Several developers have claimed that Apple plans to remove older programs if they have not been updated in some time.
The email from Apple, which has been shared by several independent developers online, reads:
App Store Improvement Announcement
This app has not been updated in a significant amount of time and is scheduled to be removed from sale in 30 days. No action is required for the app to remain available to users who have already downloaded the app.
You can keep this app available for new users to discover and download from the App Store by submitting an update for review within 30 days.
If an update is not sent within 30 days, the app will be removed from sale.
These removals are part of Apple’s App Store Improvement initiative, which is designed to make the App Store easier to navigate by removing abandoned apps or apps that no longer support modern iOS.
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“To make it easier for customers to find great apps that fit their needs, we want to make sure the apps available on the App Store are functional and up-to-date,” reads a page on Apple’s developer support page.
“We are implementing an ongoing process of evaluating apps, removing apps that no longer work as intended, do not follow current review guidelines, or are outdated.”
Apple is not fully aware of when a game is eligible for removal, or whether certain older titles will be exempted.
But if it is planned to be a general removal of older titles, it will pose a serious challenge to conservation, something that the mobile space has already struggled with in the past.
Several mobile titles from such major publishers as Nintendo simply no longer work due to the closure of servers, but for Apple to target completely single-player, offline experiences could be considered a strange approach, especially if apps still work on modern iOS .