New research claims that 650,000 apps in Apple and 869,000 in the Google Play Store have not received updates for more than two years.
Apple announced that it will be removing such “abandoned” apps, that is, apps that have not been updated recently.
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A research firm wanted to examine both the App Store and the Google Play Store to see how many apps haven't seen updates in quite some time.
Taking a snapshot of both stores as of March 31, 2022, research firm Pixalate describes an app as abandoned if it hasn’t been updated in more than two years. Apps that haven’t been updated in five or more years are called “super-abandoned .”
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According to the company, 33% of all apps haven't been updated in two or more years, and 11%, or over 500,000, haven't been updated in four years.
About 314,000 were last updated five or more years ago. Of these apps, 58%, or 184,000, are in the App Store, while 130,000 are in the Google Play Store.
Also, according to the research, some categories of apps are more likely to go without updates than others. For example, there are at least 50,000 games that have not been updated in the last two years, as well as 44,000 educational apps and 31,000 reference apps.
Similarly, there are categories of apps that are more likely to receive more frequent updates than others. For example, finance-related apps are more likely to be updated regularly, with 69,000 of them having received an update in the last six months across both the Play Store and the App Store.
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About 72,000 shopping apps have also received updates in the last eight months, as have 64,000 health apps.
The good news is that the apps with the most recent updates are the ones that have had the most downloads. The research shows that 84% of apps with over 100 million downloads were updated in the last six months.
It's worth noting that an app's failure to update isn't necessarily a sign that it's been abandoned. The app may not require an update. However, without updates, apps are more vulnerable to exploits, which is why Apple and Google have recently introduced new policies against apps that are neglected by their developers.
Apple introduced privacy “nutrition labels” in December 2020 and requires developers to update their app descriptions with this information.
Apps that don't meet a minimum download threshold over a 12-month period and haven't been updated in three years are removed from the App Store (although it doesn't specify what that threshold is). Apple says it's doing this to provide users with a better experience on the App Store. By removing old, outdated, or abandoned apps, it hopes to provide a better way to find apps that are working properly and are constantly being updated.
Additionally, it ensures that apps meet the App Store's security and privacy guidelines.
The company also wants apps to comply with a certain level of quality.
As far as Google is concerned, if an app hasn't been updated for two years, it won't be listed in the Google Play Store and won't appear in search results.
Source: appleinsider.com
