iPhone Anyone notice older apps (prior purchases) are being pulled from the App Store?

[jpiszcz]

Most recent example, there used to be an awesome weather widget (Crisp) that I bought a long time ago:

Crisp Weather Widget by Nicholas van der Ploeg

- 12/24/48 hour and 7 day forecasts (tap and hold to switch)

appadvice.com

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id984948957

It is not available in prior purchases either.

In some cases (AllSubway) they pulled the app (no longer available in prior purchases) and then re-released it from 2014 and are charging for it again.

Has anyone else seen apps quietly being pulled off the app store and no longer appearing in your prior purchases?

 

[Falhófnir]

Presumably this is for abandoned apps that have fallen out of compatibility with recent iOS versions? I have noticed a couple of apps that say they've been updated by Apple to use the latest signing certificate, so it seems Apple do try to keep the store clear of apps that will no longer work. The only ones I know that I paid for that were subsequently discontinued are the early games like Angry birds and PVZ, which were pulled and replaced by freemium versions. Annoying, but I suppose the developers have to have a continued source of income if you want them to keep updating the app to be compatible with the ongoing OS updates.

 

[Apple_Robert]

I like that Apple has started pruning the store of apps that are no longer actively being updated and no longer able to be used by the consumer on newer devices and operating systems.

 

[Jessica Lares]

I've always had things disappear over the years. It can be for a lot of reasons. In this case, it was probably because of the Dark Sky API and the developer not wanting to update it for iOS 14 with Apple buying it.

 

[CTHarrryH]

I would also think they are getting rid of apps that don't meet their privacy standards or have been found to be somewhat security risks. Most are probably because they won't work with new software/hardware

 

[ackmondual]

Recent changes in privacy are one. Before that, it's 64-bit compatiblity. Throughout includes keeping up with new app devleopment standards.

In the past decade, any time iOS gets an update, especially a major one, that can cause compatibility issues. Time is money for devs (just like in any other biz really). If they have to keep sinking in hours to "keep up with the joneses" (iOS users do expect free updates), then it can make more fiscal sense to just let the app die.