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Comment by moepstar | Hacker News Reader

>>> I might have my facts incorrect here but if an App is removed from the Play / iOS app stores isn't it removed from users devices?

No, it's not (at least on iOS)

Source: I've bought a Navigation-App which since seems to be discontinued (N-Drive or something like that).

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What if you buy a new device? Does the purchase live in your account into perpetuity, or are you out of luck when you upgrade to the "next" iDevice?

If you use iCloud backup and don't ever sync to a local iTunes, then you're out of luck. If you sync with a local iTunes, the app will be in iTunes and will be installed to the device. Unless of course something on the new device prevents the app from running due to technical reasons, but that's the same with old games and new hardware/OSes

I'm not sure this is absolutely true. Years ago I installed an app on my iPhone (Now Playing, a movie times app). That app was removed from the store years ago by the author. Recently I bought an iPad and if I go to "purchased/not on this iPad" in the App Store on the iPad, the app still shows as available for download. You can't search and find it in the store though.

Maybe it still shows because all my devices are iCloud backed up and I never removed it from my iPhone.

I believe the key is that it was removed by the author. Apps that are pulled for violating the App Store rules don't show up in Purchased, to my knowledge. I know I have a couple IPAs floating around just in case I need an emergency tether or something.

After the full iCloud thing launched, I've had apps reappear that were much earlier pulled from the store, gone from my iTunes, and I've changed phones too. So it really does look like the purchase lives in the account forever.

Depends. If the developer indicates that the app was removed for 'legal issue', it will no longer be available for redownloading. Otherwise, you can download discontinued apps http://www.macrumors.com/2011/06/09/icloud-supports-re-downl...

Not on android either. Even if you dissociate your account from the device, the apps live on (you don't get updates though)

It depends who does the removing. In the past Apple themselves have removed apps from both the App Store and customer devices for malware issues. But if a developer stops selling an app, it remains on your device.

Even if Apple removes it, you get to keep it on your device unless it's something you don't want anyway (i.e. malware). For example, that flashlight app that allowed free tethering a while back got banned from the App Store, but users who bought it got to keep it.

Like the parent said, it depends. A normal App Store pull won't remove installed instances from users' devices, but that mechanism (the "kill switch") /does/ exist for Apple to use in extreme cases (or, really, whenever they want to, since they're the ones who are really in control).

The comment I was replying to said it depends on whether it's Apple or the developer who pulls it from the store. What you are reiterating here is what I said — that being pulled by Apple does not normally result in the app being deleted from devices, but Apple does have the power to do it.

My mistake, then.

Very rarely, maybe once or twice.

And even if they do that, you still have the apk on your harddrive, you can back it up.

Citation please?

To the best of my knowledge, Apple has never removed any app directly from the user's devices.

Yes, me too, i wrote to n-drive and they send me a code for one of their partners application, very noble, but of course apple refunds nothing.

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