Apple has released its first App Store Transparency Report. The report offers information about the app review process and how Apple handles government requests for user data. The report was released as part of a 2021 lawsuit settlement with a group of developers. As part of the agreement, Apple agreed to be more transparent about its App Store policies.
Apple’s Transparency Report for App Store
The report shows that Apple received a total of 6,101,913 app submissions in 2022. Of those, 1,679,694 were approved, whereas 4,422,219 apps were rejected. However, when developers worked with Apple to address concerns, 253,466 apps were approved after being rejected.
Likewise, in 2022, Apple deleted 186,195 apps from the App Store for violating the App Store’s guidelines. The bulk of these apps were games, with utilities, business, and education apps following close after.
The tech giant also shared China was the top country requesting app takedowns from Apple. The Chinese government asked Apple to remove 1,435 apps from the store. Of these, 1,276 were games that were removed for not having the GRN license that China requires. Apple also removed 14 apps at the Indian government’s request. Pakistan and Russia also join the list with 10 and 7 apps, respectively.
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Moreover, Apple received 18,412 appeals from developers whose apps have been removed from the App Store. Of these appeals, Apple only restored 616 apps. The reason why the number of rejected appeals is so high is that most of the apps were fraudulent or illegal.
What does this mean for developers?
The new transparency report gives developers more information about the app review process. And how Apple handles government requests for user data. This information can help developers to improve their apps and comply with Apple’s guidelines.
Moreover, Apple has been criticized in the past for its closed ecosystem and lack of transparency. So we believe this is a step in the right direction. It will be interesting to see how Apple continues to improve its transparency in the future. You can learn more about Apple’s Transparency Report here.
