A cleansing of sorts is coming to the App Store. Today Apple sent out an email to developers notifying them of a new evaluation process meant to find and remove "problematic" apps that haven't been updated for compatibility with recent versions of iOS and macOS. Apple says it's seeking out apps "that no longer function as intended" and those that fail to meet current review guidelines. The Apple developer website has also been updated with an explainer on the new process.

If problems are found, the company will notify developers who've left these "abandoned" apps to collect dust in the App Store that changes must be made within 30 days. Failing that, those apps will be removed completely. However, apps that instantly crash when opened will be removed immediately once they go through Apple's evaluation process. "Quality is extremely important to us," the email reads. "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." If you've already downloaded an app that gets booted from the App Store, you'll still be able to keep using it.

Whoa. This is huge. Apple reviewing old apps for quality + encouraging shorter app names. pic.twitter.com/S7C10yCOBC — Jake Marsh (@jakemarsh) September 1, 2016

Apple also announced another change in today’s notice: the names of new apps submitted to the store can no longer exceed 50 characters in length. According to Apple, this step is designed to prevent developers from gaming App Store search, which is "one of the most frequently used methods for customers to discover and download apps from the App Store." Some app makers have "used extremely long app names which include descriptions and terms not directly related to their app" to rank higher in search queries.

The email warns that such lengthy names "are not fully displayed on the App Store and provide no user value." This change is particularly interesting ahead of the launch of iOS 10, which introduces Search Ads that let developers pay to be placed at the top of search results for terms relevant to their app.

Both of these changes take effect beginning September 7th — the same day Apple is expected to announce a new iPhone, second-generation Apple Watch, and the public release date of iOS 10. Keep in mind that we're talking about software that hasn't been updated in years, so it's unlikely that this process will impact any of the everyday apps on your iPhone's home screen. Apple says that at present, the App Store contains over 2 million apps. So it's about time to start getting rid of the junk (hi, fart apps) and long forgotten selections from the App Store's early days to make room for the next era of mobile apps.