App Store (Apple)

Page protected with pending changes
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from App Store (iOS))

App Store
Developer(s)Apple Inc.
Initial releaseJuly 10, 2008; 15 years ago (July 10, 2008)
Operating systemiOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, tvOS, and VisionOS
TypeDigital distribution and software update
Websiteappstore.com Edit this on Wikidata

The App Store is an app marketplace developed and maintained by Apple Inc., for mobile apps on its iOS and iPadOS operating systems. The store allows users to browse and download approved apps developed within Apple's iOS SDK. Apps can be downloaded on the iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad, and some can be transferred to the Apple Watch smartwatch or 4th-generation or newer Apple TVs as extensions of iPhone apps.

The App Store was opened on July 10, 2008, with an initial 500 applications available. The number of apps peaked at around 2.2 million in 2017, but declined slightly over the next few years as Apple began a process to remove old or 32-bit apps. As of 2021, the store features more than 1.8 million apps.

While Apple touts the role of the App Store in creating new jobs in the "app economy"[1] and claims to have paid over $155 billion to developers,[2] the App Store has also attracted criticism from developers and government regulators that it operates a monopoly and that Apple's 30% cut of revenues from the store is excessive.[3] In October 2021, the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) concluded that in-app commissions from Apple's App Store are anti-competitive and would demand that Apple change its in-app payment system policies.[4]

History[edit]

Download on the App Store badge as of 2017

While originally developing iPhone prior to its unveiling in 2007, Apple's then-CEO Steve Jobs did not intend to let third-party developers build native apps for iOS, instead directing them to make web applications for the Safari web browser.[5] However, backlash from developers prompted the company to reconsider,[5] with Jobs announcing in October 2007 that Apple would have a software development kit available for developers by February 2008.[6][7] The SDK was released on March 6, 2008.[8][9]

The iPhone App Store opened on July 10, 2008.[10][11][12] On July 11, the iPhone 3G was released and came pre-loaded with support for App Store.[13][14] Initially apps could be free or paid, but then in 2009, Apple added the ability to add in-app purchases[15] which quickly became the dominant way to monetize apps, especially games.

After the success of Apple's App Store and the launch of similar services by its competitors, the term "app store" has been adopted to refer to any similar service for mobile devices.[16][17][18] However, Apple applied for a U.S. trademark on the term "App Store" in 2008,[19] which was tentatively approved in early 2011.[20] In June 2011, U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton, who was presiding over Apple's case against Amazon, said she would "probably" deny Apple's motion to stop Amazon from using the "App Store" name.[21][22][23] In July, Apple was denied preliminary injunction against Amazon's Appstore by a federal judge.[24]

The term app has become a popular buzzword; in January 2011, app was awarded the honor of being 2010's "Word of the Year" by the American Dialect Society.[25][26] "App" has been used as shorthand for "application" since at least the late 1970s,[27] and in product names since at least 2006, for example then-named Google Apps.[28]

Apple announced Mac App Store, a similar app distribution platform for its macOS personal computer operating system, in October 2010,[29][30] with the official launch taking place in January 2011 with the release of its 10.6.6 "Snow Leopard" update.[31][32]

In February 2013, Apple informed developers that they could begin using appstore.com for links to their apps.[33][34][35] In June at its developer conference, Apple announced an upcoming "Kids" section in App Store, a new section featuring apps categorized by age range, and the section was launched alongside the release of iOS 7 in September 2013.[36][37]

In 2016, multiple media outlets reported that apps had decreased significantly in popularity. Recode wrote that "The app boom is over",[38] an editorial in TechCrunch stated that "The air of hopelessness that surrounds the mobile app ecosystem is obvious and demoralizing",[39] and The Verge wrote that "the original App Store model of selling apps for a buck or two looks antiquated".[40] Issues included consumer "boredom",[40] a lack of app discoverability,[39] and, as stated by a report from 2014, a lack of new app downloads among smartphone users.[41]

In October 2016, in an effort to improve app discoverability, Apple rolled out the ability for developers to purchase advertising spots in App Store to users in the United States.[42] The ads, shown at the top of the search results,[43][44] are based strictly on relevant keywords, and are not used to create profiles on users.[45] Apple expanded search ads to the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand in April 2017, along with more configurable advertising settings for developers.[46][47] Search ads were expanded to Canada, Mexico and Switzerland in October 2017.[48] In December 2017, Apple revamped its search ads program to offer two distinctive versions; "Search Ads Basic" is a pay-per-install program aimed at smaller developers, in which they only pay when users actually install their app. Search Ads Basic also features an easier setup process and a restricted monthly budget. "Search Ads Advanced" is a new name given to the older method, in which developers have to pay whenever users tap on their apps in search results, along with unlimited monthly budgets. .[49][50]

In January 2017, reports surfaced that documentation for a new beta for the then-upcoming release of iOS 10.3 detailed that Apple would let developers respond to customer reviews in the App Store, marking a significant change from the previous limitation, which prevented developers from communicating with users.[51][52] The functionality was officially enabled on March 27, 2017 when iOS 10.3 was released to users.[53]

Apple also offered an iTunes Affiliate Program, which lets people refer others to apps and other iTunes content, along with in-app purchases, for a percentage of sales. The commission rate for in-app purchases was reduced from 7% to 2.5% in May 2017[54][55] and discontinued completely in 2018.[56]

In September 2017, App Store received a major design overhaul with the release of iOS 11. The new design features a greater focus on editorial content and daily highlights, and introduces a "cleaner and more consistent and colorful look" similar to several of Apple's built-in iOS apps.[57][58][59]

Prior to September 2017, Apple offered a way for users to manage their iOS app purchases through the iTunes computer software. In September, version 12.7 of iTunes was released, removing the App Store section in the process.[60][61] However, the following month, iTunes 12.6.3 was also released, retaining the App Store, with 9to5Mac noting that the secondary release was positioned by Apple as "necessary for some businesses performing internal app deployments".[62][63]

In December 2017, Apple announced that developers could offer applications for pre-order, letting them make apps visible in the store between 2–90 days ahead of release.[64][65]

On January 4, 2018, Apple announced that the App Store had a record-breaking holiday season according to a new press release. During the week starting on Christmas Eve, a record number of customers made App Store purchases, spending more than $890 million in that seven-day period. On New Year's Day 2018 alone, customers made $300 million in purchases.[66]

In September 2019, Apple launched Apple Arcade, a subscription service for video games within the App Store.

In March 2020 Apple made "Sign in with Apple" mandatory for any apps that use third party logins (such as signing in with a Google account, etc.) As part of the new App Store guidelines, the deadline for developers to implement the feature was April 30.[67]

In 2019 and 2020, Apple was frequently criticized by other companies such as Spotify,[68] Airbnb[69] and Hey[70] and regulators for potentially running the App Store as a monopoly and overcharging developers, and was the target of lawsuits and investigations in the EU and United States. A conflict between Epic Games, the creator of the Fortnite game and Apple led to the lawsuit Epic Games v. Apple. In December 2020, Apple announced that they would introduce a "Small Business Program" which lowers Apple's revenue cut for app developers making less than USD 1 million per year from 30% to 15%.[71] Additionally, governments such as in China,[72] India[73] and Russia[74] have increasingly required Apple to remove specific apps, with the threatened removal of some apps often becoming part of geopolitical feuds.[75] In January 2022, Apple added support for unlisted apps to the App Store. These apps can only be downloaded via direct links, and do not appear as search results.[76] Later in December 2022, a report by Bloomberg noted that the company had begun making preparations for opening up sideloading and alternative app stores on iOS, as compliance with the EU's Digital Markets Act that had passed in September of that year.[77] The same report also noted Apple planned to open up the NFC and camera systems on iOS and the Find My network to AirTag competitors like Tile.

Following a European Commission antitrust investigation, on January 25, 2024, Apple allowed game streaming apps and services, such as Xbox Cloud Streaming and GeForce Now, on the App Store. Apple also allowed iPhone users in the European Union to use third-party app stores and browser engines.[78]

Development and monetization[edit]

iOS SDK[edit]

The iOS SDK (Software development kit) allows for the development of mobile apps on iOS. It is a free download for users of Mac personal computers.[79] It is not available for Microsoft Windows PCs.[79] The SDK contains sets giving developers access to various functions and services of iOS devices, such as hardware and software attributes.[80] It also contains an iPhone simulator to mimic the look and feel of the device on the computer while developing.[80] New versions of the SDK accompany new versions of iOS.[81][82] In order to test applications, get technical support, and distribute apps through App Store, developers are required to subscribe to the Apple Developer Program.[79]

Combined with Xcode, the iOS SDK helps developers write iOS apps using officially supported programming languages, including Swift and Objective-C.[83] Other companies have also created tools that allow for the development of native iOS apps using their respective programming languages.[84][85]

Monetization[edit]

To publish apps on App Store, developers must pay a $99 yearly fee for access to Apple's Developer Program.[86][87] Apple announced that, in the United States starting in 2018, it would waive the fee for nonprofit organizations and governments.[88][89] Fee waivers have since been[when?] extended to non-profits, educational organizations and governments in additional countries.[90]

Developers have a few options for monetizing their applications. The "Free Model" enables free apps, increasing likelihood of engagement. The "Freemium Model" makes the app download free, but users are offered optional additional features in-app that require payments. The "Subscription Model" enables ongoing monetization through renewable transactions. The "Paid Model" makes the app itself a paid download and offers no additional features. Less frequently, the "Paymium Model" has both a paid app downloads and paid in-app content.[91]

In-app subscriptions were originally introduced for magazines, newspapers and music apps in February 2011, giving developers 70% of revenue earned and Apple 30%. Publishers could also sell digital subscriptions through their website, bypassing Apple's fees, but were not allowed to advertise their website alternative through the apps themselves.[92][93]

In an interview with The Verge in June 2016, Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, said that Apple had a "renewed focus and energy" on the App Store, and announced multiple significant changes, including advertisements in search results and a new app subscription model. The subscription model saw the firmly established 70/30 revenue split between developers and Apple change into a new 85/15 revenue split if a user stays subscribed to the developer's app for a year, and opens the possibility of subscriptions to all apps, not just select categories.[45][94]

App data and insights analyst company App Annie released a report in October 2016, announcing that China had overtaken the United States as Apple's biggest market in App Store revenue. In the third quarter of 2016, Chinese users spent $1.7 billion vs. approximately $1.5 billion by American users.[95][96]

In June 2017, Apple announced that App Store had generated over $70 billion in revenue for developers since its 2008 launch.[97][98] By 2020, this had increased to $155 billion.[2]

tvOS apps[edit]

The App Store is also available on tvOS, the operating system for the Apple TV. It was announced on September 9, 2015, at the Apple September 2015 event, alongside the 4th generation Apple TV.[99]

tvOS ships with development tools for developers. tvOS adds support for an SDK for developers to build apps for the TV including all of the APIs included in iOS 9 such as Metal. It also adds an which allows users to browse, download, and install a wide variety of applications. In addition, developers can now use their own interface inside of their application rather than only being able to use Apple's interface. Since tvOS is based on iOS, it is easy to port existing iOS apps to the Apple TV with Xcode while making only a few refinements to the app to better suit the larger screen. Apple provides Xcode free of charge to all registered Apple developers. To develop for the new Apple TV, it is necessary to make a parallax image for the application icon. In order to do this, Apple provides a Parallax exporter and previewer in the development tools for the Apple TV.

