According to a new report from Pixalate (via AppleInsider), Android app developers are abandoning their apps in droves. Pixalate calls an app abandoned if it hasn’t been updated for two years. From the first quarter of this year to the second quarter, the number of apps left for dead in the Google Play Store increased by 16%, from 967,000 to 1.1 million. Across the city, on Apple’s App Store, abandoned apps fell 29% from the first to second quarters of this year, from 724,000 to 515,000.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, 42% of registered apps in China and Russia were abandoned. 37% of children’s apps suffered the same fate, ie 75,000 on the App Store and 81,000 on the Play Store. In very telling data, over six months, more apps were abandoned in the Google Play Store than the number of apps that received an update. 32% of apps were abandoned in the Google Play Store during this period, compared to 30% that received updates.
Abandoned App Count Increases in Q2 in Play Store, Declines in App Store
So if apps that haven’t received an update for two years are discontinued, what do you call an app that hasn’t received an update for more than five years? These are known as “super abandoned” apps and total 306,000 and growing on both app storefronts combined. Those who have not received an update for more than three years on Android and iOS platforms total 840,000.
In the Google Play Store, apps that have not received an update for more than two years are supposed to be hidden from users and should not appear in Play Store search results. During the second quarter (April-June 2022), Apple and Google removed 592,000 abandoned apps, more than double the 220,000 removed during the first quarter of this year.
Keep in mind that just because these apps were removed by Apple and Google that doesn’t mean they don’t stay on your phone. So, if the lack of developer support is important to you, be sure to uninstall these apps from your phone. The only way we can think of to do this is to go to the appropriate app storefront (Google Play or the App Store) and search the listing on each app you have downloaded. If it doesn’t show up, you can assume it’s been deleted.
