Apple sent some developers an email entitled “App Improvement Notice”, informing them that they will take down any App Store app that hasn’t been updated “in a substantial amount of time .”
As first reported by The Verge, developers have been complaining over social media about this new policy as this could be harmful for indie and game developers. One of them, Twitter user Protopop Games, shared an screenshot of the email sent by Apple:
App Store improvement Notice
This app has not been updated in a significant amount of time and is scheduled to be removed from sale in 30 days. No action in required for the app to remain available to users who have already download the app.
You can keep this app available for new users to discover and download from the App Store by submitting an update for review within 30 days. If no update is submitted within 30 days, the app will be removed from sale.
While one could point out that demanding developers to update their apps once in a while with Apple’s newest APIs could improve the user experience in newer devices, it’s also causing a lot of controversy, as shown by developer Emilia Lazer-Walker. She had some of her older games from the App Store removed:
“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.”
The Verge notes that Apple’s App Store Improvements page shows the company is “implementing an ongoing process of evaluating apps, removing apps that no longer function as intended, don’t follow current review guidelines, or are outdated,” although it’s not clear when the page was updated or what frequency does an app need to be updated to remain on the App Store.
The App Store has come under intense scrutiny over the years due to accusations of antitrust from developers and government. The most famous case is Epic vs. Apple and the Netherlands fining Apple in more than $50 million due to dating app controversy.
Apple is yet to comment on this matter. We’ll be updating the story as soon as we get information from Apple.
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 isn’t cool. Console games from 2000 are still available for sale.
This is an unfair barrier for indie developers. pic.twitter.com/7XNcLfiEcR
— Protopop Games (@protopop) April 23, 2022