Number of iOS applications[edit]

On July 10, 2008, Apple's then-CEO Steve Jobs told USA Today that App Store contained 500 third-party applications for the iPhone and the iPod Touch, and of these 125 were free.[12] Ten million downloads were recorded in the first weekend.[100] By September, the number of available apps had increased to 3,000, with over 100 million downloads.[101]

Chart showing App Store downloads and available apps over time.
App Store app availability has increased in line with downloads over time.

Over the years, the store has surpassed multiple major milestones, including 50,000,[102] 100,000,[103] 250,000,[104] 500,000,[105] 1 million,[106] and 2 million apps.[107] The billionth application was downloaded on April 24, 2009.[108]

The number of apps on the app store shrank for the first time in 2017 as Apple began to remove older apps which did not comply with current app guidelines and technologies.[109] As of 2020, it was estimated to house around 1.8 million apps.[110]

Date Available apps Downloads to date
July 11, 2008 500[12] 0[12]
July 14, 2008 800[100][111] 10,000,000[100][111]
September 9, 2008 3,000[101] 100,000,000[101]
January 16, 2009 15,000[112] 500,000,000[112]
March 17, 2009 25,000[113] 800,000,000[113]
April 24, 2009 35,000[108] 1,000,000,000[108]
June 8, 2009 50,000[102] 1,000,000,000+[108]
July 14, 2009 50,000[102] 1,500,000,000[114]
September 28, 2009 85,000[115][116] 2,000,000,000[115]
November 4, 2009 100,000[103][117] 2,000,000,000+[115]
January 5, 2010 140,000+[118] 3,000,000,000+[119][120]
February 12, 2010 150,000+[118] 3,000,000,000+[119]
June 7, 2010 225,000+[121] 5,000,000,000+[121]
August 28, 2010 250,000+[104][122] 5,000,000,000+[121]
September 1, 2010 250,000+[104] 6,500,000,000[123]
October 20, 2010 300,000[124] 7,000,000,000[125]
January 22, 2011 350,000+[126] 10,000,000,000+[126][127]
July 7, 2011 425,000+[128][129] 15,000,000,000+[128][129]
October 4, 2011 500,000+[105][130] 18,000,000,000+[105][130]
March 2, 2012 500,000+[105] 25,000,000,000[131]
June 11, 2012 650,000+[132] 30,000,000,000+[132]
September 12, 2012 700,000+[133] 30,000,000,000+[132]
January 7, 2013 775,000+[134] 40,000,000,000+[135][134][136]
January 28, 2013 800,000+[137] 40,000,000,000+[135]
April 24, 2013 800,000+[137] 45,000,000,000+[138]
May 16, 2013 850,000+[139] 50,000,000,000+[140][141]
June 10, 2013 900,000+[142][143] 50,000,000,000+[142][143]
October 22, 2013 1,000,000+[106][144] 60,000,000,000+[106][144]
June 2, 2014 1,200,000+[145] 75,000,000,000+[145]
September 9, 2014 1,300,000+[146][147] 75,000,000,000+[145]
January 8, 2015 1,400,000+[148][149] 75,000,000,000+[145]
June 8, 2015 1,500,000+[150] 100,000,000,000+[151][150][152]
June 13, 2016 2,000,000+[107][153][154] 130,000,000,000+[107][153][154]
January 5, 2017 2,200,000[155][156] 130,000,000,000+[107][153][154]
2020 ~1,800,000

Number of iPad applications[edit]

The iPad was released in April 2010,[157][158] with approximately 3,000 apps available.[159] By July 2011, 16 months after the release, there were over 100,000 apps available designed specifically for the device.[160]

Date Number of native iPad apps
April 2010 3,000[159]
January 2011 60,000[160]
July 2011 100,000[160][161][162]
November 2011 140,000[163]
January 7, 2013 300,000+[135]
October 22, 2013 475,000[164]
February 25, 2015 725,000+[148]
March 21, 2016 1 million[165]

Most downloaded apps[edit]

Yearly[edit]

Apple publishes a list on a yearly basis, giving credit to the apps with the highest number of downloads in the past year.

Most popular iOS apps each year
Rank 2015[166] 2016[167] 2017[168] 2018[169] 2019[170] 2020[171]
1 Trivia Crack Snapchat Bitmoji YouTube YouTube ZOOM Cloud Meetings
2 Messenger Messenger Snapchat Instagram Instagram TikTok
3 Dubsmash Pokémon Go YouTube Snapchat Snapchat Disney+
4 Instagram Instagram Messenger Messenger TikTok YouTube
5 Snapchat Facebook Instagram Facebook Messenger Instagram
6 YouTube YouTube Facebook Bitmoji Gmail Facebook
7 Facebook Google Maps Google Maps Netflix Netflix Snapchat
8 Uber Pandora Music Netflix Google Maps Facebook Messenger
9 Crossy Road Netflix Spotify Gmail Google Maps Gmail
10 Google Maps Spotify Uber Spotify Amazon CashApp
Most popular iOS games each year[166][167][172][169]
Rank 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
1 Trivia Crack Pokémon Go Super Mario Run Fortnite Mario Kart Tour
2 Crossy Road Not published 8 Ball Pool Helix Jump Color Bump 3D
3 Not published Snake vs. Block Rise Up aquapark.io
4 Ballz PUBG Mobile Call of Duty: Mobile
5 Word Cookies! Hole.io BitLife
6 Subway Surfers Love Balls Polysphere
7 Episode Snake vs. Block Wordscapes
8 Rolling Sky Rules of Survival Fortnite
9 Block! Hexa Puzzle ROBLOX Roller Splat
10 Paper.io Dune! AMAZE!!!

Of all time[edit]

These are the most-downloaded iOS applications and the highest revenue generating iOS applications of all time from 2010 to 2018.[173]

Most installed iOS apps and games of all time[174]
Rank Apps Games
1 Facebook Candy Crush Saga
2 Messenger Subway Surfers
3 YouTube Fruit Ninja
4 Instagram Clash of Clans
5 WhatsApp Honour of Kings
6 Google Maps Minion Rush
7 Snapchat Angry Birds
8 Skype Temple Run 2
9 WeChat Temple Run
10 QQ Asphalt 8: Airborne
Highest grossing iOS apps and games of all time[174]
Rank Apps Games
1 Netflix Clash of Clans
2 Spotify Candy Crush Saga
3 Pandora Monster Strike
4 Tencent Video Puzzle & Dragons
5 Tinder Honour of Kings
6 Line Fantasy Westward Journey
7 iQIYI Game of War: Fire Age
8 HBO Now Fate/Grand Order
9 Kwai Clash Royale
10 QQ Pokémon GO

Application ratings[edit]

Apple rates applications worldwide based on their content, and determines the age group for which each is appropriate. According to the iPhone OS 3.0 launch event, the iPhone will allow blocking of objectionable apps in the iPhone's settings. The following are the ratings that Apple has detailed:

Symbol Rating Description
4+ Contains no objectionable material.[175] This rating has two sub-classifications:
  • Made for Ages 5 and Under - This app is suitable for children aged 5 and under, but people aged 6 and over can also use this app.
  • Made for Ages 6 to 8 - This app is suitable for children aged 6 to 8, but people aged 9 and over can also use this app.
9+ May contain mild or infrequent occurrences of cartoon, fantasy or realistic violence, and mild or infrequent mature, suggestive, or horror-themed content which may not be suitable for children under the age of 9.[175] This rating has one sub-classification:
  • Made for Ages 9 to 11 - This app is suitable for children aged 9 to 11, but people aged 12 and over can also use this app.
12+ May contain frequent or intense cartoon, fantasy or realistic violence, mild or infrequent mature or suggestive themes, mild or infrequent profanity, and simulated gambling which may not be suitable for children under the age of 12.[175]
17+ May contain frequent and intense profanity, excessive cartoon, fantasy, or realistic violence, frequent and intense mature, horror, suggestive themes, sexual content, nudity, alcohol, and drugs, or a combination of any of these factors which are unsuitable for persons under 17 years of age. This includes apps with unrestricted web access. No Apple ID owned by anyone aged 16 and under is able to purchase an app rated 17+.[175][176]
No Rating These apps cannot be purchased on the App Store, as apps on the App Store need to have a rating for children’s safety.

App approval process[edit]

Applications are subject to approval by Apple, as outlined in the SDK agreement, for basic reliability testing and other analysis. Applications may still be distributed "ad hoc" if they are rejected, by the author manually submitting a request to Apple to license the application to individual iPhones, although Apple may withdraw the ability for authors to do this at a later date.

