Wikimedia Apps/Application sunsetting

This page documents the application sunsetting process of the Mobile Apps Team.

Announcement process

Reach a team consensus to sunset the app, and agree upon the date the application will be retired.
Announce in relevant fora that the app is undergoing sunsetting, explaining the rationale behind the decision and giving the date the application will be removed from production.
Do a search for any relevant documentation for the app that may be published, such as blog posts or manuals, and update them to announce that the app is being retired.
Turn on any built-in announcements that are in the app that can inform the user that the app sunsetting is taking place, and what (if anything) they need to do to prepare.

When the date comes, remove the app from production.
Turn on any built-in announcements that are in the app that can inform the user that the sunsetting has taken place.
Return to all the app documentation and amend it to say the app is being retired.
Close all remaining open bugs in your bug tracking system.
Abandon any work-in-progress patches that will not be completed as a result of the sunsetting.
Prevent new bugs from being filed against the app in your bug tracking system.

It is not necessary to actually remove builds from the App Store and Google Play to unpublish an app. By selecting "Developer Removed From Production" or "Unpublished" (in the App Store and Google Play, respectively), you make it incredibly easy to republish the app at a later date whilst still fully removing the app from the user-facing part of the store.
Be careful not to abandon the patches of volunteers who might be working on the app!
We prefer to close, rather than delete, any open bugs. This is so that if a community developer decides to maintain the app themselves, then they have easy access to the list of issues that were outstanding when the app was retired.