The App Store saw 813 million weekly visitors
Apple rejected nearly two million apps in 2024, cracking down harder than ever on fraud, spam, and low-effort software.
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 Design issues alone triggered 42,252 removals, often for copycat behavior or outdated features.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.