As of 2013, Apple employed mostly static analysis for their app review process, which means that dynamic code reassembly techniques could defeat the review process.[177][178]

In June 2017, Apple updated its App Store review guidelines to specify that app developers will no longer have the ability to use custom prompts for encouraging users to leave reviews for their apps.[179][180] With the release of iOS 11 in late 2017, Apple also let developers choose whether to keep current app reviews when updating their apps or to reset.[181] Additionally, another update to App Store policies allows users to optionally "tip" content creators, by voluntarily sending them money.[182][183]

Privacy[edit]

A privacy experiment conducted in 2019 by the Washington Post determined that third-party apps transmitted a host of personal data without the user's knowledge or consent, including phone number, email, exact location, device model and IP address, to "a dozen marketing companies, research firms and other personal data guzzlers" via 5,400 hidden app trackers.[184] Some of the information shared with third parties was found to be in violation of the apps' own privacy regulations.[185] Apple responded to the controversy by introducing "privacy nutrition labels" on the App Store, forcing all apps to disclose their data use.[186]

Controversial apps and removals[edit]

In November 2012, Boyfriend Maker, which is a dating sim game, was removed due to "reports of references to violent sexual acts and paedophilia" deemed inappropriate to Boyfriend Maker's age rating of 4+.[187] A revised version called Boyfriend Plus was approved by Apple in April 2013.[188]

In March 2013, HiddenApps was approved and appeared in App Store. The app provided access to developer diagnostic menus, allowed for stock apps to be hidden, and enabled an opt-out feature for iAds, Apple's developer-driven advertisement system. The app was removed shortly afterwards for violating guidelines.[189][190]

In April 2013, Apple removed AppGratis, a then-successful app store market that promoted paid apps by offering one for free each day.[191] Apple told All Things Digital that the app violated two of its developer agreement clauses, including "Apps that display Apps other than your own for purchase or promotion in a manner similar to or confusing with the App Store will be rejected" and "Apps cannot use Push Notifications to send advertising, promotions, or direct marketing of any kind".[192] Apple did, however, tell the developers they were "welcome to resubmit" after changing the app, though there was "not much hope that it could survive in anything like its current incarnation".[193]

In November 2014, Apple removed the marijuana social networking app MassRoots, with the reason given that it "encourage[d] excessive consumption of alcohol or illegal substances."[194] In February 2015, MassRoots was reintroduced into the store after Apple changed its enforcement guidelines to allow cannabis social apps in the 23 states where it is legal.[195]

In September 2015, it was discovered that "hundreds" of apps submitted and approved on App Store were using XcodeGhost, a malicious version of the Xcode development software. The issues prompted Apple to remove infected apps from the store and issue a statement that it was "working with the developers to make sure they're using the proper version of Xcode".[196][197][198] A security firm later published lists of infected apps, including a China-only version of Angry Birds 2, CamCard, Lifesmart, TinyDeal.com, and WeChat.[199][200] In the aftermath, Apple stated that it would make Xcode faster to download in certain regions outside the United States,[201] and contacted all developers to ensure they only download the code from the Mac App Store or Apple's website, and provided a code signature for developers to test if they are running a tampered version of Xcode.[202]

In June 2017, a scamming trend was discovered on the store, in which developers make apps built on non-existent services, attach in-app purchase subscriptions to the opening dialogue, then buy App Store search advertising space to get the app into the higher rankings. In one instance, an app by the name of "Mobile protection :Clean & Security VPN" [sic] would require payments of $99.99 for a seven-day subscription after a short trial. Apple has not yet responded to the issues.[203][204]

In addition, Apple has removed software licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL) from App Store, due to text in Apple's Terms of Service agreement imposing digital rights management and proprietary legal terms incompatible with the terms of the GPL.[205][206]

Large-scale app removals[edit]

On September 1, 2016, Apple announced that starting September 7, it would be removing old apps that do not function as intended or that do not follow current review guidelines. Developers will be warned and given 30 days to update their apps, but apps that crash on startup will be removed immediately. Additionally, the app names registered by developers cannot exceed 50 characters, in an attempt to stop developers from inserting long descriptions or irrelevant terms in app names to improve the app's ranking in App Store search results.[207][208] App intelligence firm Sensor Tower revealed in November 2016 that Apple, as promised from its September announcement of removing old apps, had removed 47,300 apps from App Store in October 2016, a 238 percent increase of its prior number of average monthly app removals.[209][210]

In June 2017, TechCrunch reported that Apple had turned its app removal focus on apps copying functionality from other, popular apps. An example cited included "if a popular game like Flappy Bird or Red Ball hits the charts, there will be hundreds or thousands of clones within weeks that attempt to capitalize on the initial wave of popularity". The report also noted removals of music apps serving pirated tracks. The publication wrote that, since the initial September app removals began, Apple had removed "multiple hundreds of thousands" of apps.[211][212]

In December 2017, a new report from TechCrunch stated that Apple had begun enforcing new restrictions on the use of "commercialized template or app generation services". Originally introduced as part of Apple's 2017 developer conference, new App Store guidelines allow the company to ban apps making use of templates or commercial app services. This affected many small businesses, with TechCrunch's report citing that "local retailers, restaurants, small fitness studios, nonprofits, churches and other organizations" benefit from using templates or app services due to minimal costs. Developers had received notice from Apple with a January 1, 2018 deadline to change their respective apps. The news caught the attention of Congress, with Congressman Ted Lieu writing a letter to Apple at the beginning of December, asking it to reconsider, writing that "It is my understanding that many small businesses, research organizations, and religious institutions rely on template apps when they do not possess the resources to develop apps in-house", and that the new rules cast "too wide a net", specifically "invalidating apps from longstanding and legitimate developers who pose no threat to the App Store's integrity". Additionally, the news of stricter enforcement caused significant criticism from app development firms; one company told TechCrunch that it chose to close down its business following the news, saying that "The 4.2.6 [rule enforcement] was just a final drop that made us move on a bit faster with that decision [to close]", and another company told the publication that "There was no way in June [when the guidelines changed] that we would have said, ‘that's going to target our apps' ... Apple had told us you aren't being targeted by this from a quality standpoint. So being hit now under the umbrella of spam is shocking to every quality developer out there and all the good actors". Furthermore, the latter company stated that "there's only so much you can do with apps that perform the same utility – ordering food". A third company said that "Rule 4.2.6 is a concrete illustration of the danger of Apple's dominant position", and a fourth said that "They’ve wiped out pretty much an entire industry. Not just DIY tools like AppMakr [es], but also development suites like Titanium".[213][214] Towards the end of the year, Apple updated the guideline to clarify that companies and organizations are allowed to use template apps, but only as long as they directly publish their app on their own; it remained a violation of the rule for commercial app services to publish apps for the respective clients.[89][215]

Censorship by governments[edit]

China[edit]

In January 2017, Apple complied with a request from the Chinese government to remove the Chinese version of The New York Times' app. This followed the government's efforts in 2012 to block the Times' website after stories of hidden wealth among family members of then-leader of China, Wen Jiabao, were published.[216] In a statement, an Apple spokesperson told the media that "we have been informed that the app is in violation of local regulations", though would not specify which regulations, and added that "As a result the app must be taken down off the China app store. When this situation changes the app store will once again offer the New York Times app for download in China".[217] The following July, it was reported that Apple had begun to remove listings in China for apps that circumvent government Internet censorship policies and new laws restricting virtual private network (VPN) services.[218][219] Apple issued a statement, explaining that the app removals were a result of developers not complying with new laws in China requiring a government license for businesses offering VPNs, and that "These apps remain available in all other markets where they do business".[220][221] In an earnings call the following month, Cook elaborated on the recent news, explainining that "We would obviously rather not remove the apps, but like we do in other countries, we follow the law wherever we do business".[222] Besides VPN services, a number of Internet calling apps, including Microsoft's Skype, were also removed from the Chinese App Store in 2017, with Apple telling The New York Times that, similar to the VPN apps, these new apps also violated local law. Microsoft explained to BBC News that its Skype app had been "temporarily removed" and that it was "working to reinstate the app as soon as possible",[223] though many news outlets reported on the Chinese government's increased efforts and pressure to crack down on Internet freedom.[224][225][226][227]

Following Apple CEO Tim Cook's appearance at China's World Internet Conference in December 2017, in which Cook stated that Apple and China share a vision of "developing a digital economy for openness and shared benefits", free speech and human rights activists criticized Cook and the company. Maya Wang at Human Rights Watch told The Washington Post that "Cook's appearance lends credibility to a state that aggressively censors the internet, throws people in jail for being critical about social ills, and is building artificial intelligence systems that monitors everyone and targets dissent. ... The version of cyberspace the Chinese government is building is a decidedly dystopian one, and I don't think anyone would want to share in this ‘common future.’ Apple should have spoken out against it, not endorsed it."[228] U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy told CNBC that "American tech companies have become leading champions of free expression. But that commitment should not end at our borders. ... Global leaders in innovation, like Apple, have both an opportunity and a moral obligation to promote free expression and other basic human rights in countries that routinely deny these rights."[229][230]

Cook told Reuters that "My hope over time is that some of the things, the couple of things that's been pulled, come back. I have great hope on that and great optimism on that".[231] However, TechCrunch's Jon Russell criticized this line of thinking, writing that "Firstly, Apple didn't just remove a 'couple of things' from the reach of China-based users", but rather "a couple of hundred" apps, acknowledging that "even that is under counting". Furthermore, Russell listed censorship efforts by the Chinese government, including VPN bans and restrictions on live video and messaging apps, and wrote that "Apple had little choice but to follow Beijing's line in order to continue to do business in the lucrative Chinese market, but statements like Cook's today are dangerous because they massively underplay the severity of the situation".[232] Florida Senator Marco Rubio also criticized Cook's appearance at the World Internet Conference, describing the situation as "here's an example of a company, in my view, so desperate to have access to the Chinese market place that they are willing to follow the laws of that country even if those laws run counter to what those companies’ own standards are supposed to be".[233] In August 2018, as a result of Chinese regulations, 25,000 illegal apps were pulled down by Apple from the App Store in China.[234][235]

In October 2019, Apple rejected,[236] approved,[237] and finally removed[238][239] an app used by participants in the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests.

