Apple is extending the deadline for app updates using the UIWebView API "beyond the end of 2020," and has also introduced new subscription server notifications.
Credit: Apple
UIWebView and WebView are frameworks that allow developers to integrate web content into an app. Both were deprecated, and Apple stopped accepting apps containing the frameworks on the App Store.
Although Apple initially planned to stop accepting app updates containing UIWebView as of December 2020, the company has pushed that deadline to sometime beyond the end of the year. Though no firm deadline has been set, Apple added that it would announce the new deadline when it's confirmed.
To replace the deprecated frameworks, Apple is recommending developers use the new WKWebView API that was released in 2014. It's essentially an updated version of the old framework, and allows developers to integrate interactive web content into apps.
Additionally, in a separate developer update, Apple announced new App Store server notifications that can alert developers to a subscriber's status in real-time.
The new notifications can alert developers when a subscriber auto-renews or when the App Store begins to ask users to agree to a subscription's price. Apple says that the server notifications, which will allow developers to "create customized user experiences, are now available to test.