Apple Shares 2023 App Store Transparency Report

Apple today published its second annual App Store Transparency Report [PDF], highlighting details like the number of apps that were rejected during the year, the number of customer and developer accounts deactivated, the number of apps removed from the ‌App Store‌, and more.

iOS App Store General Feature Sqaure Complement
In 2023, there were 1,870,119 total apps available, and Apple reviewed 6,892,500 app submissions. 1,763,812 apps were rejected, with performance, design, and legal listed as the top reasons why an app wasn't approved. 277,923 apps were approved after rejection following changes made to the app.

116,117 apps were removed from the ‌App Store‌, and top categories for removal included Utilities, Games, and Business. 76,887 apps were removed for violating Guideline 4.0 on design, and 35,245 apps were removed for violating ‌App Store‌ rules preventing fraud.

Apple removed 1,285 apps at the request of the Chinese government, and 103 at the request of the South Korean government. Apps were also pulled in India, Russia, Indonesia, Lithuania, Ukraine, and several other countries at the request of their respective governments.

398,499,012 customer accounts search the ‌App Store‌ on average on a weekly basis, and 166,360 apps appear in the top 10 results of at least 1000 searches each week. As Apple said earlier this week, it terminated 373,739,771 customer accounts and prevented an estimated $1,838,127,451 in fraudulent transactions.

More information on Apple's ‌App Store‌ numbers can be found in the full report. [PDF]

Popular Stories

iOS 18

Apple Says iOS 18.4 Will Be Released in April With These New Features

Wednesday February 26, 2025 7:15 am PST by
In a recent press release, Apple confirmed that iOS 18.4 will be released in April. From the Apple News+ Food announcement:Coming with iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 in April, Apple News+ subscribers will have access to Apple News+ Food, a new section that will feature tens of thousands of recipes — as well as stories about restaurants, healthy eating, kitchen essentials, and more — from the...
Generic iPhone 17 Feature With Full Width Dynamic Island

Latest iPhone 17 Series CAD Images in Line With Redesign Rumors

Friday February 28, 2025 2:51 am PST by
Apple is expected to embrace a new camera system design for some models in its upcoming iPhone 17 series, and the latest purported CAD images don't deviate from what we have been hearing lately about Apple's new lineup. If you do not like the sound of an iPhone with a Google Pixel-style camera bar, look away now. Seasoned leaker Sonny Dickson shared the following images in a post on X...
iphone 16e usb c feature

Apple Provides Reason for iPhone 16e's Lack of MagSafe

Friday February 28, 2025 4:39 am PST by
Apple has offered a reason why the iPhone 16e doesn't include MagSafe, one of the more notable omissions from its latest entry-level smartphone. According to Apple representatives who spoke to Daring Fireball's John Gruber, MagSafe is not included in the iPhone 16e because "most people in the iPhone 16e's target audience exclusively charge their phones by plugging them into a charging...
apple intelligence black

These New Apple Intelligence Features Are Coming in iOS 18.4

Friday February 28, 2025 3:17 pm PST by
iOS 18.4 was supposed to bring new Apple Intelligence Siri features, but Apple ended up needing to pull those capabilities from the update to continue testing. There are fewer new Apple Intelligence additions now, but there are still some new features that will make the update worth installing when it comes out in April. Priority Notifications Apple introduced Priority Notifications back at ...
Generic iOS 19 Feature Mock Light

iOS 19 Rumored to Include These New Features for Your iPhone

Saturday March 1, 2025 11:00 am PST by
iOS 19 is still around three months away from being unveiled, but there are plenty of rumors about the upcoming update. Below, we recap iOS 19 rumors so far. Redesigned Camera App A leak earlier this year allegedly revealed a redesigned Camera app coming with iOS 19. On his YouTube channel Front Page Tech in January, Jon Prosser shared a video showing what the new Camera app will...
cook trump

