From the very beginning when the app store was launched in 2008, Apple has been mentioning big numbers about the increase in the number of apps on the app store. As of June, 2016, there were approximately 2 million iOS apps for iPhone and iPad. But some of these apps do not work or have not been installed/downloaded even once.. Hundred of them have been built on an older version and probably never updated. Hence, Apple decided to improve the app store.
A cleaning of the some sorts that started in September, 2016 with the announcement that Apple will remove all the applications that do not follow the new guidelines. Apple called these applications ‘problematic’ . An email with a 30 days notice period was sent to developers notifying them about the new evaluation process to find and remove “problematic” apps that did not follow current guidelines.
As app owners, developers and users you might have found a few applications missing from the app store. In order to ensure that apps available on the app store are functional and up-to-date. In light of the above, the email came to them in the form of a message briefing them about the changes that are going to take place and giving them enough time to make improve any application that currently does not follow the guidelines. As a result of the above, Apple removed 47000 applications from the app store in the month of October, 2016.
Let’s understand why an app might be problematic as per Apple.
The application should be compatible with the the recent versions of iOS and macOS. An application that is not updated with every release of the new version of OS is problematic. To ensure that all features of the application continue to work after the new version is released the application has to be updated. Therefore, your work does not end at just building an application and submitting it to the app store, it goes beyond to ensure that your application doesn’t go missing from the app store. At CopperMobile, we assign a developer for each project to update when a new version is released.
Compatibility also has a direct impact on the quality of the application. If the app is not compatible with the latest version, most features of the app will not work which will lower the quality of your application.
Another important announcement was regarding the name of the application. The name of your application should not exceed 50 characters in length. This was initiated before the launch of iOS 10 in which search ads were introduced for the very first time. It lets you pay to rank on the top in the search results.
These changes came into effect on 7th September, 2016. At CopperMobile, we offer support and maintenance to all our clients to stay ahead of their competition. Our vision is to design a better experience for your users by offering our support package that ensures high quality applications even after it is live on the app store.
