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Pixalate’s analysis defines deprecation as apps that haven’t been updated for at least two years. Ignoring varying degrees, the company looked at apps that scored in the top 12 countries based on the total number of apps available for download in each app market.
Between April 1 and June 30, 2022, developers abandoned over 1.6 million apps. The report shows that the number of abandoned apps on Apple’s App Store has decreased by 29%, while the number of such apps on Google’s Play Store has increased by 16%.
Overall, apps registered in China and Russia face the highest abandonment probability at 42%. The abandonment rate for kids apps is 37%, with 75,000 on the App Store and 81,000 on the Google Play Store.
About 14,000 of the abandoned apps sent geolocation data to advertisers, the report said.
Over the past six months, more developers abandoned their apps on Google Play than updated them. Over 32% of apps were abandoned, while about 30% were updated during the same time period.
The report also mentions “super-abandoned apps” that haven’t been updated in the App Store or Google Play Store for more than five years, at 306,000 and growing. There are more than 840,000 apps that haven’t been updated for more than three years.
The findings are similar to the May 2022 study, when Pixalate found that 650,000 App Store apps and 869,000 Google Play Store apps had not been updated for more than two years.
Apple warned developers in April 2022 that it would remove apps from the App Store if they weren’t updated for a “substantial” period. It has cleared thousands, and some developers have complained that since the app is stable and still running in iOS 15, it shouldn’t be culled.
Removing from the Apple App Store does not affect apps already downloaded to the device — unless the server-side assets are no longer available. The updated requirements apply only to App Store-hosted data and the listings themselves.