Trump Responds to Apple Keeping Diversity Policies

Wednesday February 26, 2025 6:32 am PST by
In an all-caps post on Truth Social today, U.S. President Donald Trump said Apple should fully end its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies. Tim Cook meeting with President Trump in 2017 "APPLE SHOULD GET RID OF DEI RULES, NOT JUST MAKE ADJUSTMENTS TO THEM," he wrote. Trump's post comes one day after Apple held its annual shareholders meeting, during which a majority of...
apple watch ultra snow

6 Features Coming to the Apple Watch Ultra 3

Tuesday February 25, 2025 9:00 am PST by
The Apple Watch Ultra 3 is expected to launch later this year, arriving two years after the previous model with a series of improvements. While no noticeable design changes are expected for the third generation since the company tends to stick with the same Apple Watch design through three generations before changing it, there are a series of internal upgrades on the way. By the time the ...
airpods pro purple

Here's When AirPods Pro 3 Are Rumored to Launch

Monday February 24, 2025 9:14 am PST by
According to a post on X today from a leaker known as Kosutami, Apple plans to launch AirPods Pro 3 in May or June this year. The leaker also claimed that an AirTag 2 will launch around the same time. Kosutami is best known as a collector of prototype Apple hardware, but they have occasionally shared accurate information about Apple's future product plans. For example, they accurately...
apple c1

How Fast is Apple's First-Ever 5G Modem? The Results Are Surprising

Friday February 28, 2025 10:08 am PST by
iPhone 16e reviews are now out, and Apple's custom-designed C1 modem has been put to the test. The results so far are quite surprising, as the C1's speeds are not as slow compared to Qualcomm modems as originally expected. While the C1 does not support ultra-fast mmWave 5G in the U.S., it appears to offer comparable 5G performance to Qualcomm's Snapdragon X71 modem found in the iPhone 16,...

Top Rated Comments

DMG35 Avatar
10 months ago
They need to share a transparency report on how this deleted photos debacle has happened and how they are fixing it.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
I7guy Avatar
10 months ago
So you want the app store to be absolute mess, I gather?
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jasonsmith_88 Avatar
10 months ago

So you want the app store to be absolute mess, I gather?
Nobody would have a problem with the App Store if there were alternative methods of distribution. But in all markets except the EU, the App Store is the only way to distribute apps.

The right to develop and distribute software should be fundamental. If Apple revokes a perfectly legal app because of some nonsense clause, this can absolutely ruin someone’s life who is relying on that income to pay a mortgage.

The “buy an Android” argument is laughable. In that case, why do we have any regulations all? Why do we regulate car safety when people could just buy a Volvo? Why do we have building codes when people could just hire a reputable builder? Why do we have privacy laws when people could just choose not to divulge their information?

We regulate industry because the free market is incapable of doing what’s best for the consumer. Apple preventing the distribution of legal software is not best for the consumer.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
I7guy Avatar
10 months ago

Nobody would have a problem with the App Store if there were alternative methods of distribution. But in all markets except the EU, the App Store is the only way to distribute apps.
And we’re about find out if it’s cap or not.



The right to develop and distribute software should be fundamental. If Apple revokes a perfectly legal app because of some nonsense clause, this can absolutely ruin someone’s life who is relying on that income to pay a mortgage.
The right to distribute software is not fundamental. It’s like saying the right to drive fundamental. You drive with a dui and crash and can ruin someone’s life. There are many things in life that are not fundamental.



The “buy an Android” argument is laughable. In that case, why do we have any regulations all? Why do we regulate car safety when people could just buy a Volvo? Why do we have building codes when people could just hire a reputable builder? Why do we have privacy laws when people could just choose not to divulge their information?
The buy the competition is a perfect view. After all, Macrumors posters continually say competition is good. Why is competition good unless you are willing to buy a competitors better product?



We regulate industry because the free market is incapable of doing what’s best for the consumer.
Actually governmental regulation usually one party at the expense of another. And the more government intervenes the worse it is. Some things should only be managed due to the free market.

Apple preventing the distribution of legal software is not best for the consumer.
Yes it is, overall.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)