Nearly two-thirds (64%) of apps delisted from Apple had not been updated in at least two years, compared to only 20% on Google; 178 ‘Family Planning’ apps with 1.5MM+ downloads delisted including Lunar – Period Tracker
Pixalate, the market-leading fraud protection, privacy, and compliance analytics platform for Connected TV (CTV) and Mobile Advertising, the Q2 2022 Delisted Mobile Apps Report, containing insights about mobile apps removed from the Google Play Store and Apple App Store. The analysis helps developers and advertisers recognize potential threats of privacy and compliance breaches.
Pixalate analyzed more than 5 million mobile apps across the Google and Apple app stores, and found that nearly 600,000 were delisted in Q2 2022 — an increase of almost 3x from the 220k delisted in Q1 2022.
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Key findings:
Through analysis of delisted Google Play Store and Apple App Store apps in Q2 2022, Pixalate found that:
- 592,000 apps were delisted from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store in Q2 2022
- 8,652% increase in apps delisted from the Apple App Store from Q1 to Q2 2022
- 64% of apps delisted from Apple had not been updated in at least two years, compared to only 20% from Google
- 35 Sberbank apps (sanctioned, Russian state-owned business) delisted across Google and Apple
- Nearly 100x increase in ‘Health & Fitness’ apps delisted from Apple in Q2 2022, including 178 “Family Planning” apps that had a combined 1.5MM+ downloads prior to delisting, including Lunar – Period Tracker
- 49k+ delisted apps in Q2 2022 were likely child-directed
Combined, apps delisted in Q2 2022 had over 117 million user ratings prior to delisting, but the majority of them (82%) had no detected app country of registry. The graphic below shows the top 10 most popular apps delisted from the Google Play Store in Q2 2022.
Of note, Apple delisted 5,000 apps in Q1 2022 before an apparent sweeping clean-up in Q2 2022. Nearly two-thirds (64%) of apps delisted from Apple had not been updated in at least two years, compared to only 20% from Google. This indicates Apple may be targeting apps that have become “abandoned.”
Delisted apps may pose a privacy and security risk to consumers as they can remain installed on the user’s device, and the user may not know they need to delete the app.
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What’s inside the report
Pixalate’s Q2 2022 Delisted Mobile Apps Report includes:
- The scale of delisted apps dating back to Q1 2021
- Sensitive information shared by delisted apps with advertisers
- Delisted apps broken down by how long since the app had last been updated
- Likely child-directed apps that were delisted
- Country of origin of delisted apps
- Delisted apps by app category
- List of the most popular delisted apps
