App Store

By MacRumors Staff
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The App Store is Apple's digital software distribution platform for iOS devices. First introduced in 2008, the App Store allows software developers to distribute content that has been created specifically for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch. Apps are also available on the Apple Watch through the iOS App Store.

There are well over a million apps in the App Store, and customers have downloaded more than 100 billion apps since the App Store debuted. App Store apps are available with three pricing options: free (and usually supported by ads), free with in-app purchases, or a set cost starting at $0.99 in the US.

In 2010, Apple introduced the Mac App Store for distributing content on Macs, and in 2015, Apple introduced the tvOS App Store, an app store for to the fourth-generation Apple TV.

App Store How Tos

How to Download Large Apps Over Cellular on iPhone and iPad

Monday February 3, 2020 11:56 am PST by
Apple used to limit the size of App Store downloads over cellular to 150MBs to prevent iPhone users from accidentally downloading a large app over 3G or 4G networks and using up all their data allowance or running up data charges. In May 2019, Apple upped the limit of over-the-air downloads to 200MB, but offered no way to opt out of the limit at the time, leaving users with unlimited data...
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How to Add Funds to Your Apple ID on iPhone and iPad

Monday November 11, 2019 9:38 am PST by
It used to be the case that adding funds to your Apple ID required redeeming an iTunes Gift Card bought from a store, but Apple now lets you use a debit or credit card right on your iPhone or iPad to do the same thing. Adding funds to your Apple ID allows you to make purchases from the iTunes Store, iBooks Store, and App Store on any of your Apple devices. It's easy to add funds to your...
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How to Update Apps in iOS 13

Monday September 16, 2019 5:13 pm PDT by
If you recently updated your iPhone to iOS 13 or your iPad to iPadOS 13 and you can't work out how to manually update your installed apps, then you've come to the right place. Apple has changed the way you update apps in iOS. In earlier versions of its mobile operating system, app updates lived in their own tab in the App Store app, but that has since had to make way for a new Apple Arcade...
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How to Cancel App Store Subscriptions

Wednesday April 4, 2018 1:50 am PDT by
Several TV and music services and other apps offer free trials through the App Store that automatically renew to become paid subscriptions after the trial period ends. If you want to prevent an App Store subscription from running beyond the trial period or cancel a subscription you're currently paying for, then read on. This article explains how to cancel any App Store subscription on iOS,...
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App Store Articles

iOS App Store General Feature Sqaure Complement

Apple Study: App Store Ecosystem Generated $1.3 Trillion Globally in 2024

Thursday June 5, 2025 6:00 am PDT by
Following a study looking into the success of the App Store ecosystem in the United States, Apple has sponsored a second study that covers the global App Store in 2024. Apple's global ‌App Store‌ ecosystem supported an estimated $1.3 trillion in billings and sales across 2024, and for 90 percent of those sales, developers did not pay a commission to Apple. "It's incredible to see so many...
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iOS App Store General Feature Black

Court Rejects Apple's Emergency Motion to Pause App Store Rule Changes

Wednesday June 4, 2025 3:20 pm PDT by
Apple will not be able to walk back the anti-steering App Store changes it was ordered to implement in May while the legal process plays out, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit said today. That means Epic Games, Spotify, Patreon, and others will be able to continue to direct customers to web purchase options that are available outside of the App Store, and Apple won't be able to...
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iOS App Store General Feature Desaturated

Apple Shares 2024 App Store Data: Rejections, Removals, and More

Friday May 30, 2025 9:39 am PDT by
Apple published its third annual App Store Transparency Report today [PDF], sharing insights into the ‌App Store‌ over the course of 2024. The report includes data on the number of apps rejected during the year, the number of customer and developer accounts deactivated, info on how many apps were removed from the ‌App Store‌, and so on. There were 1,961,596 total apps on the ‌App Store‌ at...
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iOS App Store General Feature JoeBlue

U.S. App Store Ecosystem Facilitated $406 Billion in Sales in 2024, Up From $142 Billion in 2019

