【Love Nonetheless】

Apple is Love Nonethelessmaking more moves to clean up its App Store.

After cracking down on outdated apps, the company is now placing restrictions on how developers describe their apps. Apple is now rejecting updated and new app submissions that have the word "free" in the name, VentureBeatreports.

SEE ALSO: Apple could kill almost 200,000 apps with iOS 11

"Your app’s name, icons, screenshots, or previews to be displayed on the App Store include references to your app’s price," Apple reportedly pointed out.

"Please remove any references to your app’s price from your app’s name, including any references to your app being free or discounted."

Apple has yet to comment on the change other than to confirm its existence but the policy change is yet another sign Cupertino is looking to clean up its App Store.

Mashable Light Speed Want more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories? Sign up for Mashable's weekly Light Speed newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

The company is also cracking down on outdated apps that haven't been optimized for newer iPhones and iPads, which could include as many as 200,000 apps. That's in addition to the 47,000 apps Apple removed earlier this year.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

While the change in how developers describe their apps in the App Store seems like a more subtle shift, it fits with the company's ongoing efforts to scrub old and low-quality apps out of its store. Many developers use "free" in their app names to try and game the store's search algorithms and lure new users.

Doing so may help an app appear higher in some search results but few high-quality apps actually use the word "free" in their name (with the possible exception of apps that have both a free and paid app). Apple could now be trying to crack down on apps with spammy-sounding names to improve the overall quality of its App Store,

Or, the company could simply be trying to reduce confusion. As Apple notes in its developer guidelines, referencing a price in an app name could be confusing to people in other countries where the price may be different.

Whatever the case, we're likely hear more in at Apple's World Wide Developer Conference later this year.

---

Featured Video For You

---

A new way to take selfies — and six other features the iPhone 8 might have

---

Topics Apple iOS

• Deals
• Digital Culture
• Entertainment
• Tech
• Science
• Games
• Life
• Shopping

• Best iPad deal: Save $100 on 13
• The Nervous Systems of Books
• Staff Picks: Walser, Verhoeven, Lead Belly, and More
• Watch Anthony Burgess on the Dick Cavett Show, 1971
• Today's Hurdle hints and answers for April 23, 2025
• Why “Junket Is Nice” Is One of the Weirdest Children’s Books
• Seeing the World Through Broken Glasses
• 'Quordle' today: See each 'Quordle' answer and hints for September 17, 2023
• Researchers map the koala genome in the name of saving the species
• Ghostly Beauty: Anna Atkins, the First Woman to Take a Photo

• Guy absolutely nails his 'woman yelling at a cat' meme Halloween costume
• 12 emoji that help make iOS 13.2 the horniest update yet
• Twitter changed its font, and there might be a very good reason for it
• Was 'RRR' snubbed at the Oscars?
• Popular Wordle clone Quordle has been acquired by Merriam Webster
• What is scissoring and how do you do it?
• 'Goldeneye 007' on Xbox Game Pass will be missing one key feature
• Facebook Messenger's end
• Elon Musk still thinks he's 'reasonably popular' on Twitter
• Wait, is this congressman's phone passcode just 777777?

• U.N. aims to make carbon emissions cost money at COP 25 climate talks
• Teens don't need 'finstas' anymore
• The 'pondering the orb' meme, explained
• 'The thing that killed' Twitter meme argues everyday tasks are actually famously deadly
• Creator job opportunities grew 7x in recent years [April 2025]
• Overshadowed by 'Double Tap': 5 underrated Apple Watch Series 9 features
• In Which St. Patrick Drives the Gummy Snakes Into the Sea
• Wordle today: Here's the answer and hints for September 16
• Trump signs AI education order to train K
• Mark Twain’s Advice for Curing a Cold

• Amazon Spring Sale 2025: Best deals on cleaning supplies
• Avoid This Book: The History and Romance of Elastic Webbing
• Three Millennia Later, Scholars Still Struggle with Sappho
• Seeing the World Through Broken Glasses
• Comparing Team Communication Apps: What Do You Get for Free?
• Neil Diamond, Longfellow, and Ridicule
• Notre Dame vs Central Michigan livestream: How to watch live, kickoff time
• Overshadowed by 'Double Tap': 5 underrated Apple Watch Series 9 features
• Sony PULSE Elite PS5 headset open
• Wordle today: Here's the answer and hints for September 16