Apple began removing thousands of video game apps from their platform in China during December 2020 in accordance to regulations regarding licensing enacted by the country's Cyberspace Administration, in many cases without explicitly stating the offences grounding their removal. Apple released a memo that month telling developers of premium games and apps with in-app purchases had until the 31st of December to submit proof of a government license. Research from the Campaign for Accountability notes there are more than 3,000 apps not appearing in China which are available in other countries, a third of which the advocacy group claims to have been removed due to advocating for various human rights issues, including LGBTQ+ rights and the Hong Kong protests.[240] A director of the aforementioned campaign, Katie Paul, criticised Apple's removals stating "if it's going to bend to political pressure, the company should explain why and what they would lose if they didn't do that." CEO Tim Cook has previously defended such company actions, stating in a memo to employees in 2019 that "national and international debates will outlive us all, and while important, they do not govern the facts."[241][242]

In August 2023, at the request of the Chinese government, Apple took down more than 100 AI-related apps similar to Chat GPT in the Chinese app store.[243]

According to the regulations of Chinese government, new apps on the China app store from September 2023 must be licensed by the Chinese government. Older apps must obtain a license before March 2024.[244]

Russia[edit]

Apple removed the Smart Voting app from the App Store before the 2021 Russian legislative election. The application, which had been created by associates of imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny, offered voting advice for all voting districts in Russia. It was removed after a meeting with Russian Federation Council officials on 16 September 2021. Apple also reportedly disabled its iCloud Private Relay privacy feature which masks users' browsing activity. Russian opposition figures condemned these moves as political censorship.[245]

Removal of vaping apps[edit]

In November 2019, Apple removed all applications related to vaping from the App Store, citing warning from health experts.[246] Apple made this decision to reduce the promotion of e-cigarette use.[247][248]

Antitrust allegations[edit]

Apple has faced criticism, lawsuits and government investigations alleging that its control over the distribution of iOS and iPadOS apps through the App Store constituted monopolistic practices.

Epic Games[edit]

Since as early as 2017, Tim Sweeney had questioned the need for digital storefronts like Valve's Steam, Apple's iOS App Store, and Google Play, to take a 30% revenue sharing cut, and argued that when accounting for current rates of content distribution and other factors needed, a revenue cut of 8% should be sufficient to run any digital storefront profitably.[249]

On August 13, 2020, Epic Games updated Fortnite across all platforms, including the iOS version, to reduce the price of "V-Bucks" (the in-game currency) by 20% if they purchased directly from Epic. For iOS users, if they purchased through the Apple storefront, they were not given this discount, as Epic said they could not extend the discount due to the 30% revenue cut taken by Apple.[250] Within hours, Apple had removed Fortnite from their storefronts stating the means of bypassing their payment systems violated the terms of service.[251] Epic immediately filed separate lawsuits against Apple and Google for antitrust and anticompetitive behavior in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.[252] Epic did not seek monetary damages in either case but instead was "seeking injunctive relief to allow fair competition in these two key markets that directly affect hundreds of millions of consumers and tens of thousands, if not more, of third-party app developers."[253] In comments on social media the next day, Sweeney said that they undertook the actions as "we're fighting for the freedom of people who bought smartphones to install apps from sources of their choosing, the freedom for creators of apps to distribute them as they choose, and the freedom of both groups to do business directly. The primary opposing argument is: 'Smartphone makers can do whatever they want.' This as an awful notion. We all have rights, and we need to fight to defend our rights against whoever would deny them."[254]

