App Store
Mobile app distribution platform by Apple
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| 2024 | Russian regulator Roskomnadzor asked Apple to take down 25 VPN apps from the Russian App Store, with Apple quietly removing even more apps. |
| January 25 2024 | Following an EU antitrust investigation, Apple allows game streaming apps and services like Xbox Cloud Streaming and GeForce Now on the App Store, and permits iPhone users in the EU to use third-party app stores and browser engines |
| September 2023 | New apps on the China App Store were required to be licensed by the Chinese government, with older apps mandated to obtain a license before March 2024. |
| August 2023 | At the request of the Chinese government, Apple took down more than 100 AI-related apps similar to ChatGPT from the Chinese App Store. |
| January 2022 | Apple adds support for unlisted apps that can only be downloaded via direct links and do not appear in search results |
| October 2021 | The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) concluded that Apple's App Store in-app commissions are anti-competitive, demanding changes to in-app payment system policies. |
| September 16 2021 | Apple removed the Smart Voting app created by associates of Alexei Navalny from the App Store before the Russian legislative election, after a meeting with Russian Federation Council officials. |
| 2020 | Apple expanded fee waivers to non-profits, educational organizations, and governments in additional countries. The App Store revenue for developers had increased to $155 billion. |
| 2020 | App Store reaches approximately 1.8 million available apps |
| December 2020 | Apple began removing thousands of video game apps from their platform in China, requiring developers to submit proof of government licensing by December 31. |
| August 28 2020 | Apple announced plans to terminate Epic's developer accounts, which would prevent Epic from updating the Unreal Engine for iOS and macOS platforms. |
| August 13 2020 | Epic Games updated Fortnite to offer a 20% discount on V-Bucks when purchased directly from Epic, highlighting the price difference due to Apple's 30% revenue cut. Apple subsequently removed Fortnite from its App Store for violating terms of service. |
| March 2020 | Apple makes 'Sign in with Apple' mandatory for apps using third-party logins, with a deadline of April 30 for developers to implement the feature |
| 2019 | Washington Post conducted a privacy experiment revealing that third-party apps were transmitting personal user data without consent to multiple marketing and research companies through 5,400 hidden app trackers. |
| 2019 | Apple responded to the privacy controversy by introducing 'privacy nutrition labels' on the App Store, requiring all apps to disclose their data usage practices transparently. |
| November 2019 | Apple removed all vaping-related applications from the App Store following warnings from health experts, aiming to reduce the promotion of e-cigarette use. |
| October 2019 | Apple rejected, approved, and then removed an app used by participants in the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests. |
| September 2019 | Apple launches Apple Arcade, a subscription service for video games within the App Store |
| 2018 | Apple began waiving the $99 yearly developer fee for nonprofit organizations and governments in the United States. |
| August 2018 | Apple pulled down 25,000 illegal apps from the App Store in China as a result of Chinese regulations. |
| January 4 2018 | Apple reports a record-breaking holiday season for App Store, with customers spending over $890 million in the week starting Christmas Eve, and $300 million on New Year's Day alone |
| 2017 | Tim Sweeney began questioning the 30% revenue sharing cut by digital storefronts like Apple's App Store, arguing that an 8% cut should be sufficient to run a digital storefront profitably. |
| 2017 | Apple introduced a new policy allowing users to voluntarily send 'tips' to content creators through the App Store. |
| 2017 | Number of apps on App Store shrinks for the first time as Apple removes older apps not complying with current guidelines and technologies. Estimated to house around 1.8 million apps. |
| 2017 | With the release of iOS 11, Apple enabled developers to choose whether to retain or reset existing app reviews when updating their apps. |
| December 2017 | Apple allows developers to offer app pre-orders, making apps visible 2-90 days before release. |
| December 2017 | Congressman Ted Lieu wrote a letter to Apple requesting reconsideration of the new app template guidelines, arguing that the rules were too broad and would negatively impact small businesses and organizations. |
| December 2017 | Tim Cook appeared at China's World Internet Conference, stating that Apple and China share a vision of 'developing a digital economy for openness and shared benefits', which drew criticism from human rights activists. |
| December 2017 | Apple began enforcing new restrictions on commercialized template or app generation services, setting a January 1, 2018 deadline for developers to modify their apps, which sparked criticism from small businesses, nonprofits, and app development firms. |
| September 2017 | App Store receives a major design overhaul with the release of iOS 11, featuring more editorial content and a new visual design |
| July 2017 | Apple began removing listings in China for apps that circumvent government Internet censorship policies, including VPN services and Internet calling apps like Skype, citing non-compliance with local licensing laws. |
| June 2017 | Apple announced the App Store had generated over $70 billion in revenue for developers since its 2008 launch. |
| June 2017 | Apple began removing apps that copy functionality from popular apps, including numerous clones of games like Flappy Bird and music apps serving pirated tracks. |
| June 2017 | Apple updated App Store review guidelines, prohibiting developers from using custom prompts to encourage app reviews. |
| June 2017 | A scamming trend was discovered on the App Store involving developers creating apps with non-existent services and attaching high-cost in-app purchase subscriptions, such as an app requiring $99.99 for a seven-day subscription. |
| March 27 2017 | Apple enables developers to respond to customer reviews in the App Store with the release of iOS 10.3 |
| January 2017 | Apple complied with the Chinese government's request to remove the Chinese version of The New York Times app from the App Store, following previous efforts to block the Times' website in 2012. |
| October 2016 | Apple introduces search ads in App Store for developers in the United States to improve app discoverability. |
| October 2016 | Apple removed 47,300 apps from the App Store, a 238 percent increase in average monthly app removals, as part of their app cleanup initiative. |
| October 2016 | App Annie reported that China overtook the United States as Apple's biggest App Store revenue market, with Chinese users spending $1.7 billion in the third quarter compared to approximately $1.5 billion by American users. |
| September 1 2016 | Apple announced plans to remove old apps that do not function properly or do not follow current review guidelines, with developers given 30 days to update their apps. Apps that crash on startup will be removed immediately. |
| June 2016 | Phil Schiller announced significant App Store changes in an interview with The Verge, including search result advertisements and a new app subscription model. |
| June 13 2016 | App Store expands to 2 million apps with 130 billion total downloads |
| March 21 2016 | App Store milestone: 1 million native iPad apps available |
| 2015 | Apple began publishing yearly lists of most downloaded iOS apps and games, highlighting the most popular applications for that year. |
| September 2015 | Apple discovered and removed hundreds of apps infected with XcodeGhost, a malicious version of Xcode development software, including apps like China-only Angry Birds 2, CamCard, and WeChat. |
| September 9 2015 | Apple announced the App Store for tvOS during the September 2015 event, introducing the platform alongside the 4th generation Apple TV. This launch enabled developers to create and distribute apps specifically for Apple TV, with support for iOS 9 APIs and new development tools. |
| June 8 2015 | App Store grows to 1,500,000+ apps and hits 100 billion total downloads |
| February 2015 | MassRoots was reintroduced to the App Store after Apple modified its enforcement guidelines to allow cannabis social apps in states where it is legal. |
| February 25 2015 | iPad app catalog grows to 725,000 applications |
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This contents of the box above is based on material from the Wikipedia article App Store (Apple), which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.