Apple prevents potential frauds worth USD 1.5 bn

In 2020, nearly 1 million problematic new apps, and an additional nearly 1 million app updates, were rejected or removed for a range of reasons like those.

In 2020, about 95,000 apps were removed from the App Store for fraudulent violations, predominantly for these kind of bait-and-switch manoeuvres, the tech giant said in a statement late on Tuesday.“When such apps are discovered, they’re rejected or removed immediately from the store, and developers are notified of a 14-day appeals process before their accounts are permanently terminated,” Apple informed.

In 2020, the Apple App review team assisted more than 180,000 new developers in launching apps.

The team rejected more than 48,000 apps for containing hidden or undocumented features, and more than 150,000 apps were rejected because they were found to be spam, copycats, or misleading to users in ways such as manipulating them into making a purchase.

“Another common reason apps are rejected is they simply ask for more user data than they need, or mishandle the data they do collect,” the company said.

In 2020, the App Review team rejected over 215,000 apps for those sorts of privacy violations. Apple believes privacy is a fundamental right, and this commitment is a major reason why users choose the App Store.