Apple responded to the lawsuit that it would terminate Epic's developer accounts by August 28, 2020, leading Epic to file a motion for a preliminary injunction to force Apple to return Fortnite to the App Store and prevent them from terminating Epic's developer accounts, as the latter action would leave Epic unable to update the Unreal Engine for any changes to iOS or macOS and leave developers that relied on Unreal at risk.[255][256] The court granted the preliminary injunction against Apple from terminating the developer accounts as Epic had shown "potential significant damage to both the Unreal Engine platform itself, and to the gaming industry generally", but refused to grant the injunction related to Fortnite as "The current predicament appears of [Epic's] own making."[257]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "iOS app economy creates 300,000 new US jobs as developers adapt during pandemic". Apple Newsroom. Archived from the original on September 6, 2020. Retrieved September 6, 2020.
  2. ^ a b Leswing, Kif (January 8, 2020). "Apple's App Store had gross sales around $50 billion last year, but growth is slowing". CNBC. Archived from the original on September 10, 2020. Retrieved September 6, 2020.
  3. ^ "Tinder and Fortnite criticize Apple for its 'App Store monopoly'". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on September 6, 2020. Retrieved September 6, 2020.
  4. ^ "Dutch Regulator Finds Apple App Store Payment System Anti-Competitive – October 8, 2021". Daily News Brief. October 8, 2021. Archived from the original on January 27, 2022. Retrieved October 8, 2021.
  5. ^ a b "Jobs' original vision for the iPhone: No third-party native apps". 9to5Mac. October 21, 2011. Archived from the original on April 1, 2017. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
  6. ^ Duncan, Geoff (October 17, 2007). "Apple confirms iPhone SDK coming next year". Digital Trends. Archived from the original on August 28, 2017. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
  7. ^ "Steve Jobs confirms native iPhone SDK by February". AppleInsider. October 17, 2007. Archived from the original on August 28, 2017. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
  8. ^ Dalrymple, Jim (March 6, 2008). "Apple unveils iPhone SDK". Macworld. International Data Group. Archived from the original on August 28, 2017. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
  9. ^ Block, Ryan (March 6, 2008). "Live from Apple's iPhone SDK press conference". Engadget. AOL. Archived from the original on January 27, 2017. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
  10. ^ "Apple's App Store launches with more than 500 apps". AppleInsider. July 10, 2008. Archived from the original on April 1, 2017. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  11. ^ Bonnington, Christina (July 10, 2013). "5 Years On, the App Store Has Forever Changed the Face of Software". Wired. Condé Nast. Archived from the original on April 1, 2017. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  12. ^ a b c d Ricker, Thomas (July 10, 2008). "Jobs: App Store launching with 500 iPhone applications, 25% free". Engadget. AOL. Archived from the original on March 30, 2017. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
  13. ^ "Apple Introduces the New iPhone 3G". Apple Press Info. Apple Inc. June 9, 2008. Archived from the original on May 9, 2017. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  14. ^ Miller, Paul (June 9, 2008). "iPhone 3G is finally official, starts at $199, available July 11th". Engadget. AOL. Archived from the original on April 1, 2017. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  15. ^ "Apple Announces In-App Purchases For Free iPhone Applications". TechCrunch. October 15, 2009. Archived from the original on August 4, 2015. Retrieved September 6, 2020.
  16. ^ Carew, Sinead (April 22, 2009). "In app store war, BlackBerry, Google hold own". Reuters. Thomson Reuters. Archived from the original on December 2, 2017. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  17. ^ Furchgott, Roy (May 29, 2009). "Nokia's App Store Launches With a Hiccup". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 1, 2017. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  18. ^ Ganapati, Priya (March 4, 2009). "BlackBerry App Store Gets a Name". Wired. Condé Nast. Archived from the original on April 1, 2017. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  19. ^ Dignan, Larry (March 22, 2011). "Apple's App Store and a little trademark history". ZDNet. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on April 1, 2017. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  20. ^ Pachal, Peter (April 1, 2011). "How Apple Can Trademark 'App Store'". PC Magazine. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on September 20, 2016. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  21. ^ Lowensohn, Josh (June 22, 2011). "Judge likely to deny Apple's 'Appstore' complaint". CNET. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on April 1, 2017. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  22. ^ Rosenblatt, Joel; Gullo, Karen (June 22, 2011). "Apple Bid to Bar Amazon 'Appstore' Will 'Likely' Be Denied". Bloomberg Businessweek. Bloomberg L.P. Archived from the original on June 24, 2011. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  23. ^ Levine, Dan; Gupta, Poornima (June 22, 2011). "Apple may have tough road in Amazon lawsuit". Reuters. Thomson Reuters. Archived from the original on March 11, 2016. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  24. ^ Foresman, Chris (July 7, 2011). "Apple denied preliminary injunction against Amazon's "Appstore"". Ars Technica. Condé Nast. Archived from the original on April 1, 2017. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  25. ^ ""App" voted 2010 word of the year by the American Dialect Society (UPDATED)". American Dialect Society. January 7, 2011. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
  26. ^ Fink, Cody (January 13, 2011). "App Is 2010's Word Of The Year". MacStories. Archived from the original on April 1, 2017. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
  27. ^ "Killer Apps Explained". MoneyCrashers. Archived from the original on September 19, 2020. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
  28. ^ "Google Launches Hosted Communications Services". News from Google. August 28, 2006. Archived from the original on March 25, 2017. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
  29. ^ Fried, Ina (October 20, 2010). "Apple unveils new MacBook Airs, previews Lion". CNET. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on December 1, 2017. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
  30. ^ Miller, Ross (October 20, 2010). "Mac App Store for OS X 10.6 and 10.7 unveiled, coming 'within 90 days'". Engadget. AOL. Archived from the original on April 1, 2017. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
  31. ^ "The Mac App Store: What you need to know". Macworld. International Data Group. January 6, 2011. Archived from the original on April 1, 2017. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
  32. ^ "Apple's Mac App Store Opens for Business". Apple Press Info. Apple Inc. January 6, 2011. Archived from the original on January 2, 2017. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
  33. ^ Thomas, Owen (February 4, 2013). "Apple Does Not Want You To Visit Appstore.com". Business Insider. Axel Springer SE. Archived from the original on November 27, 2016. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
  34. ^ Perez, Sarah (February 3, 2013). "Apple Debuts New AppStore.com Vanity URLs For Developers During Super Bowl". TechCrunch. AOL. Archived from the original on April 1, 2017. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
  35. ^ Foresman, Chris (February 4, 2013). "Apple debuts new AppStore.com URLs during Super Bowl 47". Ars Technica. Condé Nast. Archived from the original on April 1, 2017. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
  36. ^ Perez, Sarah (September 22, 2013). "Introducing Apple's New "Kids" App Store". TechCrunch. AOL. Archived from the original on April 1, 2017. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
  37. ^ Guarino, Sarah (September 19, 2013). "App Store makes it easier for parents to find apps for their children with new Kids Category in iOS 7". 9to5Mac. Archived from the original on April 1, 2017. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
  38. ^ Kafka, Peter (June 8, 2016). "The app boom is over". Recode. Vox Media. Archived from the original on June 23, 2017. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
  39. ^ a b Austin, Alex (June 21, 2016). "The Apple App Store graveyard". TechCrunch. AOL. Archived from the original on June 25, 2017. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
  40. ^ a b Newton, Casey (March 2, 2016). "Life and death in the App Store". The Verge. Vox Media. Archived from the original on June 23, 2017. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
  41. ^ Frommer, Dan (August 22, 2014). "Most smartphone users download zero apps per month". Quartz. Atlantic Media. Archived from the original on June 23, 2017. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
  42. ^ Hardwick, Tim (October 6, 2016). "Ads Now Appearing in App Store Search Results for U.S. Users". MacRumors. Archived from the original on December 6, 2017. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  43. ^ Vincent, James (October 6, 2016). "Apple starts showing ads in App Store search results". The Verge. Vox Media. Archived from the original on December 6, 2017. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  44. ^ Novet, Jordan (October 5, 2016). "Apple starts showing App Store search ads in the U.S." VentureBeat. Archived from the original on December 6, 2017. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  45. ^ a b Goode, Lauren (June 8, 2016). "App Store 2.0". The Verge. Vox Media. Archived from the original on January 30, 2017. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
  46. ^ Barbosa, Greg (April 19, 2017). "App Store Search Ads expand internationally with new campaign tools". 9to5Mac. Archived from the original on June 25, 2017. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  47. ^ Campbell, Mikey (April 19, 2017). "Apple to expand Search Ads to three international markets, debuts new management tools". AppleInsider. Archived from the original on December 3, 2017. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  48. ^ Potuck, Michael (October 10, 2017). "App Store Search Ads go live today in Canada, Mexico, and Switzerland". 9to5Mac. Archived from the original on December 6, 2017. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  49. ^ Perez, Sarah (December 5, 2017). "Apple introduces a new pay-per-install ad product called Search Ads Basic". TechCrunch. Oath Inc. Archived from the original on December 6, 2017. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  50. ^ Clover, Juli (December 5, 2017). "Apple Adds New 'Search Ads Basic' Ad Option for Developers". MacRumors. Archived from the original on December 6, 2017. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  51. ^ Perez, Sarah (January 24, 2017). "Apple will finally let developers respond to App Store reviews". TechCrunch. AOL. Archived from the original on March 28, 2017. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
  52. ^ Mayo, Benjamin (January 24, 2017). "Apple will let developers reply to reviews in the App Store soon, for iOS and Mac apps". 9to5Mac. Archived from the original on March 30, 2017. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
  53. ^ Clover, Juli (March 27, 2017). "Apple Releases iOS 10.3 With Find My AirPods, APFS, App Store Review Tweaks and More". MacRumors. Archived from the original on March 27, 2017. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
  54. ^ "Apple confirms reduced App Store affiliate commission rates apply to in-app purchases". AppleInsider. May 8, 2017. Archived from the original on May 11, 2017. Retrieved May 9, 2017.
  55. ^ Miller, Chance (May 7, 2017). "Apple clarifies iTunes affiliate changes: apps stay at 7% & in-app purchases fall to 2.5%". 9to5Mac. Archived from the original on May 8, 2017. Retrieved May 9, 2017.
  56. ^ "Apple is ending its App Store Affiliate Program in October". TechCrunch. August 2, 2018. Retrieved September 6, 2020.[permanent dead link]
  57. ^ Vincent, James; Statt, Nick (June 5, 2017). "Apple unveils redesigned App Store with an all-new way to find apps and games". The Verge. Vox Media. Archived from the original on June 6, 2017. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
  58. ^ Broussard, Mitchel (June 5, 2017). "Apple Reveals Redesigned App Store for iOS 11 With Design Similar to Apple Music". MacRumors. Archived from the original on July 15, 2017. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
  59. ^ Perez, Sarah (June 5, 2017). "Apple introduces a completely redesigned App Store". TechCrunch. AOL. Archived from the original on June 6, 2017. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
  60. ^ Welch, Chris (September 12, 2017). "Apple starts cutting the bloat from iTunes by removing iOS App Store". The Verge. Vox Media. Archived from the original on December 13, 2017. Retrieved December 16, 2017.
  61. ^ Smith, Jake (September 13, 2017). "Apple's iTunes removes iOS App Store from desktop version". ZDNet. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on December 14, 2017. Retrieved December 16, 2017.
  62. ^ Mayo, Benjamin (October 9, 2017). "Apple still offers an iTunes version with App Store, Ringtones and other features removed in 'focused' iTunes 12.7". 9to5Mac. Archived from the original on December 17, 2017. Retrieved December 16, 2017.
  63. ^ Hardwick, Tim (October 9, 2017). "Apple Quietly Releases iTunes 12.6.3 With Built-In App Store". MacRumors. Archived from the original on December 16, 2017. Retrieved December 16, 2017.
