Apple’s App Store will introduce additional ad placements in search results beginning in 2026, Apple said Wednesday. The move represents a significant shift in how users will encounter sponsored content while browsing for new applications. And the iPhone giant took pains to explain why it’s making the move.
Apple rolled out updated App Review Guidelines Thursday that require developers to explicitly disclose when they’re sharing your personal information with third-party artificial intelligence services — and get your permission first.
The iPhone App Store is now accessible on a Mac. And iPad users can research what macOS applications are available. Anyone can see what Apple Watch apps are available. All of these are possible now that Apple finally put the App Store on the web Monday.
It’s long overdue, and still missing a feature many users would like.
Apple is making two developer-focused changes to the App Store. Developers can now upload additional documentation and assets while their app is under review.
Secondly, developers can create up to 70 custom pages — double the previous limit.
October 22, 2008: During a conference call, Apple CEO Steve Jobs reveals that a user downloaded the 200 millionth app from the App Store that very day.
The news comes less than five months after the launch of the App Store, and only a month after Apple surpassed 100 million app downloads.
August 30, 2010: Just two years after opening its virtual doors, the iOS App Store passes a key milestone: one-quarter of a million apps for sale.
It’s a massive demonstration of success for a service Apple CEO Steve Jobs didn’t even initially want to offer.
Apple users in the UK could see significant changes to how they download apps, browse the web and make payments on their devices following new regulatory proposals announced Wednesday by Britain’s competition watchdog.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) proposed designating both Apple and Google with “strategic market status” under new digital competition laws. That gives regulators unprecedented power to force changes to how the tech giants operate their mobile platforms.
“The targeted and proportionate actions we have set out today would enable UK app developers to remain at the forefront of global innovation while ensuring UK consumers receive a world-class experience,” CMA head Sarah Cardell said.
Apple appears set to dodge potentially devastating daily fines from European Union regulators, according to a new report Tuesday. Sources indicate the company’s revised App Store policies will likely receive approval in the coming weeks.
Apple acquired the brilliant image-editing app Pixelmator in November 2024. And now, eight months later, it’s updating the app with Apple Intelligence support.
For now, AI integration remains exclusive to Pixelmator Pro on Mac.
To avoid further penalties under the European Union’s Digital Markets Act, Apple has announced sweeping changes to its App Store guidelines for the EU.
However, it’s not happy with the EU’s additional demands and plans to appeal against this.
Apple’s global App Store ecosystem facilitated an impressive $1.3 trillion in developer billings and sales throughout 2024, marking a milestone for the platform, the iPhone giant said Thursday.
“It’s incredible to see so many developers design great apps, build successful businesses and reach Apple users around the world,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook. “This report is a testament to the many ways developers are enriching people’s lives with app and game experiences, while creating opportunity and driving new innovations.”
A U.S. appeals court on Wednesday shot down Apple’s request to put a hold on a recent judge’s order that opens the App Store to more financial competition.
Apple already made the changes after being ordered to by the federal judge in April, but asked that they be put on hold during the appeal process. A federal appeals court denied the request.
Apple’s App Store ecosystem reached a milestone in 2024, facilitating $406 billion in developer billings and sales in the United States alone, according to a new study Apple commissioned. And over the past 5 years, App Store sales growth means U.S. developers’ earnings more than doubled, the iPhone giant said.
“For more than 15 years, the App Store has created incredible opportunity for app developers, entrepreneurs and businesses of all sizes,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a press release Thursday. “That includes the many U.S. developers who are innovating, building their businesses and finding exceptional success on the App Store.
“We’ll continue to invest in powerful tools, technology, and resources to help developers in the U.S. and around the world take their apps to new heights and create transformative experiences for users,” he added.
Apple revealed its App Store prevented more than $2 billion in fraudulent transactions in 2024 alone, contributing to over $9 billion in blocked fraudulent activity across the past five years. But as the App Store blocks fraud, the figures highlight the tech giant’s ongoing battle against increasingly sophisticated bad actors attempting to exploit users and developers on its platform.
