> If you aren’t interested in maintaining your app annually, don’t publish apps on Apple’s store.
That's exactly what I do. I avoid the app stores like the plaque.
> (I am not sympathetic to your situation, because as a user of apps, I am exhausted of crappy apps and bottom-of-the-barrel behaviors from developers. I understand that others may feel otherwise, and that’s fine too, just as long as those feelings do not get in the way of being a responsive app developer.)
I think the word here is 'entitled.' There are a few different groups here:
- Bottom-of-the-barrel scammers, whom I have no sympathy to
- Little kids and amateurs, who might want to put something out and move on
- Graduate students and research projects
- Little not-for-profits
- Internal-use small businesses and enterprise apps, where a they might be developed once and forgotten about for decades (yes, plural)
In my case, I don't need to have an app on the app store, and I don't care for Apple's behavior, so I don't have an app there. That hurts Apple (and you, if you're an iPhone user) more than it does me.
You're also confusing strictness with timelines. I'm all for super-strict policies. Just with:
- Backwards compatibility (e.g. grandfathering) of older apps
- Plenty of notice