  64. ^ Miller, Chance (December 11, 2017). "App Store now lets any developer make apps available for pre-order". 9to5Mac. Archived from the original on December 12, 2017. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
  65. ^ Clover, Juli (December 11, 2017). "Apple Now Allowing Developers to Offer App Pre-Orders". MacRumors. Archived from the original on December 12, 2017. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
  66. ^ "App Store kicks off 2018 with record-breaking holiday season". Apple Newsroom. Archived from the original on January 6, 2018. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
  67. ^ O'Flaherty, Kate (March 9, 2020). "Sign In With Apple: Why This Security Feature Matters, And How To Use It". Forbes. Archived from the original on March 9, 2020. Retrieved August 28, 2021.
  68. ^ Liptak, Andrew (March 16, 2019). "Spotify responds to Apple, calling it a 'monopolist'". The Verge. Archived from the original on July 26, 2020. Retrieved September 6, 2020.
  69. ^ Nicas, Jack; McCabe, David (July 28, 2020). "Their Businesses Went Virtual. Then Apple Wanted a Cut". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on July 28, 2020. Retrieved September 6, 2020.
  70. ^ Patel, Nilay (June 22, 2020). "Apple approves Hey email app, but the fight's not over". The Verge. Archived from the original on September 6, 2020. Retrieved September 6, 2020.
  71. ^ Leswing, Kif (November 18, 2020). "Apple will cut App Store commissions by half to 15% for small app makers". CNBC. Archived from the original on September 11, 2021. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
  72. ^ Choudhury, Saheli Roy (August 2, 2017). "Apple removes VPN apps in China as Beijing doubles down on censorship". CNBC. Archived from the original on November 9, 2017. Retrieved September 6, 2020.
  73. ^ "India bans TikTok, dozens of other Chinese apps". TechCrunch. June 29, 2020. Retrieved September 6, 2020.[permanent dead link]
  74. ^ Kang, Cecilia; Benner, Katie (January 6, 2017). "Russia Requires Apple and Google to Remove LinkedIn From Local App Stores". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on January 7, 2017. Retrieved September 6, 2020.
  75. ^ "Trump says he will ban TikTok in the US". BBC News. August 1, 2020. Archived from the original on September 6, 2020. Retrieved September 6, 2020.
  76. ^ Roth, Emma (January 30, 2022). "Apple adds unlisted apps to its App Store". The Verge. Archived from the original on January 31, 2022. Retrieved January 31, 2022.
  77. ^ Gurman, Mark (December 13, 2022). "Apple to Allow Outside App Stores in Overhaul Spurred by EU Laws". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on December 22, 2022. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
  78. ^ Webster, Andrew (January 25, 2024). "Apple opens App Store to game streaming services". The Verge. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
  79. ^ a b c Guevin, Jennifer (March 6, 2008). "FAQ: What does the iPhone SDK mean?". CNET. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on September 13, 2016. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
  80. ^ a b Kim, Arnold (March 6, 2008). "Apple Releases iPhone SDK, Demos Spore, Instant Messaging". MacRumors. Archived from the original on March 11, 2016. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
  81. ^ Mayo, Benjamin (September 11, 2015). "Apple now allowing developers to submit iOS 9, OS X El Capitan and native Watch apps to the App Store". 9to5Mac. Archived from the original on August 22, 2016. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
  82. ^ Sande, Steven (June 10, 2013). "New iOS SDK features for developers". Engadget. AOL. Archived from the original on January 15, 2018. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
  83. ^ Sinicki, Adam (June 9, 2016). "Developing for Android vs developing for iOS – in 5 rounds". Android Authority. Archived from the original on June 26, 2017. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
  84. ^ Paul, Ryan (September 15, 2009). "MonoTouch drops .NET into Apple's walled app garden". Ars Technica. Condé Nast. Archived from the original on November 22, 2015. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
  85. ^ Dove, Jackie (April 11, 2010). "Adobe unleashes Creative Suite 5". Macworld. International Data Group. Archived from the original on September 24, 2014. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
  86. ^ Mackenzie, Tim (May 7, 2012). "App store fees, percentages, and payouts: What developers need to know". TechRepublic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on December 22, 2017. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
  87. ^ Frank, Blair Henry (June 8, 2015). "Apple frees casual iOS developers of membership requirement". PC World. International Data Group. Archived from the original on August 9, 2017. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
  88. ^ Bohn, Dieter (December 20, 2017). "Apple will waive developer fees for nonprofits and governments in 2018". The Verge. Vox Media. Archived from the original on December 22, 2017. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
  89. ^ a b Perez, Sarah (December 20, 2017). "Apple revises its controversial guidelines on template-based apps". TechCrunch. Oath Inc. Archived from the original on December 21, 2017. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
  90. ^ "Apple Developer Program Membership Fee Waivers - Support - Apple Developer". developer.apple.com. Archived from the original on September 16, 2020. Retrieved September 6, 2020.
  91. ^ "Choosing a Business Model". Apple Developer. Apple Inc. Archived from the original on June 16, 2017. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
  92. ^ Halliday, Josh (February 15, 2011). "Apple launches subscription service for magazines, newspapers and music". The Guardian. Archived from the original on March 30, 2017. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
  93. ^ Chartier, David (February 15, 2011). "Apple launches long-awaited subscriptions for App Store". Macworld. International Data Group. Archived from the original on March 30, 2017. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
  94. ^ Clover, Juli (June 8, 2016). "Apple Announces Major App Store Changes Including New Subscription Terms and Search Ads". MacRumors. Archived from the original on March 30, 2017. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
  95. ^ Perez, Sarah (October 20, 2016). "China overtakes the U.S. in iOS App Store revenue". TechCrunch. AOL. Archived from the original on July 11, 2017. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
  96. ^ Broussard, Mitchel (October 21, 2016). "China 'Shatters' Records and Overtakes U.S. in App Store Revenue by 15% Margin". MacRumors. Archived from the original on May 20, 2017. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
  97. ^ Rossignol, Joe (June 1, 2017). "Apple Says Developers Have Earned Over $70 Billion From App Store Since It Launched". MacRumors. Archived from the original on June 2, 2017. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
  98. ^ Lunden, Ingrid (June 1, 2017). "Apple passes $70B in app developer payouts, led by games and entertainment". TechCrunch. AOL. Archived from the original on June 1, 2017. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
  99. ^ Welch, Chris (September 9, 2015). "New Apple TV announced with Siri and App Store, coming in October for $149". The Verge. Archived from the original on July 3, 2017. Retrieved May 26, 2018.
  100. ^ a b c "iPhone App Store Downloads Top 10 Million in First Weekend". Apple Press Info. Apple Inc. July 14, 2008. Archived from the original on February 12, 2017. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
  101. ^ a b c "App Store Downloads Top 100 Million Worldwide". Apple Press Info. Apple Inc. September 9, 2008. Archived from the original on April 1, 2017. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
  102. ^ a b c Siegler, MG (June 8, 2009). "State Of The iPhone Ecosystem: 40 Million Devices and 50,000 Apps". TechCrunch. AOL. Archived from the original on June 10, 2009. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
  103. ^ a b "Apple Announces Over 100,000 Apps Available on the App Store". MacRumors. November 4, 2009. Archived from the original on March 30, 2019. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
  104. ^ a b c Brian, Matt (August 28, 2010). "Apple's App Store Now Features 250,000 Apps". The Next Web. Archived from the original on March 29, 2017. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
  105. ^ a b c d Grothaus, Michael (October 4, 2011). "More than 18 billion apps downloaded from App Store". Engadget. AOL. Archived from the original on April 21, 2017. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  106. ^ a b c Ingraham, Nathan (October 22, 2013). "Apple announces 1 million apps in the App Store, more than 1 billion songs played on iTunes radio". The Verge. Vox Media. Archived from the original on May 12, 2017. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  107. ^ a b c d Golson, Jordan (June 13, 2016). "Apple's App Store now has over 2 million apps". The Verge. Vox Media. Archived from the original on February 10, 2017. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  108. ^ a b c d "Apple's Revolutionary App Store Downloads Top One Billion in Just Nine Months". Apple Press Info. Apple Inc. April 24, 2009. Archived from the original on March 15, 2017. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
  109. ^ "App Store shrank for first time in 2017 thanks to crackdowns on spam, clones and more". TechCrunch. April 4, 2018. Retrieved September 6, 2020.[permanent dead link]
  110. ^ "Number of apps in leading app stores". Statista. Archived from the original on October 26, 2013. Retrieved September 6, 2020.
  111. ^ a b McCarthy, Caroline (July 15, 2008). "Apple: One million iPhones sold, 10 million App Store downloads in first weekend". CNET. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on April 1, 2017. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  112. ^ a b Myslewski, Rik (January 16, 2009). "iPhone App Store breezes past 500 million downloads". The Register. Situation Publishing. Archived from the original on May 5, 2017. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
  113. ^ a b Schonfeld, Erick (March 17, 2009). "Apple Opens Up More Ways To Get Paid On The iPhone, Adds Key New Features. Apps Hit 800 Million Downloads". TechCrunch. AOL. Archived from the original on March 30, 2019. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
  114. ^ June, Laura (July 14, 2009). "Apple's App Store crosses the 1.5 billion download mark". Engadget. AOL. Archived from the original on March 15, 2012. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
  115. ^ a b c "Apple's App Store Downloads Top Two Billion". Apple Press Info. Apple Inc. September 28, 2009. Archived from the original on December 31, 2016. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
  116. ^ "Apple announces App Store downloads top 2 billion". AppleInsider. September 28, 2009. Archived from the original on March 30, 2017. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
  117. ^ "Apple Announces Over 100,000 Apps Now Available on the App Store". Apple Press Info. Apple Inc. November 4, 2009. Archived from the original on September 15, 2016. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
  118. ^ a b Siegler, MG (February 12, 2010). "App Store Now Has 150,000 Apps. Great News For The iPad: Paid Books Rule". TechCrunch. AOL. Archived from the original on March 30, 2017. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
  119. ^ a b Slivka, Eric (January 5, 2010). "Apple Announces 3 Billion App Store Downloads". MacRumors. Archived from the original on May 18, 2017. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
  120. ^ "Apple's App Store Downloads Top Three Billion". Apple Press Info. Apple Inc. January 5, 2010. Archived from the original on June 3, 2016. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
  121. ^ a b c "Apple says App Store has made developers over $1 billion". AppleInsider. June 7, 2010. Archived from the original on February 9, 2017. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
  122. ^ Elmer-DeWitt, Philip (August 28, 2010). "Apple App Store: 250,000 and counting". Fortune. Archived from the original on March 30, 2017. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
  123. ^ Rao, Leena (September 1, 2010). "Jobs: 6.5 Billion Apps Downloaded From The App Store". TechCrunch. AOL. Archived from the original on March 30, 2017. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
  124. ^ Snell, Jason (October 18, 2010). "Jobs speaks! The complete transcript". Macworld. International Data Group. Archived from the original on March 1, 2017. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
  125. ^ Tsotsis, Alexia (October 20, 2010). "App Store Hits 7 Billion Downloads". TechCrunch. AOL. Archived from the original on March 31, 2017. Retrieved March 30, 2017.
  126. ^ a b "Apple's App Store Downloads Top 10 Billion". Apple Press Info. Apple Inc. January 22, 2011. Archived from the original on December 27, 2016. Retrieved March 30, 2017.
  127. ^ Oliver, Sam (January 22, 2011). "Apple reaches 10 billion downloads on the iOS App Store". AppleInsider. Archived from the original on April 19, 2017. Retrieved April 19, 2017.
  128. ^ a b Rao, Leena (July 7, 2011). "Apple's App Store Crosses 15B App Downloads, Adds 1B Downloads In Past Month". TechCrunch. AOL. Archived from the original on July 7, 2017. Retrieved March 30, 2017.
  129. ^ a b "Apple's App Store Downloads Top 15 Billion". Apple Press Info. Apple Inc. July 7, 2011. Archived from the original on November 14, 2020. Retrieved March 30, 2017.
