Evictions and Assistance in the App Store
Apple Exiting “Outdated” Apps
27 APRIL 2022 - A couple of time sensitive stories for developers. First, a piece from Cult of Mac says Apple’s about to show a bunch of the App Store’s “outdated” apps the exit. The piece says numerous developers say “that their applications that aren’t being actively updated will soon be kicked” from Apple’s market place. Citing a piece from The Verge, Cult of Mac says:
The emails from Apple state, “This app has not been updated in a significant amount of time and is scheduled to be removed from sale in 30 days.”
If the developers ignore the warnings, their apps will be taken down. As Apple says, “If no update is submitted within 30 days, the app will be removed from sale.”
Window Closing on Developer Assistance Funds
You know what might help some developers along on the update process? A bit of Apple’s do-re-mi. It is out there - waiting to be taken, but only for a limited time. A piece from Apple Insider says:
Apple has warned developers they have until May 20 to place an application to the Small Developer Assistance Fund, or else they could miss out on their share of a $100 million class-action settlement.
I think if only five people apply they get to split the hundred-mil, right? Is that how it works? Is that how it works? That’s not how it works. “According to the claims website,” according to Apple Insider, “anyone accepted to be a ‘Settlement Class Member’ who meet the criteria will earn a minimum cash payment ranging from $250 to $30,000.” As for how one meets the criteria, the piece says:
The fund is open to all developers based in the United States who sold paid apps or in-app purchases, including subscriptions, through the App Store between June 4, 2015, and April 26, 2021. The developers also must have earned proceeds equal to or less than $1 million from the US storefront for each calendar year they had a developer account between 2015 and 2021.
More info is available at SmallAppDeveloperAssistance.com.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this post listed the assistance program URL as “SmallDeveloperAssistance.com.” Thanks to Jim H. for the heads up.
