Will Apple's App Store clear out affect you?

bizreport.com

Apps that no longer work, or are outdated, will be cleaned off the Apple App Store in an upcoming clear-out, said the company in a recent announcement.

by Helen Leggatt

Apple has emailed its developer community with a warning - bring your app up to spec with current guidelines, fix it so it functions as described, or it will be removed from the App Store.
"To make it easier for customers to find great apps that fit their needs, we want to ensure that apps available on the App Store are functional and up-to-date," announced Apple on an app developer support page. "We are implementing an ongoing process of evaluating apps, removing apps that no longer function as intended, don't follow current review guidelines, or are outdated."
There are around 2 million iOS apps in the App Store but many have never been downloaded, or don't work, having been built on an older version of iOS and never updated. These are the apps that Apple will clear out of the Store, to improve app discovery. In addition, apps that crash on launch will be removed immediately while others will get a notice from Apple requiring an update within 30 days. Apps that are removed may be submitted again at a later date.
Apple are also implementing new rules regarding the length of an app name. The character limit will be capped at 50 characters, primarily to cut down on the number of apps that are given long names with the intention of improving search ranking.