Apple to begin removing abandoned and problematic apps from App Store next week
Apple on Thursday announced that it will make a pair of key changes to the iOS App Store starting next Wednesday, most notably a new effort to remove abandoned and problematic apps so they can no longer be downloaded.

The new policies were said to come from suggestions made by Apple's developer community, and will take effect starting Sept. 7 --?the same day the company is expected to unveil the "iPhone 7" and release a golden master of iOS 10.
Placing a focus on "quality apps," Apple said it will implement an ongoing process of evaluating legacy apps for issues. Developers will be appropriately notified before downloads are removed from the store.
"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," Apple said. "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."
The App Store has an approval process that all downloads must pass before they are released to the public. With more than 2 million apps available, some of them are essentially "abandonware," and Apple's new policy will give it the ability to clean up some legacy software.

In a question-and-answer section, Apple noted that apps in all categories on the App Store will be evaluated to make sure that they function as expected, that they follow current review guidelines, and that they are not outdated. Developers with apps that need to be updated will be given 30 days to keep their app on the store.
Apps that crash on launch will not have that 30-day window applied --?they will be immediately removed.
Removed apps will still be accessible to current users, and services will not be interrupted. However, new users will no longer be able to download the outdated app.
In addition, Apple also announced that it will curb app names with a new 50-character limit.
Apple noted on Thursday that some developers use "extremely long app names" in hopes of influencing search results. However, the names are so long that they do not appear in full on the App Store and are of no value to users.
Like the effort to remove outdated apps, the new 50-character policy on app names will take effect next Wednesday. Apple has advised that developers should view the App Store Product Page for tips on creating effective app names, icons, keywords, screenshots and descriptions.

The new policies were said to come from suggestions made by Apple's developer community, and will take effect starting Sept. 7 --?the same day the company is expected to unveil the "iPhone 7" and release a golden master of iOS 10.
Placing a focus on "quality apps," Apple said it will implement an ongoing process of evaluating legacy apps for issues. Developers will be appropriately notified before downloads are removed from the store.
"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," Apple said. "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."
The App Store has an approval process that all downloads must pass before they are released to the public. With more than 2 million apps available, some of them are essentially "abandonware," and Apple's new policy will give it the ability to clean up some legacy software.

In a question-and-answer section, Apple noted that apps in all categories on the App Store will be evaluated to make sure that they function as expected, that they follow current review guidelines, and that they are not outdated. Developers with apps that need to be updated will be given 30 days to keep their app on the store.
Apps that crash on launch will not have that 30-day window applied --?they will be immediately removed.
Removed apps will still be accessible to current users, and services will not be interrupted. However, new users will no longer be able to download the outdated app.
In addition, Apple also announced that it will curb app names with a new 50-character limit.
Apple noted on Thursday that some developers use "extremely long app names" in hopes of influencing search results. However, the names are so long that they do not appear in full on the App Store and are of no value to users.
Like the effort to remove outdated apps, the new 50-character policy on app names will take effect next Wednesday. Apple has advised that developers should view the App Store Product Page for tips on creating effective app names, icons, keywords, screenshots and descriptions.

Comments
what if someone paid for these apps?
An easy solution would be to remove these apps from the App Store but allow those who paid to be able to download them.
One of Steve's criteria for an App to be on the App Store was that it couldn't crash.
what happened?
Did developers flood Apple with too many apps?
I think when an App crashes it should send a report and warning to the developer that if it isn't fixed in 30 days the app will be removed.
Keep the App Store clean and a cut above those crap apps on knockoff devices.
A lot of major devs remove their bad apps (Square Enix, for example) but some older ones don't. In many cases they haven't been updated since 2009 or before.
Oddly, one of the first games on the App Store, Cube Runner, keeps getting updated for free, and it was a launch day title.
Define a lot, I do not believe there are many phones on a version of iOS below 7 or 8 which are the 64 bit iOS. Apple stated this year all apps must be 64 bit compliant and if they are not most likely the developer does not care about the app. Plus if it is on your phone and apple removed it from the store you can still use plus you can also back it up your computer to be reinstalled later. I have an app which is no longer available which I use on my iPad 2 on iOS 9 so it is not an issue.
It is about time Apple clears out the crap, there are lots of apps which have poor ratings do not work well and the developer has done nothing with the app for years.
How about two separate stores: App Store and Grandma's Attic where all the me-too and junk apps are kept?
How about those crappy 1-2 star apps? Would love to see them removed but that's kinda mean.
Developers are very aware of this, and always have been.
There is no excuse for not upgrading Apps, or devices once every three years (if App use is important to the user). Beyond 3 years the user's iPhone isn't much more than a highly featured feature phone with a very weak battery.
This is very late in coming, but welcome. It's not nearly enough though. The App Store needs a major rebuild. It needs a much better review system with the ability to mark reviews as "useful", "not useful", and FAKE! The App Store also needs to bring back the damned "REPORT" feature so users can report apps that violate Apple's App Store TOS! If Apple isn't going to police its store content, the users should be given at least some ability to do so themselves. Fake reviews and feature-disabled/time-limited demos don't belong, but I continue to encounter them weekly.
It has been in Apple's own marketing interests to allow the store to attain a huge app count via allowing garbage apps to collect and persist (the last two years of Apple events, every time they bragged about the huge number of apps on the store, it felt slimy and dishonest to me). Whether it has helped Apple or not, it has absolutely worked against developers and users.
There's so much that needs to change here.