More than 15 lakh apps could be removed from App Store and Google Play Store, Know why

A new report has suggested that Apple and Google may remove almost 15 Lakhs apps in the App Store and Play Store. Analytics firm Pixalate has reported that almost 1.5 million apps between the Google Play Store and Apple App Store appear to have been abandoned. That means they have not been updated in over two years. Most of the outdated apps come under the category of Education, Reference, and Games, which are often liked by children.

The report has also added that there are over 314,000 super abandoned apps, which means that they haven’t been updated in more than five years. Out of the total apps, Apple App store has 58% of these apps that amounts to 184k. While the rest of the 42% apps are on the Google Play Store and they amount to 130k.

Earlier this year, Apple and Google issued a warning for developers about the apps that haven’t been updated in a long time. Many developers has updated their apps after the warning. As per report, a total of 1.3 million apps have been updated across the Google and Apple app stores in the past six months, as of the end of Q1 2022.

Apple had reportedly sent notices to some developers and warned them that the outdated apps would be removed from App Store if they hadn’t been updated in a significant amount of time. However, the tech giant has also added that this will not affect the users who have downloaded the apps as they will remain on their devices. On its App Improvements Page, Apple has stated that “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of evaluating apps, removing apps that no longer function as intended, don’t follow current review guidelines, or are outdated.”

Like Apple, Google has also issued a statement and said that it is expanding Play Store’s Target Level API requirements. What this means is that new apps and updates already have to target an Android API level within one year of the latest major Android OS version release, or they cannot be published.

Why will abandoned apps be removed?

These apps, which have not received updates in a long time, are always a risk of security. If apps aren’t updated then they don’t get security patches and will also have bugs that can be problematic. Also, if a developer is seeking revenue from advertisers then the app would need to be updated regularly.

When are the apps expected to be removed?

As per reports, these apps will be have to be updated immediately otherwise they will be removed from App Store within 30 days they have received the warning. So it’s not clear how and when Apple will remove the apps.

Google has announced that stated that existing apps that don’t target an API level within two years of the latest major Android release version will not be available for discovery or installation for new users with devices running Android OS versions higher than apps’ target API level starting from November 1, 2022.

Also Read: Google rolls out app privacy labels in Play Store