Thursday May 29, 2025 8:00 am PDT by
As it faces increasing legal pressure in the United States, Apple today shared the results of a commissioned study that delves into the success of the App Store ecosystem and the money that it's earned developers large and small through digital and physical purchases. Prepared by Professor Andrey Fradkin from Boston University Questrom School of Business and economist Dr. Jessica Burley from ...
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iOS App Store General Feature JoeBlue

Texas Governor Signs Off on App Store Law Against Tim Cook's Wishes

Tuesday May 27, 2025 1:21 pm PDT by
Texas Governor Greg Abbott today signed into law the App Store Accountability Act, which will require Apple and Google to verify the age of App Store and Play Store users, respectively. The law will require users who are under the age of 18 to receive parental consent to download apps or make in-app purchases, according to Reuters. Apple CEO Tim Cook had reportedly asked Abbott to veto the...
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2024 App Store Awards

Apple Explains How the App Store Keeps Users Safe in Big-Number Ways

Tuesday May 27, 2025 7:01 am PDT by
Apple today shared a variety of statistics that are intended to show how the App Store is a safe and trusted place for users to download apps. This announcement comes less than a month after a U.S. judge ordered Apple to allow iPhone apps to show links or buttons that direct customers to make purchases outside of the ‌App Store‌. The timing is coincidental, though, as Apple has shared an ...
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General Spotify Feature

Spotify Now Offers Direct Audiobook Purchases on iOS Following App Store Rule Changes

Monday May 19, 2025 3:10 pm PDT by
Spotify is taking full advantage of Apple's recent U.S. App Store changes, and it's now possible for Spotify subscribers to see audiobook pricing and make audiobook purchases using a web view in the Spotify app. Spotify said today that Apple approved its latest update, which includes the audiobook functionality. If you've kept up with the disputes between Apple and Spotify over the years,...
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Epic Games Asks Judge to Force Apple to Approve Fortnite for US App Store

Monday May 19, 2025 3:13 am PDT by
Epic Games on Friday filed a court motion asking District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers to order Apple to approve Fortnite for the US App Store, in another escalation of the ongoing legal battle between the two companies. In the filing, Epic claims Apple is in contempt of the judge's April order that restricted Apple from rejecting apps over their use of outside payment links. Epic argues...
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Apple Says Fortnite for iOS Isn't Blocked Worldwide, Just the U.S.

Friday May 16, 2025 9:58 am PDT by
Apple today clarified that it has not blocked Epic Games from updating the iOS Fortnite app in the European Union, but it is not planning to allow ‌Epic Games‌ to offer Fortnite in the United States App Store at the current time. In a statement to Bloomberg, Apple said that ‌Epic Games‌ tied its U.S. ‌App Store‌ submission to the update that was also being submitted to the ‌Epic Games‌ Store ...
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app store external payments warning

Apple Slaps Warnings on Apps Using External Purchases in the EU [Updated]

Thursday May 15, 2025 4:22 am PDT by
Update: According to Apple, the user-disclosure screens have been live on the EU App Store since the beginning of Apple’s DMA Compliance Plan back in March 2024. The screen is not new. Original story follows. Apple has begun placing prominent warning labels on EU App Store listings that use alternative payment methods. The warning symbols appear as a red exclamation mark in a triangle,...
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fortnite apple featured

Epic Games Submits Fortnite to U.S. App Store

Friday May 9, 2025 9:57 am PDT by
As promised, Epic Games today submitted Fortnite to the U.S. App Store, and if approved by Apple, it will mark the first time that the Fortnite app has been available in the United States since 2020. Fortnite will include options to purchase in-app currency from the web rather than through in-app purchase, which is what got the game banned to begin with. This time, though, Apple has been...
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iOS App Store General Feature Dock 2

Apple Seeks to Pause 'Extraordinary' App Store Ruling in Epic Games Battle

Thursday May 8, 2025 2:04 am PDT by
Apple has filed an emergency motion asking the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to pause key parts of a recent ruling that dramatically changes how the App Store operates, following a contempt finding in its long-running legal battle with Fortnite maker Epic Games. In court documents filed Wednesday, Apple called the district court's order "extraordinary" and argued it unlawfully forces the...
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Apple Faces Developer Lawsuit After Defying App Store Injunction

