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Apple to Clean Up App Store, Eliminate Outdated and Non-Functional Apps

Xenomorph said:
So anyone with an iPhone 4, 3GS, 3G, original iPad, or original iPhone is just out of luck? There are still lots of apps that only need iOS 5, 4, 3 or even 2. Those old apps work just fine. If you remove old apps, then old devices will no longer have access to those apps.



DOOM Resurrection hasn't been updated in 6 years. It only requires iOS 2.2.1 to play. It still works fine.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/doom-resurrection/id318567158
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The market share for those devices has got to be under 1% so it's not really a huge deal. You understand those smaller iPhones cause newer apps to suffer because we have to make sure our apps can fit on a 3.5 inch screen. How are we supposed to make an app optimized for a 5.5 inch screen when it's gotta be bavkwards compatible with the 3.5 inch. It's a real hassle I hope 9 was the last to support those devices so I no longer have to spend design and coding time on the <1% of the market.
 
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tkukoc said:
True, except what about those people who do not update their devices or have older devices.. now they can't get applications that while might not work on newer devices.. do work on older ones. This could get a bit tricky for Apple if not done correctly. Essentially they could be completely blocking out older devices.. why stop at just IOS.. might as well go hit up older mac's too and say sorry.. you can no longer purchase applications.. upgrade your machine to do so.. even though there's plenty of older applications that work just fine. I'm not saying your wrong by any means.. I just mean.. Apple should take note and think about their overall user base and not just those on current devices. I know plenty of people who never update their devices or use older ones.
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You make a good point.

Maybe there needs to be a graveyard section and a warning (not that people will read it) to store ones older apps.

I have an older G5 iMac which still works fine with all the old apps. I handed that iMac down to somebody and wanted to install MS office 12. something, but unfortunatelyMS no longer supports that version and pulled all the updates.
Chased around in many languages and found a few.I t never dawned on me to save updates, as it was happening automatically with a few clicks.

There are "legacy" apps websites, but usually not for updates and security patches.

Anyway, not an easy fix.
 
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Xenomorph said:
So anyone with an iPhone 4, 3GS, 3G, original iPad, or original iPhone is just out of luck? There are still lots of apps that only need iOS 5, 4, 3 or even 2. Those old apps work just fine. If you remove old apps, then old devices will no longer have access to those apps.



DOOM Resurrection hasn't been updated in 6 years. It only requires iOS 2.2.1 to play. It still works fine.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/doom-resurrection/id318567158
Click to expand...

Even if it could still run the app those devices are way too slow and memory starved. My iPhone 4 was painfully slow for something as simple as 80s style scroller like Sky Force.
 
developer13245 said:
.. but this puts Apple on thin ice because there hasn't been a way update apps for older devices e.g. iPhone 3G and 3Gs etc...due to minimum system support in Xcode. This has been blatant anti-trust. Why does Apple have the right to declare an old device useless and prevent supporting apps on them? Does Chevrolet or Ford have the right to prevent old car model owners from keeping their cars on the road?
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"Antitrust" is one of those words that has become very popular despite literally no one actually understanding what it means. Literally.

Wahlstrm said:
..or making a change in marketing from "we have *big number* apps in App Store " to "We have *still a big number* current/optimized/updated/relevant apps in the App store ".

I´m quite sure that 99% users prefer 1 million perfectly updated and relevant apps over a billion spyware/junk apps..

Android can have the record for most apps, I just want the quality apps anyway.. 🙂
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They just start saying xxx Beeelllliion apps have been released. (i.e., not necessarily still there, but historically.)

Tech198 said:
What would Apple consider "not supported" because one year is not long enough....

Developers take breaks all the time to work on other stuff... and other apps which are working there is no reason to "just keep them up to date because they'll be removed otherwise" for no other apparent reason..

I can see Apple doing it to their own app, and OS's but not always to third party apps, Apple did not develop.. in all cases..

Clean up is always good, but be selective with what your doing. Apple just wants to control more.
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It's sad that we are partially defining our expectation of how frequently an app should be updated based on an assumption of a minimum level of bugginess. I still use a 3gs on an old dock for white noise using an old, old app that hasn' t seen updates for a long time.

Would be senseless if I had to switch to a different app just because 12 year olds with their new 7s+ thought the app looked ugly.

There are perfectly functional apps (written for iOS versions that aren't getting updated), that don't need no stinkin' updates.
 
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This is a good move! Hopefully all of the Minecraft clones, Animal Simulator clones, poorly made racing game clones, and ancient, completely forgotten apps will be removed. This should help in the search results when you're looking through apps so you don't have to claw through 500 garbage apps to find the quality one that you need.

I kind of wish Google would do this with the Play Store, it's in a similar situation to the App Store.
 
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For each app in the App Store, there should be a feature where users can report it as abandoned.
 
I bet more people would keep apps up to date if the whole development/upload process wasn't crazy. It just takes soooooo many steps to get everything where it needs to be. I've had apps in the store and every time I need to do an update I just cringe. Certificates this, iTunes Connect that, graphic specs this.....why doesn't Xcode just have a "submit" button that does all the work for you. How hard could it be to automate these processes. Certificates are the biggest pain in the ***. I don't deal with it very often but when I do I forget half of what I need to do. Someone that does this all day is fine, but someone that isn't always doing it...it is a nightmare. Not user friendly at all. Replacing a logic board in an 8100 is less annoying.
 
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I wonder how many apps
-haven't been updated for different sized iDevices (so they have black bars on the sides)
-aren't 64-bit
-use deprecated libraries/functions

If there are 2 million+ apps, bound to have a few!
 
pat500000 said:
Hold the f*** up. So, all the apps that I purchased in the past and no longer updated are gonna get erased? After I paid for it?
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Historically when Apple has done this, it's just no longer available for acquiring for new people. If you've acquired it in the past, the app will stay on your phone and you can continue to download it in the future as long as you are using the same Apple account.
 
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mi7chy said:
If they come back after a reset they're hidden and not deleted. This is not new since Apple is just following what Android has been doing for years.
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If you want to re-install them, you can go to the App Store and download them again. However, I will give you the benefit of the doubt as I think what they are really doing is hiding them from the home screen since the download happens too quickly for it to be a download 🙂
 
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I'll believe it when I see it. I doubt this is anywhere near the culling most people hope it will be.

Apple is big on bragging they have X number of apps in their app store. We all know if they got rid of 75% of them the world would be a better place but unfortunately they won't do that.
 
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