Apple to share more details about certain app removals

Apple has told its investors that it would soon start providing more details about why it removes certain apps from its App Store, sources familiar with the matter told the Financial Times.

The tech giant is known to be quite strict when it comes to its App Store rules, and has removed thousands of apps before for violating its guidelines. According to Finbold, more than 540,000 apps were removed from its marketplace during the third quarter of 2022 alone.

In addition, it also removes apps at the request of governments. In China, for example, 39,000 game apps were removed in late 2020 after the Chinese government started requiring mobile apps and games to get an official license. 

However, Apple usually doesn’t provide much details about why certain apps are removed, which has caused it to face backlash from many activists.

According to the report, after it removed some Bible and Quran study apps from the Chinese app store in 2021, petitioners like Azzad Asset Management requested the tech company to provide a reason.

In late September, Apple also removed several mobile apps from the Russian social network VKontakte, and the country’s Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media demanded it to disclose the reason behind it. Meanwhile, the apps were restored a few weeks after.

According to the sources, the company has now decided to provide more details about the number of apps governments request them to remove, the legal reasons behind them, and if it agrees to them. In addition, it will also tell investors about the number of apps removed in each country for breaking its App Store rules. 

All these details will be included in Apple’s Transparency Report, which publishes twice a year, according to the FT.