Apple will disclose additional details about its app delisting policies.
Apple wants to be more open about the reasons for delisting specific apps. Developers must follow Apple's strict App Store guidelines or risk being punished. While some of these removals are the result of obvious policy infractions, others are shrouded in mystery.
Apple recently modified its App Store policies to delist apps that haven't received updates. Many developers expressed discontent with this because their apps can be updated infrequently to work effectively. In a press statement, Apple reacted to those developers, noting that if their software was removed as a result, it definitely deserved it.
At Apple's annual meeting in March of last year, almost a third of shareholders supported a resolution urging the company to be more open about the apps it eliminates. If developers don't submit an update for approval within 30 days, Apple expects to immediately remove games and applications that haven't received a recent update from the App Store.
According to the Cupertino-based company's press release, as part of the "App Store Improvement" process, developers of apps that haven't received an update in three years and don't reach the minimal download threshold (i.e., haven't been downloaded at all or only a very small number of times in a rolling 12-month period) are sent emails informing them that their app may be removed from the Apple App Store.
Since 2018, Apple has released a biannual "Transparency Report" (although it missed H2 2021 and published no reports in 2022). Government requests are listed in the reports along with their frequency and nature, but no justification is given. Beijing requested the removal of 89 apps in H1 2021, the most current available report. Apple obliged with every demand. Activists worry that the current procedure prevents any examination of the justification.
A significant petitioner, the British platform for ethical investing Tulip Share, claims that Apple has agreed to begin disclosing the legal justifications for the removals. According to reports, this improved openness will start with Apple's following report.
Tulip Share thinks the new information will make it easier to assess whether Apple's decisions uphold free speech and information or stifle it.
Why Does Apple Remove Apps?
Apple introduced a procedure dubbed App Store Improvements in 2016 to enhance the user experience by eliminating apps that don't add anything. Apple has eliminated millions of apps from the store since starting this procedure.
The App Store Improvements system examines a variety of factors relating to mobile apps, such as:
Over time, Apple has tightened up and gotten more explicit with some of its requirements for mobile apps. For instance, when the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) of the European Union came into force in 2018, Apple modified its privacy rules to conform to the new law's regulations.
When an App Is Delisted, What Happens?
If Apple decides to remove your software from the App Store, it will no longer be accessible to new users. Customers who had previously downloaded the app may still use it, but if they ever deleted it or changed devices, they would no longer have access to it. Additionally, because you won't be able to generate and launch updates to work with newer versions of iOS, the app will probably stop working even for users who have downloaded a copy.
Apple will start sharing information on the number of apps it decides to remove from the App Store or developer license agreement outside of requests from the authorities. But according to Apple's announcement, developers who receive emails about their apps needing to be updated have 90 days rather than 30 to update them if they want to keep them on the Apple App Store. Apple only wants to maintain programs that are still in use and are well-liked.