Apple will start removing ‘problematic and abandoned’ apps from the App Store on September 7

Apple has begun informing developers that it’s going to be cleaning up the App store by removing certain apps that don’t meet quality standards. The change will go into effect on September 7.

“Quality is extremely important to us,” Apple wrote in an email it sent to developers today. “We know that many of you work hard to build innovative apps and update your apps on the App Store with new content and features. However, there are also apps on the App Store that no longer function as intended or follow current review guidelines, and others which have not been supported with compatibility updates for a long time. We are implementing an ongoing process of evaluating apps for these issues, notifying their developers, and removing problematic and abandoned apps from the App Store.” (Hat tip to developer Jake Marsh for tweeting out the message.)

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In the same message Apple told developers that it would impose a limit of 50 characters on names of apps that developers submit for new apps and updates to existing apps.

These changes will be implemented on the same day that Apple will hold an event in San Francisco to announce its new iPhones and potentially other products.

Apple did something similar in June when it announced the introduction of App Store search ads a few days before its WWDC conference. Clearly next week’s event will be chock full of news, and Apple doesn’t want these changes to be overlooked.

More information on the changes is available here.

Update at 11:45 p.m. Pacific: Apple has now published a blog post containing the information that was disseminated in the email.