Millions of apps were denied by Apple in 2024 amid fraud crackdown

AppleInsider

Apple rejected nearly two million apps in 2024, cracking down harder than ever on fraud, spam, and low-effort software.

The App Store saw 813 million weekly visitors

The company rejected 1.93 million app submissions in 2024, according to its App Store Transparency Report, released in May 2025. The annual report outlines how Apple enforces App Store policies and manages content across its global platform.

Apple reviewed approximately 7.7 million app submissions in 2024, rejecting over 1.9 million for failing to meet its standards. Nearly one in four were denied, typically for violating rules around performance, design, or business practices.

Other rejections involved spam, legal compliance, or attempts to bypass Apple's rules. Apple removed 82,509 apps from the App Store in 2024, largely for violations of its App Review Guidelines or Developer Program License Agreement.

Utilities led the removals with more than 16,000 pulled, followed closely by games. Design issues alone triggered 42,252 removals, often for copycat behavior or outdated features.

Another 38,315 apps were taken down for fraud.

Fraud drives developer account terminations

Developers can appeal removals, but few succeed. Only 421 apps were reinstated out of 26,224 appeals, a success rate of just 1.6%.

Apple terminated 146,747 developer accounts in 2024. Of those, 146,583 were tied to fraud. Only 225 developers were reinstated after appeal.

Apple rejected nearly two million apps in 2024. Image credit: Apple

The company also shut down nearly 129 million customer accounts and said it blocked $2.02 billion in potentially fraudulent transactions. Many account terminations stem from links to previously banned developers or use of deceptive business practices.

China leads global takedown demands

Apple received government takedown requests for 17,309 apps in 2024. Mainland China accounted for 13,071 of them, by far the highest total. Apple said 1,131 of those removals were games that lacked a GRN license, which is required under Chinese law.

Elsewhere, government requests were far lower. Russia asked for 171 removals, South Korea for 79, and India for 34. Apple says these removals apply only to the regions where the requests originated, and apps remain available elsewhere.

The App Store saw 813 million weekly visitors and 839 million app downloads on average during the year. But redownloads far outpaced new installs, hitting nearly 1.9 billion per week.

Most app updates were delivered automatically in the background -- more than 66 billion updates each week -- compared to just 638 million done manually.

China leads global takedown demands. Image credit: Apple

Search remained a key part of app discovery. About 441 million customer accounts used App Store search every week. More than 1.3 million apps appeared in the top 10 results of at least 1,000 searches, though Apple didn't explain how those rankings were determined.

Apple's report comes amid rising pressure

The 2024 transparency report arrives as Apple adapts to growing regulatory pressure around the world. In the European Union, the Digital Markets Act is forcing changes to how Apple handles app distribution and payments.

In the United States, Apple continues to face criticism from developers and lawmakers over platform control and fee structures. While the company positions the App Store as a safe and trusted marketplace, the report shows the complexity of managing that system at scale.

Apple's efforts to protect users and maintain quality come with trade-offs in transparency, developer flexibility, and global accessibility.



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misterkit

Not to worry. Open market app stores can't wait to host the fraudsters.

nubus

MisterKit said:

Not to worry. Open market app stores can't wait to host the fraudsters.

First DOGE those that could deal with fraudsters and then demand a monopoly due to the world being scary? Crony capitalism. It will help Apple until Apple has been standing still for too long.

Go to any DMV "service location" to bask in the experience of no free markets. Visit any USPS office to enjoy the short queues and customer focused products delivered (or not). Having no competition is great if you're too lazy to compete. I say we're ready for a Family Store for apps, an American Apps store, and even The Sleazy Store.

slurpy

nubus said:

MisterKit said:

Not to worry. Open market app stores can't wait to host the fraudsters.

First DOGE those that could deal with fraudsters and then demand a monopoly due to the world being scary? Crony capitalism. It will help Apple until Apple has been standing still for too long.

Go to any DMV "service location" to bask in the experience of no free markets. Visit any USPS office to enjoy the short queues and customer focused products delivered (or not). Having no competition is great if you're too lazy to compete. I say we're ready for a Family Store for apps, an American Apps store, and even The Sleazy Store.

What an insanely stupid fucking post. 

Apple isn't a monopoly for running their own fucking store on their own devices. Just like how retailers aren't monopolies for having other storefronts operating within their own stores for free. This has more to do with the fact that Apple gives a shit about the user experience, which is critical for the continued success of its products, than "crony capitalism". The amount of people that actually give a damn about having multiple appstores on their devices is almost non-existent. It's just something pushed by companies like Epic and Spotify, for their own selfish needs. 

The competition that Apple has are other devices, other platforms, other apps, and other ecosystems. You don't need multiple appstores on a device for "competition". Apple is "too lazy to compete" with whom, exactly? And compete how? You honestly believe 3rd party appstores can have a better user experience than native ones? Barely anyone fucking uses them on Android, and there's a reason for that. Customers don't want them. 

applezulu

nubus said:

MisterKit said:

Not to worry. Open market app stores can't wait to host the fraudsters.

First DOGE those that could deal with fraudsters and then demand a monopoly due to the world being scary? Crony capitalism. It will help Apple until Apple has been standing still for too long.

Go to any DMV "service location" to bask in the experience of no free markets. Visit any USPS office to enjoy the short queues and customer focused products delivered (or not). Having no competition is great if you're too lazy to compete. I say we're ready for a Family Store for apps, an American Apps store, and even The Sleazy Store.

The DMV has to serve every person who wants a driver’s license, from the conscientiously prepared to the idiot who shows up reeking of weed. You want better, faster service and shorter lines? Quit voting for politicians who promise lower taxes and fewer government employees. 

The USPS does have competition, like UPS and FedEX. Interestingly, USPS is the only one that will deliver a letter or package to any address in the country for the same price. Everyone complains about the cost of postage, but have you ever tried sending a letter using one of the other services? It’s orders of magnitude more expensive, and gets even more so the further you go and the further you go into rural, red-state flyover country. 

Of course none of that is actually comparable to Apple’s App Store. That has competition, too, on other devices using other platforms. People buy iPhones because they just work, and they just work because Apple uses the App Store to do things like filter out fraudulent developers. This benefits not only Apple and its customers, but honest app developers as well. This is because iPhone users can be more confident that risk is minimized when downloading an app from an unknown developer. As a result, new and small developers don’t have to spend resources simply trying to convince potential customers that they’re not a crook before they’ll consider trying out the developer’s app.