Digital Fraud Ends! Apple Unloads Thousands Of Naughty Developers In 2024!

Illustration of the App Store (photo: Doc. apple)

JAKARTA - Apple rejects nearly 2 million applications throughout 2024 as part of tightening policies against low-quality fraud, spam, and applications. This was revealed in the App Store 2024 Transparency Report released in May 2025.

In the annual report, Apple revealed that it reviewed about 7.7 million application submissions, and rejected 1.93 million of them for not meeting company standards. That is, nearly 1 in 4 applications were rejected. The main reasons for refusal include app performance issues, design, and legal compliance.

In addition, Apple also removed 82,509 apps from the App Store. The most removed app comes from the utility category (more than 16,000 apps), followed by the game category. The design problem is the main cause with 42,252 applications removed, mainly due to plagiarism or outdated features. Meanwhile, 38,315 applications were removed due to fraudulent indications.

Fraud Is The Main Reason For Deleting Developer Accounts

In 2024, Apple suspended 146,747 developer accounts, and 146,583 of them were directly connected to fraudulent activities. Of the tens of thousands of developers who filed an appeal, only 225 managed to get their account back.

In terms of app appeals, 26,224 appeals were filed, but only 421 applications were recovered the success rate was only 1.6%.

Apple also reports that it has closed nearly 129 million customer accounts, mostly due to previously blocked developer accounts or fraudulent business practices. In addition, the company managed to block fraud transactions worth more than 2.02 billion US dollars (approximately IDR 32.996 trillion).

Apple received 17,309 requests for application removal from the government throughout 2024. China became the country with the highest number, namely 13,071 requests, including 1,131 games removed because it did not have a GRN license according to local regulations.

Other countries such as Russia (171 requests), South Korea (79), and India (34) are far less. Apple insists that this removal only applies to the region concerned, and applications remain available in other countries.

During 2024, the App Store recorded an average of 813 million weekly visits, with 839 million new app downloads each week. However, downloading is far beyond new downloads, with nearly 1.9 billion downloads per week.

The majority app update is automated in the background, with more than 66 billion updates per week, compared to just 638 million manual updates.

The search feature remains the main way users find the app, with 441 million customer accounts using the App Store search weekly. More than 1.3 million apps appear in the top 10 search results in at least 1,000 searches even though Apple doesn't explain how the ranking algorithm works.

Global Regulations are Increasingly Pressing the Apple Report on transparency to come amid increasing regulatory pressure on Apple in various parts of the world. In the European Union, for example, the Digital Markets Act is pushing for major changes in the way Apple handles app and payment distributions. In the United States, the company continues to face criticism of strict controls over platforms and cost structures.

Although Apple positions the App Store as a safe and reliable market, the report presents great challenges in maintaining system quality and security on a global scale as well as its impact on developer flexibility and global accessibility.