  130. ^ a b Hardawar, Devindra (October 4, 2011). "Apple has sold over 250M iOS devices, 18 billion apps". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on March 31, 2017. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  131. ^ Slivka, Eric (March 2, 2012). "Apple's App Store Reaches 25 Billion Downloads, Now on Pace for 15 Billion Apps Per Year". MacRumors. Archived from the original on March 31, 2017. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  132. ^ a b c Reisinger, Don (June 11, 2012). "Apple: 30B apps downloaded, 400M App Store accounts set up". CNET. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  133. ^ Etherington, Darrell (September 12, 2012). "iOS App Store Boasts 700K Apps, 90% Downloaded Every Month". TechCrunch. AOL. Archived from the original on March 29, 2017. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  134. ^ a b Islam, Zak (January 8, 2013). "Apple App Store Surpasses 40 Billion Downloads". Tom's Hardware. Purch Group. Archived from the original on April 19, 2017. Retrieved April 19, 2017.
  135. ^ a b c Lomas, Natasha (January 7, 2013). "Apple App Store: 40B Downloads And Counting; 2B+ In December, ~20B In 2012". TechCrunch. AOL. Archived from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  136. ^ "App Store Tops 40 Billion Downloads with Almost Half in 2012". Apple Press Info. Apple Inc. January 7, 2013. Archived from the original on September 22, 2020. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  137. ^ a b "Apple Updates iOS to 6.1". Apple Press Info. Apple Inc. January 28, 2013. Archived from the original on March 16, 2017. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  138. ^ Heisler, Yoni (April 24, 2013). "Apple has paid out $9 billion to developers; App Store downloads reach 45 billion". Engadget. AOL. Archived from the original on March 31, 2017. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  139. ^ "Apple's App Store Marks Historic 50 Billionth Download". Apple Press Info. Apple Inc. May 16, 2013. Archived from the original on March 31, 2017. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  140. ^ Baldwin, Roberto (May 15, 2013). "Apple Hits 50 Billion Apps Served". Wired. Condé Nast. Archived from the original on April 1, 2017. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  141. ^ Lowensohn, Josh (May 15, 2013). "Apple's App Store downloads hit 50 billion". CNET. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on March 31, 2017. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  142. ^ a b Perez, Sarah (June 10, 2013). "Apple's App Store Hits 50 Billion Downloads, 900K Apps, $10 Billion Paid To Developers; iTunes Now With 575M Accounts". TechCrunch. AOL. Archived from the original on March 31, 2017. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  143. ^ a b H., Victor (June 10, 2013). "Apple App Store reaches 900 000 apps". PhoneArena. Archived from the original on March 31, 2017. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  144. ^ a b Perton, Marc (October 22, 2013). "Apple App Store hits 60 billion cumulative downloads". Engadget. AOL. Archived from the original on March 30, 2019. Retrieved April 19, 2017.
  145. ^ a b c d Perez, Sarah (June 2, 2014). "iTunes App Store Now Has 1.2 Million Apps, Has Seen 75 Billion Downloads To Date". TechCrunch. AOL. Archived from the original on June 3, 2014. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  146. ^ Summers, Nick (September 9, 2014). "The App Store now boasts 1.3 million iOS apps". The Next Web. Archived from the original on March 31, 2017. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  147. ^ Perez, Sarah (September 9, 2014). "iTunes App Store Reaches 1.3 Million Mobile Applications". TechCrunch. AOL. Archived from the original on March 31, 2017. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  148. ^ a b Ranger, Steve (January 8, 2015). "Apple's App Store developer revenue hits $25bn as Apple touts job creation". ZDNet. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on June 23, 2017. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  149. ^ "App Store Rings in 2015 with New Records". Apple Press Info. Apple Inc. January 8, 2015. Archived from the original on March 18, 2017. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  150. ^ a b Lunden, Ingrid (June 8, 2015). "iTunes App Store Passes 1.5M Apps, 100B Downloads, $30B Paid To Developers To Date". TechCrunch. AOL. Archived from the original on March 31, 2017. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  151. ^ Ingraham, Nathan (June 8, 2015). "Apple's App Store has passed 100 billion app downloads". The Verge. Vox Media. Archived from the original on January 15, 2017. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  152. ^ Broussard, Mitchel (June 8, 2015). "App Store Surpasses 100 Billion Lifetime Downloads". MacRumors. Archived from the original on March 31, 2017. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  153. ^ a b c Perez, Sarah (June 13, 2016). "Apple's App Store hits 2M apps, 130B downloads, $50B paid to developers". TechCrunch. AOL. Archived from the original on March 31, 2017. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  154. ^ a b c Beck, Kellen (June 13, 2016). "Apple's App Store now has over 2 million apps". Mashable. Archived from the original on March 30, 2017. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  155. ^ Goode, Lauren (January 5, 2017). "Apple's App Store just had the most successful month of sales ever". The Verge. Vox Media. Archived from the original on January 28, 2017. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  156. ^ Broussard, Mitchel (January 5, 2017). "App Store Sets New Records With $240M in Sales on New Year's Day, $20B Paid to Developers in 2016". MacRumors. Archived from the original on February 24, 2017. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  157. ^ Gross, Doug (March 5, 2010). "Apple's iPad to be released April 3". CNN. Archived from the original on April 2, 2017. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
  158. ^ "Apple iPad launch day". CNET. CBS Interactive. April 3, 2010. Archived from the original on April 1, 2017. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
  159. ^ a b Rao, Leena (April 4, 2010). "The App Store Now Has Over 3,000 iPad Apps, Only 20 Percent Are Free". TechCrunch. AOL. Archived from the original on April 2, 2017. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
  160. ^ a b c Ranger, Steve (January 16, 2015). "iOS versus Android. Apple App Store versus Google Play: Here comes the next battle in the app wars". ZDNet. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on December 30, 2016. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
  161. ^ Dredge, Stuart (September 25, 2011). "The top 50 iPad apps". The Guardian. Archived from the original on April 1, 2017. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
  162. ^ "Apple's App Store Downloads Top 15 Billion". Apple Press Info. Apple Inc. July 7, 2011. Archived from the original on November 14, 2020. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
  163. ^ McCracken, Harry (November 14, 2011). "iOS vs. Android: Lots of stats, little clarity". CNET. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on April 1, 2017. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
  164. ^ Perez, Sarah (October 22, 2013). "1 Million+ Apps Later, Apple Says Developers Have Made $13 Billion On Its Platform". TechCrunch. AOL. Archived from the original on April 2, 2017. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
  165. ^ Kastrenakes, Jacob (March 21, 2016). "There are now 1 million iPad apps". The Verge. Vox Media. Archived from the original on March 30, 2017. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
  166. ^ a b Warren, Christina (December 9, 2015). "Apple names the best iOS apps of 2015". Mashable. Archived from the original on December 3, 2018. Retrieved January 19, 2019.
  167. ^ a b "These Are the Most Popular iPhone Apps of 2016". Time. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
    Bell, Karissa (December 7, 2016). "Apple just revealed the most-downloaded app of 2016". Mashable. Archived from the original on June 10, 2017. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
  168. ^ Bell, Karissa. "Apple's most downloaded apps of 2017". Mashable. Archived from the original on August 22, 2018. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
  169. ^ a b Bell, Karissa (December 4, 2018). "Apple reveals the most popular iPhone apps of 2018". Mashable India. Archived from the original on January 19, 2019. Retrieved January 19, 2019.
  170. ^ Stolyar, Brenda (December 3, 2019). "Apple unveils the most popular iPhone apps of 2019". Mashable. Archived from the original on February 23, 2020. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
  171. ^ Kraus, Rachel (December 2, 2020). "Of course this is the most downloaded iPhone app of 2020". Mashable. Retrieved January 29, 2024.
  172. ^ "Top Games Charts : App Store Story". App Store. Archived from the original on November 8, 2022. Retrieved August 21, 2020.
  173. ^ Potuck, Michael (July 2, 2018). "These are the all-time most popular iOS apps and games from 2010-2018". 9to5Mac. Archived from the original on January 23, 2019. Retrieved January 19, 2019.
  174. ^ a b "These are the all-time most popular iOS apps and games from 2010-2018". 9to5Mac. July 2, 2018. Archived from the original on January 23, 2019. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
  175. ^ a b c d "Age Ratings : App Store Story". App Store. Apple Inc. Archived from the original on July 26, 2020. Retrieved May 29, 2020.
  176. ^ "Age ratings - Reference - App Store Connect - Help - Apple Developer". developer.apple.com. Apple. Archived from the original on May 7, 2023. Retrieved May 7, 2023.
  177. ^ Cox, John (August 18, 2013). ""Jekyll" test attack sneaks through Apple App Store, wreaks havoc on iOS". Network World. Archived from the original on January 2, 2014. Retrieved June 20, 2014.
  178. ^ Talbot, David (August 15, 2013). "Remotely Assembled Malware Blows Past Apple's Screening Process | MIT Technology Review". Technologyreview.com. Archived from the original on January 2, 2014. Retrieved June 20, 2014.
  179. ^ Mayo, Benjamin (June 9, 2017). "App Store now requires developers to use official API to request app ratings, disallows custom prompts". 9to5Mac. Archived from the original on June 12, 2017. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
  180. ^ Kastrenakes, Jacob (June 9, 2017). "Apple won't let apps annoy you with their own review prompts anymore". The Verge. Vox Media. Archived from the original on June 9, 2017. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
  181. ^ Dillet, Romain (June 7, 2017). "The new iOS App Store lets devs choose whether or not to reset ratings when updating". TechCrunch. AOL. Archived from the original on June 13, 2017. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
  182. ^ Constine, Josh (June 9, 2017). "Apple legalizes and taxes in-app tipping for content creators". TechCrunch. AOL. Archived from the original on June 14, 2017. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
  183. ^ Rossignol, Joe (June 9, 2017). "Apple Officially Allows Users to Tip Content Creators With In-App Purchases". MacRumors. Archived from the original on June 10, 2017. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
  184. ^ Fowler, Geoffrey A. (May 28, 2019). "Perspective | It's the middle of the night. Do you know who your iPhone is talking to?". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on August 26, 2022. Retrieved September 16, 2020.
  185. ^ Lakshmanan, Ravie (May 29, 2019). "Your iPhone is leaking personal info to tracking companies". The Next Web. Archived from the original on June 1, 2022. Retrieved September 16, 2020.
  186. ^ Weir, Melanie. "What are Apple's Privacy Nutrition Labels? Here's what you need to know about the new App Store feature that prioritizes user privacy". Business Insider. Archived from the original on October 11, 2022. Retrieved October 11, 2022.
  187. ^ Gera, Emily (November 26, 2012). "Boyfriend Maker gets pulled from App Store for references to paedophilia". Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
  188. ^ Hamilton, Kirk (April 24, 2013). "Bizarre Boyfriend Maker Is Back On The App Store, Slightly Declawed". Kotaku. Univision Communications. Archived from the original on July 26, 2020. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
  189. ^ Golson, Jordan (March 11, 2013). "'HiddenApps' Hides Stock Apps, iAds and More on Non-Jailbroken iOS Devices [Update: Removed]". MacRumors. Archived from the original on December 31, 2014. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
  190. ^ Cipriani, Jason (March 11, 2013). "HiddenApps hides stock Apple apps on your iOS device". CNET. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on November 8, 2015. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
  191. ^ Koetsier, John (April 8, 2013). "Apple pulls AppGratis from app store 2 months after it raised $13.5M in funding". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on November 9, 2016. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
  192. ^ Paczkowski, John (April 8, 2013). "Confirmed: Apple Kicks AppGratis Out of the Store for Being Too Pushy". All Things Digital. Dow Jones & Company. Archived from the original on June 13, 2017. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
  193. ^ Koetsier, John (April 8, 2013). "Pulled iOS app AppGratis is 'welcome to resubmit'". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on June 25, 2017. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
  194. ^ Huddleston, Tom Jr. (February 13, 2015). "Apple's ban on marijuana social networking app goes up in smoke". Fortune. Archived from the original on February 19, 2017. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
