Apple to Purge Abandoned Apps, Long App Names in the App Store [u]

Apple has sent a note to developers informing them of two changes coming to the App Store, in efforts to increase quality apps and search results.

The company explains apps that “no longer function as intended or follow current review guidelines,” plus do not support compatibility updates, will be removed from the App Store, as these “problematic” and “abandoned apps” do not help help the quality of apps in the store.

Next, Apple says shorter app names will be required, limited to 50 characters. The company explains some developers have created “extremely long app names which include descriptions and terms not directly related to their app,” to skew search results, but that is ending. New apps and updates to be submitted will be limited in length, as excessively long names “provide no user value.”

Apple details both suggestion will be implemented starting September 7th, the day of the company’s special event, where the next iPhone is expected to debut, along with public releases of iOS 10, tvOS 10, watchOS 3 and macOS Sierra.

The App Store has over 2 million apps available currently and nearly 100,000 new and updated apps are submitted to the store weekly.

These are good changes that should have come sooner. App Store search still needs improvement, as most queries are saturated with junk apps that all do the same thing, but with different names.

Update: Apple has also announced updated App Store Review Guidelines for subscriptions, SiriKit, and iMessage.