Apple Removed 47,300 Outdated iOS Apps From App Store in October of 2016

[MacRumors]

Back in September, Apple announced plans to start removing outdated apps from the App Store, promising to eliminate apps that are non-functional, not compatible with recent versions of iOS, or that do not adhere to current review guidelines.

According to data app analytics firm Sensor Tower shared with TechCrunch, Apple has made good on that promise. In October of 2016, the number of apps removed from the App Store increased by 238 percent, with Apple purging a total of 47,300 apps throughout the month.

On an average month, Apple removes approximately 14,000 iOS apps, so October's much larger purge represents a significant step towards cleaning up the App Store.

Developers with problematic apps were notified starting in September, and Apple gave them 30 days to make changes to prevent their apps from being eliminated from the App Store. Apps that did not see updates were then removed.

Apps across all categories were subject to removal, but many of the 47,000 apps that were culled from the App Store were games. 28 percent of removed apps fell into the Games category, 8.99 were in the Entertainment category, 8.96 were in the Books category, 7 percent were in the Education category, and 6 percent were in the Lifestyle category.

The App Store purge is part of Apple's effort to improve the App Store. In recent months, Apple has opened up app subscriptions to all product categories, introduced more favorable revenue splits, improved sharing tools, and added ads to App Store search results to give developers new ways to promote their apps.

Article Link: Apple Removed 47,300 Outdated iOS Apps From App Store in October of 2016

 

[davidec]

What happens if you own one?

 

[cpnotebook80]

The great Purge!

 

[nvmls]

Seems they didn't provide any emoji uses

 

[AngerDanger]

They say if you're really quiet in an Apple server-farm, you can sometimes hear the whisper-like flatulence of a fart app that has passed its prime.

 

[matt3526]

47,300 in a month! More than the entire windows App Store!

 

[ike1707]

47,300 in a month! More than the entire windows App Store!

I lol'd

 

[sheetspd]

I think more importantly they should be reinventing the interface and design of the App Store.

 

[bbeagle]

What happens if you own one?

You had 30 days to update your app to iOS 10, 64 bit. If you didn't do that, you app was purged.

You can simply update your app and resubmit it.

 

[Avieshek]

Infinty Blade series?

 

[cpatterson1177]

What happens if you own one?

The app will never get updated on your iPhone/iPad. You will probably get a message when you open the app that the app will cause your device to run slow and that the developer needs to update it.

 

[MacsRgr8]

What happens if you own one?

Indeed.
I own a couple of games that gave a warning running in iOS 10 (something like "...needs to be updated..")
These games work fine, but are surely "outdated".

If I erase my device, does that app install again after an iCloud restore?

 

[sniffies]

Surprised AppShopper is still there.

 

[Max Portakabin]

You had 30 days to update your app to iOS 10, 64 bit. If you didn't do that, you app was purged.

You can simply update your app and resubmit it.

Think the question was from a consumer POV. If you bought an app that's now purged, how does that affect the end user?

 

[Zirel]

Meanwhile, Microsoft is designing a software tool to port (only outdated, unmantained) iOS Apps to Windows Phone.

AND I AM NOT EVEN KIDDING

https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/bridges/ios

 

[Juicy Box]

I miss the Urinal Test app. It hasn't worked since iOS 9.

 

[Zirel]

What happens if you own one?

As a user, you can always download the App to your device.

If you are the developer, well, they will disappear from the AppStore.

 

[jdblas69]

I think more importantly they should be reinventing the interface and design of the App Store.

This may come but think doing a through cleaning up would be the first step before creating a redesigned interface.

 

[JamesMay82]

I think they could do with removing a lot more than that as well. They always boast about having so many millions of Apps etc but I can never find that many that I think are worthwhile outside of the big companies etc. A lot of them have no reviews or anything which puts me off even attempting them. All the free Apps don't feel genuine as they are just loaded with in app purchases. I'd rather just a have demo mode for a day or so and then pay for the thing in full.

 

[manu chao]

What happens if you own one?

You better make sure you have good backups. I have one or two apps that displayed warnings in iOS10 about not offering the best performance (or something similar) due to being too old. They have been long gone from the App Store. This warning has been reported about, I think it was something like the app not being 64-bit. Such apps might not run anymore in the next major version of iOS.

 

[Cineplex]

You had 30 days to update your app to iOS 10, 64 bit. If you didn't do that, you app was purged.

You can simply update your app and resubmit it.

Soooo easy! I'm sure you were able to do it all in a click of the mouse with your app! Right click "64-bit". Right click "Send to App Store". So easy a MacRumors commenter can do it!

 

[Tim0]

Meanwhile, Microsoft is designing a software tool to port (only outdated, unmantained) iOS Apps to Windows Phone.

Microsoft would do well to update their own "Windows Phone" app for Mac that hasn't been compatible since El Capitan and doesn't support Lumia 950 on any OS... But, no, they won't.

I can still download the app from App Store, even though it's been pulled down for couple of years now.

 

[Morris]

You had 30 days to update your app to iOS 10, 64 bit. If you didn't do that, you app was purged.

You can simply update your app and resubmit it.

I am hoping that the developer of one app I still use some times is nudged by this to update his/her app. It opens and functions somewhat but the whole UI is messed up so none of the buttons work.

 

[H1Supreme]

Oh well! Letting my developer license with Apple expire anyways. My perfectly fine 2nd Gen ipad can't be used for testing anymore, so my apps are never going to get to iOS10. The cost of a new iPad (and possibly iphone) + a new macbook is way more than I want to invest in this ecosystem. Especially considering I have been on Android for 2 years.

I'll start building stuff for Tizen instead. It's growing like crazy. I'll consider coming back to iOS if they open up their platform to Linux (and windows) devs. But, that will probably never happen.

 

[tech4all]

Now if they would just remove the outdated Macs...