Apple sends invites, to unveil iPhone 7 on September 7

Apple’s looking to zap apps that “no longer function as intended, don’t follow current review guidelines, or are outdated”.

All roads lead to the Apple event on September 7 for the unveiling of the new iPhone 7. This command pulled up pictures of the rapper’s wardrobe, along with links to buy what he was wearing, in the celebrity shopping app.

MacRumors reveals that the Apple Store is now experiencing some issues with all services, including the App Store on iOS devices, Mac App Store, tvOS App Store on Apple TV, and the app-related Volume Purchase Program for business customers. Apple sent an email to its developer community indicating that there will be some upcoming changes in the App Store. Developers will often use extremely long app names with dozens of keywords purely for the sake of boosting its chances of showing up in a search. However, apps that instantly crash when opened will be removed immediately once they go through Apple’s evaluation process. This will see the elimination of many older apps that have been long abandoned. Apple recommends that developers continue to address overall functionality issues within the app and to update it regularly. These are the latest in a series of App Store changes implemented since Apple worldwide marketing SVP Phil Schiller was given the reins back in December of 2015.

Developers whose apps are found to be in violation of these standards will have 30 days to make changes to their apps to keep them up to date. This is to stop the practice of creating long app names in order to influence search results. On one hand, Apple’s reasoning is understandable – purchasing an application that has not been supported for newer versions of iOS is not desirable by any means. The Apple developer website has also been updated with an explainer on the new process.