The 2023 App Store report shows an increase in downloads, developers, and uninstalls.
Apple's latest App Store Transparency Report highlights significant increases in app downloads and registered developers, along with details of recent app removals due to government takedowns.
Each year, Apple publishes the App Store Transparency Report to provide comprehensive information about its operations. It provides valuable insights into user engagement, app reviews, developer activity, and other interesting information.
The company has released its 2023 Transparency Report, showing impressive growth across a variety of metrics throughout 2022. For example, the App Store saw increased user engagement in 2023. Weekly visitors averaged 734,673,588, up from 656,739,889 in 2022.
Likewise, the number of weekly app downloads increased from 747,873,877 in the previous year to 787,999,950, showing that the app developer market is thriving. Meanwhile, the number of registered Apple developers also increased significantly, from 36,974,015 to 42,219,169 in 2022.
One of the metrics the company highlights is its efforts to prevent fraud. In 2023, Apple's efforts to prevent fraud were significant, preventing $1,838,127,451 worth of fraudulent transactions.
Next, the App Store reviewed 6,892,500 submitted apps and rejected 1,763,812 for various reasons. Top reasons for rejection included 1,132,613 performance issues, 295,497 apps with design issues, and 103,629 safety violations.
After resolving initial rejection reasons through the review process, 277,923 app submissions were ultimately approved.
In January 2023, Apple promised to provide more transparency about how and why apps are removed from the store. Games topped the list with 17,853, utilities with 17,779, and business apps with 10,560.
The main reasons for these removals included 76,887 violations of design-related guidelines, 35,245 instances of fraud, and 1,156 instances of intellectual property infringement.
Government involvement in app removal was notable, with 1,462 apps removed due to regulatory demands. The majority of these removals (1,285 apps) occurred in mainland China, where 1,067 gaming apps were removed for lacking the legally required GRN license.