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+. A revised version called Boyfriend Plus was approved by Apple in April 2013. 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. In April 2013, Apple removed
AppGratis, a then-successful app store market that promoted paid apps by offering one for free each day. 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". 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". 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." 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. 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". A security firm later published lists of infected apps, including a China-only version of
Angry Birds 2, CamCard, Lifesmart, TinyDeal.com, and
WeChat. In the aftermath, Apple stated that it would make Xcode faster to download in certain regions outside the United States, 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. 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" would require payments of $99.99 for a seven-day subscription after a short trial. Apple has not yet responded to the issues. 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. As of December 2025, the App Store hosts
Absher (application), a
stalkerware app by the
Saudi government.
Large-scale app removals 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. 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. 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. 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
TechCrunchs 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 , but also development suites like Titanium". 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.
Censorship by governments China 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. 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". 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. 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". 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". 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", though many news outlets reported on the Chinese government's increased efforts and pressure to crack down on Internet freedom. Following Apple CEO
Tim Cook's appearance at China's
World Internet Conference in December 2017, 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." 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." 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". However,
TechCrunchs 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". 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". In August 2018, as a result of Chinese regulations, 25,000 illegal apps were pulled down by Apple from the App Store in China. In October 2019, Apple rejected, approved, and finally removed 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 December 31 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. 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." In August 2023, at the request of the Chinese government, Apple took down more than 100 AI-related apps similar to ChatGPT in the Chinese app store. 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. In April 2026, Apple took down
BitChat at the request of the Chinese government.
Russia 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 September 16, 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. In 2024, Russian regulator
Roskomnadzor asked Apple to take down 25 VPN apps from the Russian App Store, but Apple quietly took down more.
United States In October 2025, following a request by the Trump administration, Apple removed ICE tracking apps, which could notify users about the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in their area.
Removal of vaping apps In November 2019, Apple removed all applications related to
vaping from the App Store, citing warning from health experts. Apple made this decision to reduce the promotion of e-cigarette use. == Antitrust allegations ==