So you are frustrated that a 10-year old device is not fully supported? I guess you are super happy with the 720p output (must be a really old tv, as well). Each to their own, I'm loving 4k - its awesome
It has more to do with losing
existing functionality if his phone ever requires restoring. It's not even about support, since the app doesn't have to be updated -- just kept available to those who already have it.
It's more a fault of how iOS no longer allows for apps to be locally managed and restored. Before, backing up locally would also back up the apps. Restoring the phone from a local backup would also restore all of the apps, including those that were no longer available on the app store. If it was on your phone before, it would be there afterwards.
I have a few games on my phone that are no longer available on the app store. If I ever have to restore my phone because of a botched iOS upgrade (which has happened before, and happened with iOS 14.1 as well with the "Error 4000" during installation [got around that by disabling the passcode]), I would not be able to recover them.
Apple has two remote apps. The original Remote app (Blue icon with play symbol), which was renamed itunes Remote at one point in time, and concerned controlling home sharing and itunes, and Remote which was an icon of the Apple remote and simulated the Apple remote control for ATV.
Can't say I used the TV remote one all that much but I used to use the itunes one quite often. Even with Apple Music items in my library. I still find it better for music control of my library, but it lacks the searching and discovery of items on Apple Music not in your library, which is unfortunate. Both are still in my history, I wonder if both or just the TV one was removed?
I've tried both apps before, and they ended up buried in a folder somewhere. For the ATV app, I still ended up going back to my universal remote. I'm too used to using one remote to control all of the devices on my home theater. Once I got used to one-click activity buttons on Harmony's remotes to switch between devices, I couldn't go back to fumbling between remotes, and switching between apps on a phone.
It never really occurred to me that the ATV Remote app was separate from the Control Center function. But, in the end, aside from occasionally using my phone to type in a search query (when using the ATV with the universal remote, an alert will pop up on my phone whenever a search screen comes up, asking if I want to use the phone keyboard instead), I hardly ever use the ATV Siri remote or either of the remote apps.
For all of Apple's success with designing great user interfaces with the iPod and then the iPhone, they still haven't cracked the code on how to design a great remote control (our old iMac has that magnetically mounted remote for Front Row, which we tried but rarely used).