Apple’s App Store is home to more than a million apps, and so as you might expect, it can be difficult to sift through all those apps to find what you’re looking for. Starting next month, Apple will work to fix that.
Apple has announced that starting Sept. 7, it will begin reviewing and removing apps that don’t function as intended, don’t follow current app review guidelines, or are outdated. Apps of all categories will be evaluated as part of this process.
Developers whose apps are found to be in violation of these standards will have 30 days to make changes to their apps to keep them up to date. If those changes aren’t made, the apps will be removed. Any apps that crash at launch won’t get this 30-day period and will instead be pulled immediately.
Finally, it’s worth noting that if you’ve already got an app that ends up getting pulled, you will still be able to use that app and buy in-app purchases.
This is a welcome move by Apple. The App Store has been around since 2008, and there have been a lot of changes with iPhone hardware since then. While many developers kept up with those changes and adapted their apps to offer the best user experience, there are likely many apps that were abandoned long ago. Apple’s app removal process will make sure that iOS users don’t encounter those apps that might be broken or just look or act strangely, which will improve the user experience and help them to find better apps.