Apple has implemented a new policy in its App Store : To improve the way users find programs in it, the company explains, “a continuous process of evaluation of Apps” has been launched by which it is They will withdraw «the apps that no longer work as expected, that do not meet the current review guidelines or that are outdated».
As a result of this new process, those responsible for a series of applications that take time without receiving updates are receiving emails in which Apple notifies that they are thirty days to update the app; Otherwise, it will be removed from the App Store. This requirement is particularly affecting video games, which in many cases are closed products and that do not need to be updated: some of the games that have received the notification works without problem in the most current versions of iOS.
According to Apple, “apps will be evaluated from all App Store categories to ensure that they work as expected, follow the current review guidelines and that are updated.” It is not specified how long an app has to take without updating so that it can be withdrawn, although in some sites it is talked about two years.
A part of the confusion seems to come from the arbitrariness with which these measures apply: some games last updated in 2019 are at the point of sight while others who have not been updated for six or seven years do not seem to meet with The same problems. This is the case, as they stand out in The Verge, Pocket God, without updating since 2015.
This new process does not imply that the APP stops working, on the other hand: although a program is removed from the App Store, “it will remain fully operation for current users. They will not suffer any interruption of service and can still make purchases within the application, “explains Apple. The requirement to update apps only affects its availability in the store: it is the way to “reincorporate it to the App Store and ensure that it continues to work and attract new and existing customers,” according to the company.
Although by its very nature the games (many of them free) seem one of the types of app in which the undesired effects of this measure are most explicitly seen, also other applications have been affected: it is the case of Flicktype Keyboard, a App to write in Apple Watch, whose version for people with visual disabilities was withdrawn, even working without problem, not to receive updates in two years.
The measure has also been evil also received by what it supposes in the relationship between Apple and developers who create the content from which the App Store is nourished. Associate permanence in the store at the time of update seems unnecessarily hard for small equipment, especially in cases where the application works on new devices and operating systems, especially in cases requiring to use new hardware or work with relatively code ancient. A larger, incompatibility with old software makes hardware lose utility at the cost of binding the end user to change programs without necessity, crucially dialing the type of relationship that we form with this type of devices: superficial, always subject to change And designed with monetization as the first priority.