Monday May 5, 2025 3:55 pm PDT by
Apple is being sued by developers unhappy with the company's "willful violation" of the anti-steering injunction the court ordered as part of its legal battle with Epic Games. A company called Pure Sweat Basketball has teamed up with law firm Hagens Berman to file a class-action lawsuit against Apple in an attempt to win some money for developers. The lawsuit focuses on the recent Apple vs. ‌...
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fortnite apple featured

Apple Banned Epic Games' Developer Account, So How Is Fortnite Coming Back to the U.S. App Store?

Monday May 5, 2025 1:45 pm PDT by
In the early days of the Apple vs. Epic Games legal battle, Apple banned the Epic Games developer account and all of Epic's titles, like Fortnite, disappeared from the App Store. ‌Epic Games‌' U.S. developer account has been banned for almost five years now, so when Epic said last week that it would bring Fortnite back to the ‌App Store‌ in the U.S., it wasn't clear how that would work. ‌Epic...
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iOS App Store General Feature Desaturated

Apple Appeals Court-Mandated App Store Payment Rule Changes

Monday May 5, 2025 11:17 am PDT by
As promised, Apple is appealing the contempt of court decision it was hit with last week in its ongoing legal fight with Epic Games. Apple today filed a notice of appeal with the U.S. District Court in Northern California, in the hopes that the Cupertino company might be able to walk back changes that have required it to allow developers to add links to external payment methods to apps. Last ...
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Spotify Premiumer Feature

Spotify Updates iPhone App With Out-of-App Payment Options in U.S.

Friday May 2, 2025 7:57 am PDT by
As planned, Spotify has updated its iPhone app in the U.S. with out-of-app pricing and subscription options for its Premium plans. The latest version of the app is now available in the App Store, and the added pricing information is rolling out. Spotify users in the U.S. can now view pricing information for its Individual, Duo, Family, and Student plans directly in the iPhone app, and there...
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iOS App Store General Feature Sqaure Complement

Apple Updates U.S. App Review Guidelines Following Epic Games Ruling

Thursday May 1, 2025 8:08 pm PDT by
In the wake of yesterday's court ruling in the dispute between Apple and Epic Games over Apple's policies restricting developers' ability to inform users about alternatives to making purchases through Apple's in-app purchasing system, Apple has updated its App Review Guidelines to comply with the ruling. Apple summarized the changes in an email to developers today:3.1.1: Apps on the United...
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epic games store

Epic Games Setting Up Webshops for iOS Developers to Offer Users Out-of-App Purchases

Thursday May 1, 2025 9:29 am PDT by
Epic Games today announced plans for ‌Epic Games‌ Store Webshops, a feature that will allow developers to launch digital storefronts that are hosted by the ‌Epic Games‌ Store. With Apple's mandated App Store rule changes in the United States, developers will soon be able to direct customers to web shops to make out-of-app purchases, bypassing the in-app purchase flow. The ‌Epic Games‌ Store...
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Facebook Feature

Mark Zuckerberg Reflects on How Apple's Strict Rules Hurt Facebook

Thursday May 1, 2025 7:18 am PDT by
In the late 2000s, Facebook was a booming desktop web platform with a growing selection of third-party games and apps, including the viral sensation FarmVille. However, once the iPhone and other mobile devices became more popular, this started to change. In particular, Apple's closed-off App Store rules impacted the social network. In a recent interview with Stratechery's Ben Thompson, Meta...
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app store awards 2022

Apple to Comply With New Court Ordered App Store Rules, But Will Appeal

Wednesday April 30, 2025 6:52 pm PDT by
Apple plans to change its U.S. App Store rules in accordance with a ruling from the U.S Northern District of California, Apple said in a statement to MacRumors. The company does plan to appeal the decision, though. "We strongly disagree with the decision. We will comply with the court's order and we will appeal," reads Apple's statement. Apple was found to be in violation of a 2021...
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