Removal of TypeApp from the macOS App Store:
Apple’s December 10, 2019 letter alleges:
“[…] in order to make TypeApp unavailable, your client must archive TypeApp, thereby permanently removing it from the MacOS App Store. Merely removing the app from sale, as your client may have done, does not suffice.”
Response III:
TypeApp is not a duplicate app and nevertheless we removed TypeApp voluntarily on May 23, 2019, two weeks before Apple removed BlueMail from the Mac App Store. Apple never mentioned there was an issue with that removal process, just by end of November 2019, Apple App Review team suddenly came up with a claim that the removal was not done correctly, and due to fears of duplicate apps and clutter on the store according to Apple’s lawyers, they kicked BlueMail out. Apple repeatedly claim we must “archive TypeApp” to “permanently remov[e] it from the MacOS App Store,” and suggest that we did not actually remove TypeApp from the App Store. This does not make sense and is not consistent with Apple documentation. We had already voluntarily removed TypeApp from the Mac App Store in exactly the manner Apple’s documentation instructs – and had removed TypeApp in that fashion two weeks before Apple claimed BlueMail and TypeApp were duplicates.
More details:
In December 2019, we searched for a function to “archive” the app, but could not find it and there was no “archive” button. There is no option to “permanently removing it from the MacOS App Store” .
Starting in October 2018, there is an option to remove an app from the “My Apps” view but it only makes it hidden from within the “My Apps” screen of the developer console itself. The app can be restored at any time.
“Remove from Sale” is the only option we have found to actually remove an app from the App Store. Apple’s documentation states:
“If you no longer want your app to be available to customers, you can remove it from the App Store, which removes all versions of the app […] The app status changes to Developer Removed from Sale, and within 24 hours your app won’t be available on the App Store.”
https://help.apple.com/app-store-connect/#/dev7013b314c
To avoid any doubt, this is exactly what we did on May 23, 2019 voluntarily without any request or help from Apple’s team and we communicated it to Apple then.
Until December 2019, Apple has not mentioned we did not remove TypeApp appropriately (because in fact it was removed appropriately).