Last week, many developers voiced their concerns over Apple's 'App Improvement System', sharing that the IT major had sent them notices for the removal of their apps from the store.
It looked like Apple was taking down old apps from the App Store, that had not been updated in a "significant amount of time."
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The practice seemed to catch many developers off-guard but now Apple has issued more clarification on its policies for old apps in the App Store.
Apple reiterated that the practice of purging old apps from the store was not new, and the initiative was started six years ago.
In a developer update, shared on their support page, Apple clarified that it started the process in 2016, "to remove apps that no longer function as intended, don’t follow current review guidelines or are outdated."
The company said that over the course of six years, they have removed nearly 2.8 million apps form their store.
They said that the process streamlines user experience, by allowing users, "to find great apps that fit their needs more easily when outdated apps are no longer on the App Store. This in turn helps developers’ apps become more easily discoverable on the store."
It also helps in, "Keeping apps up to date to conform with modern screen sizes, SDKs, APIs, and all of the other features offered on iOS, iPadOS, and macOS ensures users can have a great experience with any app they get from the App Store."
Apple has also increased the time for developers to respond to abandoned app notices. Previously, developers could submit a review within 30 days of the notice to keep their apps on the store. Now, Apple has revised the response time to 90 days.
