Apple has published its third annual App Store Transparency Report, shedding light on the performance of the App Store in 2024. The comprehensive report delves into key metrics, including app rejections, removals, and customer account terminations.
The report highlights a significant increase in total apps on the App Store, with nearly 2 million apps available at the end of 2024 - an impressive 100,000-app surge from last year. Furthermore, the average weekly app downloads reached 839 million, while the average weekly visitors to the App Store surpassed 813 million, both metrics experiencing a boost compared to 2023.
In terms of app submissions, Apple reviewed an astonishing 7.77 million, rejecting a staggering 1.93 million due to performance issues, legal concerns, design flaws, business problems, and safety risks - with performance being the top reason for rejection.
Notably, 295,109 rejected apps were later approved after developers addressed the corresponding issues. On the other hand, Apple removed 82,509 apps from the App Store, primarily in the Utilities and Games categories, citing design issues and fraud as the primary reasons.
The report breaks down the removals by category, with design-related issues accounting for over 42,000 apps, followed by fraud concerns, intellectual property infringement, spam, export control, copycats, and general guidelines.
Interestingly, Apple also removed some apps at the request of governments worldwide. China led the way, with 1,307 app removals requested, followed by Russia (171), South Korea (79), Ukraine (55), and Jordan (50).
In terms of appeals, Apple received a total of 26,224 requests to reconsider app removals, with China accounting for over 6,900 and the United States contributing over 3,500. Only 78 apps in China and 71 apps in the United States were ultimately restored after going through Apple's appeal process.
The report also highlights customer account terminations (128,961,839) and developer account terminations due to fraud and export control (146,747). Additionally, Apple claims to have prevented over $2 billion in fraud and taken steps to improve user experience.
As part of a 2021 class action lawsuit settlement with developers, Apple agreed to share App Store Transparency Reports annually. The reports provide valuable insights into the app review process, including app rejections, removals, and customer account terminations. More information can be found in the full report and supplemental file available on Apple's legal site.
Target keyword: app user experience