve a lot more work after apple has kicked them out.
