Edited by BellaRose Okojie
A handful of App developers have received an email from Apple threatening to take down their apps from the App Store. Apple has sent out emails to developers warning them of the possible delisting of their apps from the App store if these apps have not received any updates in a long time.
Some game developers have taken to Twitter and other platforms to express their displeasure over the content of the email. They claim that it sounded like a direct and hard-hitting judgement on their apps with a clause. Apple hopes that the app developers understand that their applications will cease to exist on the App Store due to their outdated nature.
The clause Apple includes in its mail to the developers explains that, to help prevent their apps from being taken down from the app store, the said application should be updated under 30 days counting from the time they got the email.
Developers react to Apple’s unexpected decision
This news from Apple has made the affected developers furious, and some have put up verbal defences for why their apps have not been updated.
App developer Emilia Lazer-Walker pointed out that games can exist as completed entities, hence need no constant update. Meanwhile, the developer of Motivoto mentioned via a tweet that he feels sick over the email he received regarding his application. He went on to call out Apple, using the example that certain console applications have existed for over 22 years and are still playable.
The comment section under each tweet from the angry developers is a war zone between those in support of Apple’s decision and those standing in solidarity with the devs. A number of people have aired concerns about the rigidity of the App Store and how it tends not to favour young developers.
The fault in our Apps
Supposedly a concession for the update, developers have now faulted the 30 day clause included by Apple. The devs argues that this will prove difficult to achieve because, every year Unity and Google release new programs that are not all compatible with already existing apps. Any attempt to update a long-existing application using these new programs will crash the application and result in a long and strenuous process before an update can pull through.
The developers have a compelling argument, but Apple may have one too, as this move might be an aim to restrict the spread of malicious software from redundant applications.
