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Is your app at risk of being removed?
Paste your App Store or Google Play link. We look up when the app was last updated and score it low, medium or high against Apple's and Google's current rules, with the reasons and the official sources. Rules checked on 28 October 2026.
Your result
Waiting for an app
Paste a link and we'll show when the app was last updated, the version, the oldest iOS it supports and who sells it, then score it against Apple's and Google's current rules: low, medium or high risk, with the reasons.
The rules today
Read from Apple's and Google's own pages on 28 October 2026. Neither store removes an app just for being old: Apple looks at age and downloads together, and Google Play hides apps with an old target API level from new users on newer phones.
Apple
- Build tools for every upload
- Since 28 April 2026, apps uploaded to App Store Connect must be built with Xcode 26 or later, using the iOS 26 SDK (or the matching SDK for iPadOS, tvOS, visionOS or watchOS). [1]
- Oldest iOS an upload can support
- Since 9 September 2026, iOS and iPadOS apps uploaded to App Store Connect must target iOS 13 or later. [1]
- Next change, April 2027
- From April 2027, iOS and iPadOS apps must be built with the iOS and iPadOS 27 SDK or later, and target iOS 15 or later. [2]
- Outdated apps
- Apps not updated in the last three years that also fall below a minimal download threshold over a rolling 12 months get a notice in App Store Connect. You have 90 days to submit an update; if you don't, the app is removed from the App Store until an update is approved. People who already have it can keep using it. Apps that crash on launch are removed straight away. [3]
Google Play
- New apps and app updates
- Since 31 August 2026, new apps and app updates must target Android 16 (API level 36) or higher. Wear OS and Android Automotive OS apps need API level 35; Android TV and Android XR apps need API level 34. [4]
- Existing apps
- Existing apps must target Android 15 (API level 35) or higher to stay available to new users on devices running a newer Android version. An app that targets API level 34 or lower is only offered to new users whose devices run that Android version or older. People who already installed it can still find, reinstall and use it. [4]
- Extension
- If you need more time, you can request an extension to 1 November 2026 in Play Console. [5]
- The policy behind the dates
- Updates must target an API level within one year of the latest major Android release. Existing apps outside two years are not available to new users on newer Android versions. [6]
- Last year's step
- From 31 August 2025, new apps and app updates had to target Android 15 (API level 35), with extensions to 1 November 2025. [7]
How we score it
From outside the stores we can see the last update date, the version and the oldest iOS supported. We can't see downloads, the SDK the app was built with or its target API level, so the score says “probably” where it has to. The overall result is the higher of the two stores.
- App Store: high
- Not updated for three years or more. That is Apple's line for outdated-app notices, which also need very low downloads, a number we can't see.
- App Store: medium
- Two to three years without an update; or more than a year and still built with tools older than Xcode 26; or it still supports iOS older than 13, which uploads no longer can.
- Google Play: high
- Last updated before 31 August 2025, so it probably targets API level 34 or lower and is hidden from new users on newer Android phones.
- Google Play: medium
- Updated between 31 August and 1 November 2025, when an extension could still keep it on API level 34.
- Low
- Updated recently enough to meet both stores' current rules. The reasons say what the next update will need.
Sources, checked 28 October 2026
- 1Apple Developer, Upcoming requirements (SDK minimum requirements since 28 April 2026; iOS 13 minimum target since 9 September 2026)
- 2Apple Developer, Submitting to the App Store (requirements from April 2027)
- 3Apple Developer, App Store Improvements (outdated apps: three years, 90 days to update)
- 4Google, Play Console Help: Target API level requirements for Google Play apps
- 5Android Developers, Meet Google Play's target API level requirement
- 6Google, Play Console Help: Google Play's target API level policy
- 7Google, Play Console Help: Policy announcement, 10 July 2025 (API level 35 from 31 August 2025)
- 8Apple, iTunes Search API (the lookup we use for App Store data)
Why we built it
We publish and update our own apps, so every change to Apple's and Google's requirements lands on our desk too. The apps we're asked to take over are usually the ones nobody has rebuilt since the last deadline.
Questions we get asked
Not just for being old. Apple's App Store Improvements process looks for apps that haven't been updated in three years and also have very few or no downloads over a rolling 12 months. Those developers get a notice in App Store Connect and 90 days to submit an update; if they don't, the app comes off the store until an update is approved. People who already have it keep it, and in-app purchases keep working. Separately, an app that crashes on launch is removed straight away.
It stops offering them to new users on newer phones. Since 31 August 2026 an existing app has to target Android 15 (API level 35) or higher to stay available to new users on devices running a newer Android version. Below that, only people whose phones run the app's target version or older can find and install it. People who already installed it can still reinstall and use it. Every new update has to target Android 16 (API level 36).
Yes. Google says you can request an extension to 1 November 2026 in Play Console if you need more time. After that date, any update you publish has to target Android 16 (API level 36).
Since 28 April 2026 every upload has to be built with Xcode 26 or later and the iOS 26 SDK, and since 9 September 2026 it has to target iOS 13 or later. From April 2027 that becomes the iOS 27 SDK and iOS 15. If your app was last built with older tools, the first update on the new ones is usually where unexpected work turns up: deprecated APIs, third-party libraries that no longer build, and new privacy requirements.
Neither store publishes them. The App Store data comes from Apple's public lookup, which gives the version, release date, minimum iOS and seller. Google Play has no public API, so we read the date from the public listing page, or you tell us. Play Console shows your target API level under the app's release details, and App Store Connect shows your downloads.
We look it up and show you the result. We cache public store data for a few hours so repeat checks are fast, and we don't record who checked what. Only if you ask for the report by email do we keep your email address, the app link and the result, to send the report and answer you if you reply.
Where to go next
- Old or abandoned app
- Keep it current
- Update rejected
- Free tools
App out of date and nobody to update it?
We recover access to the code and the store accounts, rebuild the app on the current tools and get the update through review. The audit is a fixed from £650 for an app, and the report is yours whether or not you carry on with us.
We reply within one working day. Or call 020 3540 5048