Apple may have started a Fresh Campaign to Remove Out-Of-Date Apps from the App Store

A notice about the company's App Store Improvements policy was recently delivered to several developers

Apple may have started enforcing its prohibition against unused and malfunctioning apps more strictly. The business promised in 2016 that it would go out of its way to delete programs that had ceased working, did not follow its newest criteria, or had become outdated. After falling out of favor in recent years, the policy has resurfaced in the public mind this week. A handful of indie developers published an email message from Apple asking them to upgrade their games in a series of tweets seen by The Verge. The business writes in the email that "this app has not been updated in a significant amount of time and is set to be removed from sale in 30 days." "By submitting an update for review within 30 days, you can keep this app available for new people to find and download from the App Store." Even if an app or game is removed from the App Store, Apple warns that developers can continue to make money from micro transactions. Furthermore, people who have downloaded their programs to their devices will continue to be able to use them. Some Twitter users who shared pictures of the message voiced worry that the policy unfairly penalizes smaller developers. "This is an unreasonable hurdle for indie developers," remarked Robert Kabwe of Protopop Games. "I'm sitting here on a Friday night, exhausted from my day job, trying my hardest to make a livelihood from my independent games, trying to keep up with Apple, Google, Unity, Xcode, and macOS upgrades that happen at such a breakneck pace that my head spins, while my games perform worse on older devices." The business claims that the policy is aimed "to make it easier for users to identify amazing apps that meet their needs" on a help website dedicated to its App Store Improvements effort. It also states that it wants to make sure that all of the applications on the platform is "functioning and up-to-date." Obviously, there isn't a simple solution to the problem. When you purchase a new Apple device and discover that the apps aren't tuned to take advantage of the technology, it's frustrating. When I bought my 2020 iPad Air and downloaded Klei's tactical espionage RPG Invisible, Inc., I found myself in that predicament. When I first started playing the game, I was dismayed to see that the company had not updated it to support the iPad Air's 2,360 by 1,640 resolution. In truth, Klei hasn't updated Invisible, Inc. on iOS since 2016. That hasn't kept me from enjoying the game, but I do wish I could play it without the interface being letterboxed by black bars.