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Apple Removed 47,300 Outdated iOS Apps From App Store in October of 2016

Tuesday November 15, 2016 10:05 am PST by Juli Clover
Back in September, Apple announced plans to start removing outdated apps from the App Store, promising to eliminate apps that are non-functional, not compatible with recent versions of iOS, or that do not adhere to current review guidelines.

According to data app analytics firm Sensor Tower shared with TechCrunch, Apple has made good on that promise. In October of 2016, the number of apps removed from the App Store increased by 238 percent, with Apple purging a total of 47,300 apps throughout the month.

appsremovedfromappstoreoct2016
On an average month, Apple removes approximately 14,000 iOS apps, so October's much larger purge represents a significant step towards cleaning up the App Store.

Developers with problematic apps were notified starting in September, and Apple gave them 30 days to make changes to prevent their apps from being eliminated from the App Store. Apps that did not see updates were then removed.

Apps across all categories were subject to removal, but many of the 47,000 apps that were culled from the App Store were games. 28 percent of removed apps fell into the Games category, 8.99 were in the Entertainment category, 8.96 were in the Books category, 7 percent were in the Education category, and 6 percent were in the Lifestyle category.

The App Store purge is part of Apple's effort to improve the App Store. In recent months, Apple has opened up app subscriptions to all product categories, introduced more favorable revenue splits, improved sharing tools, and added ads to App Store search results to give developers new ways to promote their apps.

Tag: App Store
[ 112 comments ]


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matt3526
34 months ago
47,300 in a month! More than the entire windows App Store!
Rating: 45 Votes
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AngerDanger
34 months ago
They say if you're really quiet in an Apple server-farm, you can sometimes hear the whisper-like flatulence of a fart app that has passed its prime.
Rating: 27 Votes
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sheetspd
34 months ago
I think more importantly they should be reinventing the interface and design of the App Store.
Rating: 10 Votes
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ike1707
34 months ago

47,300 in a month! More than the entire windows App Store!

I lol'd
Rating: 9 Votes
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bbeagle
34 months ago

What happens if you own one?


You had 30 days to update your app to iOS 10, 64 bit. If you didn't do that, you app was purged.

You can simply update your app and resubmit it.
Rating: 8 Votes
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Goldfrapp
34 months ago
Surprised AppShopper is still there.
Rating: 5 Votes
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tech4all
34 months ago
Now if they would just remove the outdated Macs...
Rating: 5 Votes
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cpnotebook80
34 months ago
The great Purge!:rolleyes:
Rating: 5 Votes
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Cineplex
34 months ago

You had 30 days to update your app to iOS 10, 64 bit. If you didn't do that, you app was purged.

You can simply update your app and resubmit it.

Soooo easy! I'm sure you were able to do it all in a click of the mouse with your app! Right click "64-bit". Right click "Send to App Store". So easy a MacRumors commenter can do it!
Rating: 4 Votes
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cpatterson1177
34 months ago

What happens if you own one?


The app will never get updated on your iPhone/iPad. You will probably get a message when you open the app that the app will cause your device to run slow and that the developer needs to update it.
Rating: 4 Votes

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