  195. ^ Vincent, James (February 13, 2015). "Banned weed app returns to the Apple store with new location restrictions". The Verge. Vox Media. Archived from the original on February 27, 2017. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
  196. ^ Mayo, Benjamin (September 20, 2015). "Hundreds of apps infected by fake Xcode tools, Apple removing known malicious software from App Store". 9to5Mac. Archived from the original on April 1, 2017. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
  197. ^ Finkle, Jim (September 20, 2015). "Apple's iOS App Store suffers first major attack". Reuters. Thomson Reuters. Archived from the original on April 14, 2017. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
  198. ^ Van Boom, Daniel (September 21, 2015). "Apple cleanses App Store of tainted iPhone, iPad software". CNET. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on April 1, 2017. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
  199. ^ Lovejoy, Ben (September 21, 2015). "Security firm publishes list of some of the iOS apps infected by XcodeGhost – including Angry Birds 2 [Update: more apps]". 9to5Mac. Archived from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
  200. ^ Epstein, Zach (September 21, 2015). "85 legitimate iPhone apps that were infected with malware in the big App Store hackImage". BGR. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on May 4, 2017. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
  201. ^ Van Boom, Daniel (September 22, 2015). "Apple taking steps to prevent another large-scale App Store breach". CNET. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on April 2, 2017. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
  202. ^ Williams, Owen (September 22, 2015). "Apple asks developers to ensure their Xcode install isn't infected". The Next Web. Archived from the original on April 1, 2017. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
  203. ^ Hardwick, Tim (June 12, 2017). "Report Reveals In-App Purchase Scams in the App Store". MacRumors. Archived from the original on June 12, 2017. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
  204. ^ Miller, Chance (June 10, 2017). "Report details how scammers are abusing App Store & Search Ads". 9to5Mac. Archived from the original on June 24, 2017. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
  205. ^ Smith, Brett (May 26, 2010). "More about the App Store GPL Enforcement". Free Software Foundation. Archived from the original on May 5, 2017. Retrieved May 1, 2017.
  206. ^ Murphy, David (January 8, 2011). "Apple Pulls VLC Player from App Store Due to GPL". PC Magazine. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on January 11, 2011. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
  207. ^ Clover, Juli (September 1, 2016). "Apple to Clean Up App Store, Eliminate Outdated and Non-Functional Apps". MacRumors. Archived from the original on December 23, 2016. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
  208. ^ Welch, Chris (September 1, 2016). "Apple will start removing abandoned apps from the App Store this month". The Verge. Vox Media. Archived from the original on December 27, 2016. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
  209. ^ Perez, Sarah (November 15, 2016). "Apple's big App Store purge is now underway". TechCrunch. AOL. Archived from the original on November 27, 2016. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
  210. ^ Clover, Juli (November 15, 2016). "Apple Removed 47,300 Outdated iOS Apps From App Store in October of 2016". MacRumors. Archived from the original on November 27, 2016. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
  211. ^ Panzarino, Matthew (June 21, 2017). "Apple goes after clones and spam on the App Store". TechCrunch. AOL. Archived from the original on June 27, 2017. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
  212. ^ Miller, Chance (June 21, 2017). "Apple ramping up App Store cleaning efforts, has already removed 'hundreds of thousands' of apps". 9to5Mac. Archived from the original on June 22, 2017. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
  213. ^ Perez, Sarah (December 8, 2017). "Apple's widened ban on templated apps is wiping small businesses from the App Store". TechCrunch. Oath Inc. Archived from the original on December 12, 2017. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
  214. ^ Miller, Chance (December 8, 2017). "Report: Apple cracking down on template applications, giving developers January 1 deadline". 9to5Mac. Archived from the original on December 12, 2017. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
  215. ^ Clover, Juli (December 20, 2017). "Apple Updates App Store Guidelines to Relax Restrictive Rules on Template Apps". MacRumors. Archived from the original on December 21, 2017. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
  216. ^ Vincent, James (January 5, 2017). "Apple removes New York Times app from China's app store at government's request". The Verge. Vox Media. Archived from the original on December 6, 2017. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  217. ^ Haas, Benjamin (January 5, 2017). "Apple removes New York Times app in China". The Guardian. Archived from the original on October 11, 2019. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  218. ^ Russell, Jon (July 29, 2017). "Apple removes VPN apps from the App Store in China". TechCrunch. Oath Inc. Archived from the original on November 8, 2017. Retrieved November 8, 2017.
  219. ^ Choudhury, Saheli Roy (July 31, 2017). "Apple removes VPN apps in China as Beijing doubles down on censorship". CNBC. NBCUniversal News Group. Archived from the original on November 9, 2017. Retrieved November 8, 2017.
  220. ^ Panzarino, Matthew (July 30, 2017). "Apple issues statement regarding removal of unlicensed VPN apps in China". TechCrunch. Oath Inc. Archived from the original on December 6, 2017. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  221. ^ Mozur, Paul (July 29, 2017). "Apple Removes Apps From China Store That Help Internet Users Evade Censorship". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 29, 2017. Retrieved November 8, 2017.
  222. ^ Horwitz, Josh (August 2, 2017). "Tim Cook is defending Apple's removal of VPN apps from its Chinese app store with a familiar refrain". Quartz. Atlantic Media. Archived from the original on November 9, 2017. Retrieved November 8, 2017.
  223. ^ "Skype removed from China Apple and Android app stores". BBC News. BBC. November 22, 2017. Archived from the original on December 4, 2017. Retrieved December 5, 2017.
  224. ^ "Skype Disappears From Chinese App Stores in Latest Web Crackdown". Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg. November 21, 2017. Archived from the original on December 6, 2017. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  225. ^ Mozur, Paul (November 21, 2017). "Skype Vanishes From App Stores in China, Including Apple's". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 21, 2017. Retrieved December 5, 2017.
  226. ^ Lovejoy, Ben (November 21, 2017). "Apple removes Skype from Chinese app store after request from Ministry of Public Security". 9to5Mac. Archived from the original on December 8, 2017. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  227. ^ Rossignol, Joe (November 21, 2017). "Apple Has Removed Skype From App Store in China to Comply With Local Law". MacRumors. Archived from the original on December 6, 2017. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  228. ^ Denyer, Simon (December 4, 2017). "Apple CEO backs China's vision of an 'open' Internet as censorship reaches new heights". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on December 5, 2017. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  229. ^ Balakrishnan, Anita (December 5, 2017). "Apple has a 'moral obligation' to push back in China, says senator who probed the company's ties". CNBC. NBCUniversal News Group. Archived from the original on December 5, 2017. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  230. ^ Miller, Chance (December 5, 2017). "U.S. Senator Leahy says Apple has 'moral responsibility' to fight oppression in China". 9to5Mac. Archived from the original on December 6, 2017. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  231. ^ "Apple's Cook optimistic that apps pulled in China will be back". Reuters. Thomson Reuters. December 6, 2017. Archived from the original on December 6, 2017. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  232. ^ Russell, Jon (December 6, 2017). "For some reason Tim Cook thinks China will allow VPNs to return to the App Store". TechCrunch. Oath Inc. Archived from the original on December 6, 2017. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  233. ^ Miller, Chance (December 13, 2017). "Marco Rubio slams Tim Cook for Apple's 'desperate' relationship with China". 9to5Mac. Archived from the original on December 13, 2017. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
  234. ^ "Apple removes 25,000 'illegal' apps from App Store in China". The Verge. Archived from the original on November 9, 2020. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
  235. ^ Choudhury, Saheli Roy (August 20, 2018). "Apple reportedly yanked 25,000 apps from its China App Store". CNBC. Archived from the original on November 9, 2020. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
  236. ^ Yu, Verna (October 9, 2019). "'Protecting rioters': China warns Apple over app that tracks Hong Kong police". The Guardian. Archived from the original on July 4, 2021. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  237. ^ Torbet, Georgina (October 6, 2019). "Apple rejects Hong Kong protest map from App Store, relents under pressure". Digital Trends. Archived from the original on October 10, 2019. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  238. ^ Neuman, Scott (October 10, 2019). "After China Objects, Apple Removes App Used By Hong Kong Protesters". NPR. Archived from the original on December 30, 2020. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  239. ^ Deng, Iris (October 10, 2019). "In an about-face, Apple removes Hong Kong protest map app following China backlash". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on October 30, 2020. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  240. ^ "Apple Is Censoring its App Store for China". Tech Transparency Project. December 23, 2020. Archived from the original on December 23, 2020. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  241. ^ Nicas, Jack (October 10, 2019). "Apple Removes App That Helps Hong Kong Protesters Track the Police (Published 2019)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on October 10, 2019. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  242. ^ Higgins, Tim (December 23, 2020). "Apple's China App Store Sheds Videogames as Beijing Tightens Internet Control". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  243. ^ "Apple removes over a hundred ChatGPT-like apps in China as tighter regulations set to take effect". SCMP. August 1, 2023.
  244. ^ "Apple enforces new check on apps in China as Beijing tightens oversight". Reuters. October 3, 2023.
  245. ^ Hay Newman, Lily (September 17, 2021). "Apple and Google Go Further Than Ever to Appease Russia". Wired. Archived from the original on January 15, 2023. Retrieved September 18, 2021.
  246. ^ Vincent, James (November 15, 2019). "Apple removes all vaping-related apps from the App Store". The Verge. Archived from the original on November 17, 2019. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
  247. ^ Allen, Ina Fried, Mike (November 15, 2019). "Apple to remove vaping apps from its App Store". Axios. Archived from the original on June 2, 2021. Retrieved June 2, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  248. ^ "Apple removes vaping apps from app store". BBC News. November 15, 2019. Archived from the original on June 3, 2021. Retrieved June 2, 2021.
  249. ^ Jones, Richard-Scott (August 23, 2017). "Steam could be profitable with an 8% cut rather than 30%, says Tim Sweeney". PCGamesN. Archived from the original on January 20, 2019. Retrieved December 14, 2018.
  250. ^ Cox, Kate (August 13, 2020). "Fortnite launches new payment system to cut Apple, Google out". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on January 21, 2021. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  251. ^ Statt, Nick (August 13, 2020). "Apple just kicked Fortnite off the App Store". The Verge. Archived from the original on August 13, 2020. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  252. ^ Nicas, Jack; Browning, Kellen; Griffith, Erin (August 13, 2020). "Fortnite Creator Sues Apple and Google After Ban From App Stores". The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 13, 2020. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  253. ^ Statt, Nick (August 14, 2020). "Epic Games is suing Apple". The Verge. Archived from the original on August 13, 2020. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
  254. ^ Statt, Nick (August 14, 2020). "Epic CEO Tim Sweeney says Apple fight is about 'basic freedoms of all consumers and developers'". The Verge. Archived from the original on August 15, 2020. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
  255. ^ Valentine, Rebekah (August 17, 2020). "Apple terminating Epic developer accounts, tools access". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on August 18, 2020. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  256. ^ McWhertor, Michael (August 17, 2020). "Apple threatens to cut off Epic Games from iOS, Mac dev tools". Polygon. Archived from the original on August 18, 2020. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  257. ^ Brandom, Russell; Hollister, Sean; Peters, Jay (August 24, 2020). "Epic judge will protect Unreal Engine — but not Fortnite". The Verge. Archived from the original on August 25, 2020. Retrieved August 24, 2020.

External links[edit]