Apple appears to be quietly updating some apps, based on curious new update notes that have appeared on the App Store.
Over the last week, some app updates have included notes that suggest the update is coming from Apple rather than an app developer. "This update from Apple will improve the functionality of this app. No new features are included," reads the description.
Some of the apps that have been updated include Candy Crush Soda Saga, Sentry Mobile, Catan Universe, Bluetti, Mortal Kombat, Duet Display, VLC, and many more.
It's not clear what functionality Apple is improving with each app update, if any. One developer on Reddit said that Apple inserted the text into an app update that had the same version number and content as a prior update.
The update text is appearing on apps that have not been updated in some time, as well as apps that received recent updates, so it's not clear what the apps have in common. When analyzing the code of one of the apps that received an Apple update, MacRumors could not find what had changed.
Apple removed scam app Freecash from the App Store this week after the app spent months harvesting data from iPhone users, reports TechCrunch.
Freecash reached the number two spot on the U.S. App Store charts in January after being heavily marketed on TikTok. It promised users up to $35 per hour for watching TikTok content, but it was collecting swaths of user data. Back in January, Wired...
Wednesday April 15, 2026 7:10 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple privately warned Elon Musk's xAI company in January that it would remove the Grok app from the App Store unless the company put a stop to the chatbot's nude and sexualized deepfakes, according to a letter Apple sent to U.S. senators and obtained by NBC News ($).
Earlier this year, Grok's AI capabilities came under scrutiny after X users shared nonconsensual sexualized images of women...
No, you aren't going crazy – Apple has quietly made a backend change to the App Store app in iOS that switches the location of the Updates tab and renames it to make it more prominent.
In the App Store app, you can see the change by tapping your profile picture in the top-right corner. The "Apps & Purchase History" tab used to be at the top the list, but it has switched places with...