Apple Removes Nearly 30,000 Apps From China App Store

Apple on Saturday removed nearly 30,000 apps from its Chinese App Store due to the apps lacking an official license from local regulators, reports Reuters.

appstore
The report, which cites data from research firm Qimai, says that 90% of the apps removed were games. The report also mentions that over 2,500 additional apps were removed from the China App Store over the first week of July.

Apple in February gave app developers an initial June 30 deadline to prove they had a license for their games, and the company last month froze updates for thousands of iOS mobile games lacking an official license.

Apple on July 8 reportedly warned developers of app removals should their apps not meet regulatory requirements.

Apple sent a reminder to game developers July 8 about its plans for the removal if they didn’t meet regulatory requirements for payments by the end of the month, Qimai said, citing an email from the iPhone maker.

The removal of apps lacking official licenses is said to come from increasing government pressure on Apple to comply with local regulations that have been in place since 2016.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Tag: China

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Air Pastel Feature

iPhone 17 Air Battery Capacity and Weight Allegedly Revealed

Monday May 19, 2025 2:22 am PDT by
Apple is expected to launch an all-new ultra-thin iPhone 17 Air later this year, and while there have been plenty of rumors about the camera's overall design and thinness, we haven't heard any details about the device's weight and battery capacity until now. According to the leaker going by the account name "yeux1122" on the Korean-langauge Naver blog, the 6.6-inch iPhone 17 Air has a weight ...
Apple CarPlay Ultra instrument cluster themes 01

Apple's CarPlay Ultra Is Here – Does Your iPhone Support It?

Thursday May 15, 2025 5:17 am PDT by
Apple's recently announced CarPlay Ultra promises a deeply integrated in-car experience, but not all iPhone users will be able to take advantage of the new feature. According to Apple's press release, CarPlay Ultra requires an iPhone 12 or later running iOS 18.5 or later. This means if you're using an iPhone 11, iPhone XR, or any older model, you'll need to upgrade your device to access...
Apple CarPlay Ultra instrument cluster themes 01

Apple's 'CarPlay Ultra' Experience Now Available

Thursday May 15, 2025 5:07 am PDT by
Apple today announced that its next-generation CarPlay experience, now dubbed "CarPlay Ultra" begins rolling out today, starting with Aston Martin vehicles. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. CarPlay Ultra is now available with new Aston Martin vehicle orders in the U.S. and Canada. It will also be available for existing models that feature the brand's next-generation ...
WWDC 2025 Banner

Apple Announces WWDC 2025 Schedule, Including Keynote Time

Tuesday May 20, 2025 8:13 am PDT by
Apple today announced a more detailed schedule for its annual developers conference WWDC, which runs from June 9 through June 13. The schedule confirms that Apple's keynote will begin on Monday, June 9 at 10 a.m. Pacific Time, with a live stream to be available on Apple.com, in the Apple TV app, and on YouTube. During the keynote, Apple is expected to announce iOS 19, iPadOS 19, macOS 16,...
Apple Glass

Apple Smart Glasses: Everything We Know So Far

Wednesday May 21, 2025 8:21 am PDT by
Google made waves yesterday by showcasing a set of lightweight smart glasses featuring deep Gemini integration and an optional in-lens display. The demo has reignited interest in Apple's own smart glasses project, which has been the subject of rumors for nearly a decade. Here's a recap of where things stand. Current Development Status Apple is actively working on new chips specifically...
macOS 16 visionOS Inspired Feature 1

macOS 16: Everything We Know So Far

Tuesday May 20, 2025 7:31 am PDT by
The Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), Apple's annual developer and software-oriented event, is less than three weeks away. We haven't heard a great deal about macOS 16 ahead of its announcement this year, so we could be in for some major surprises when June 9 rolls around. Here's what we know so far about the next major update to Apple's Mac operating system. macOS 16 Name? Every year ...
Apple Intelligence General Feature

Report: Apple's Next-Gen Version of Siri Is 'On Par' With ChatGPT

Monday May 19, 2025 9:00 am PDT by
Apple has big plans to improve Siri over the next few years, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman and Drake Bennett report. Some Apple executives are now reportedly pushing to turn Siri into a true ChatGPT competitor. A next-generation, chatbot version of Siri has reportedly made significant progress during testing over the past six months; some executives allegedly now see it as "on par" with recent...

Top Rated Comments

dannyyankou Avatar
63 months ago
Just stop doing business in China. Don’t associate yourself with that communist state
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
iLoveDeveloping Avatar
63 months ago
Stupid Chinese government
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
PlayUltimate Avatar
63 months ago

Just stop doing business in China. Don’t associate yourself with that communist state
You can't change the game if you are not willing to play.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
budselectjr Avatar
63 months ago
Every single product they manufacture in China and every single dollar they make there signals how ok Apple is with human rights violations and genocide. They are not disavowing what is happening to the Uighurs so they must support it. Same goes for all the other companies that bend over backwards for China.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
KidAKidB Avatar
63 months ago

Stupid Chinese government
Sure, but Apple could have a backbone and say no.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ArtOfWarfare Avatar
63 months ago

You can't change the game if you are not willing to play.
Successful boycotts show otherwise.

What definitely won't change the game is just going along with it.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)