Apps that haven’t received an update for some time seem to be disappearing from the App Store lately, developers have noted.
Developers of apps that have not been updated for some time will receive an email with the message that they have 30 days to update their apps. If not, Apple will get it from the digital download store.
If you have an app on your iPhone or iPad that is no longer in the App Store, that’s no problem. Then you can continue to use that app as before. However, the software will then no longer be available to new users.
Apple is fighting old apps
So it seems that Apple wants to get older apps from the App Store. However, it is not clear why the company is doing this. We can imagine: older apps sometimes no longer meet new security standards. That poses a risk and Apple does not want to run that risk within its digital store.
Developers are appalled at this and don’t understand exactly what Apple is doing. That’s why they make themselves heard on Twitter† Their experience shows that some apps were two years old, while they show that, for example, a specific app called Pocket God has not been updated since 2015.
Apple already announced in 2016 that it wanted to remove outdated apps from the App Store. At the time, it was already announced that developers were given thirty days to still release an update.
On the App Store Improvements page You can also read that Apple always has a process in which it evaluates and removes apps “when they no longer work as promised, no longer follow the guidelines or are outdated”.