Numerous developers have come across unusual mail in their email inboxes in recent days. Namely, Apple sent them a “notification of improving applications”, in which it warns them that it will remove applications from the App Store that have not been updated for a long time and gives them only 30 days to update them.
“You can keep this app available to new users for discovery and download from the App Store by sending an update for review within the next 30 days. “If the update is not sent within that period, the application will be removed from the offer,” Apple wrote in an email.
The developers were not indifferent to Apple’s request and immediately shared their reactions on Twitter. One of them is the developer of Protopop Games, Robert Kabwe, who says that the technology giant from Cupertino is threatening to remove his game Motivoto because it has not been updated since March 2019.
“I’m sick. This is not cool. 2000 video games for consoles are still available for purchase. This is an unfair obstacle for indie developers, “Kabwe wrote unhappily.
I feel sick. Apple just sent me an email saying they're removing my free game Motivoto because its more than 2 years old.
It's part of their App improvement system.
This is not cool. Console games from 2000 are still available for sale.
This is an unfair barrier to indie devs. pic.twitter.com/7XNcLfiEcR
— Protopop Games (@protopop) April 23, 2022
Shortly afterward, more disgruntled developers came forward.
.@apple is removing a few of my old games b/c they have “not been updated in a significant amount of time”
Games can exist as completed objects! These free projects aren’t suitable for updates or a live service model, they’re finished artworks from years ago. pic.twitter.com/iflH70j7q4
— emilia ✨ (@lazerwalker) April 23, 2022
Apple announced the removal in 2016, it is uncertain whether they have continuously enforced its rules or has only recently begun to do so. In addition, the company has nowhere clearly defined which applications it considers “obsolete”, ie how long the application can be without updates without being removed from the App Store.
Although Apple has not yet commented on the case, there have been a number of critics who argue that mobile apps should remain available for download regardless of their age. They also state that this policy is unnecessarily strict for developers, claiming that Apple does not fully respect the work required to create an indie game.
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