The massive fraud prevention effort protects the App Store’s 813 million weekly visitors across 175 regions worldwide. Since its 2008 launch, Apple’s marketplace has grown into one of the world’s most trusted digital storefronts, Apple said. But maintaining that reputation requires constant vigilance against evolving threats ranging from data theft apps to payment scams.
By E.U. law, Apple must let iPhone applications include payment systems other than Apple’s own. But in a move that seems calculated to convince customers and developers to avoid these alternatives, there’s now a “scare screen” on applications that do not offer Apple’s payment system in the European Union version of the App Store.
Epic Games recently promised to resubmit the hugely popular game Fortnite to the U.S. App Store, and it carried through with the promise Friday. It’s now up to Apple whether the application will be approved.
The move came after a U.S. judge blasted Apple for willfully violating the court’s 2021 order, and ordered Apple to comply with earlier App Store changes effective immediately. These are changes that Epic fought for, and relate to Apple policies that got Fortnite banned in the first place.
Apple banned Epic Games’ developer account in 2020. Yet, the latter’s CEO, Tim Sweeney, confirmed last week that Fortnite will return to the U.S. App Store after a judge blasted Apple for not complying with the court’s order.
Wondering how? Sweeney revealed the secret, saying Epic Games will use their EU account.
Apple changed its App Store rules late Thursday to allow third-party iPhone application developers to steer customers toward their own websites to make purchases. The move comes after a years-long delay in complying with a court order.
The alteration in the rules should result in many iPhone apps allowing customers to pay for services and subscriptions without giving Apple a cut. Streaming music service Spotify became one of the first to take advantage of this major change to the App Store. The modification gives customers more buying options, and the hope is that this will save them money.
Spotify submitted a major app update to the App Store with several significant changes Thursday. The company moved quickly to capitalize on a judge’s Wednesday ruling that requires Apple to allow external payment links in apps effective immediately.
Update: Apple quickly approved Spotify’s update. The company formally changed its App Store rules Thursday to bring them into “compliance with a United States court decision regarding buttons, external links, and other calls to action in apps.”
Apple plans to challenge the ruling, which forces major changes on the company’s handling of the App Store.
During a conference call with Wall Street analysts Thursday, Apple CEO Tim Cook said the company strongly disagrees with the judge’s ruling. “We’ve complied with the court’s order, and we’re going to appeal,” he said.
In a major blow to Cupertino, a judge ruled Wednesday that Apple “willfully chose not to comply” with a 2021 injunction that required the company to let developers include in-app links directing users to third-party payment options on the web.
“Apple’s continued attempts to interfere with competition will not be tolerated,” said U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in the ruling.
She also found clear evidence that an Apple executive lied under oath in his court testimony, and asked U.S. attorneys to investigate whether Apple’s vice president of finance should be charged with criminal contempt of court.
A new battle brews in the tech world as major app developers band together to challenge Apple and Google’s control over the mobile ecosystem, according to a new report. Meta, Match and Spotify join forces against Apple and Google, forming a lobbying coalition aimed at influencing policy around age verification requirements and addressing long-standing grievances about app store practices.
You can visit the App Store to download Apple apps like Music, Podcasts, Weather, Maps and Find My missing from your iPhone or iPad. If you can’t find them. It’s possible you uninstalled them and your device needs to download them again. Or they might have simply disappeared from your Home Screen, and are now hiding in the App Library.
There are also a few iPhone apps that Apple hasn’t made available on iPad. This was the case with Calculator until very recently, so you may need to install an update to get it.
I’ll walk you through all the possibilities, showing you how to get Apple’s stock apps back on your iPhone or iPad.
Apple reinstated TikTok on the App Store, once again making it available for download. This move comes after U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote a letter to Apple confirming that the U.S. government won’t enforce the ban on TikTok.
Apple removed TikTok and other ByteDance apps from the App Store in mid-January to comply with the law.
To help expedite recovery in response to deadly Los Angeles wildfires, Apple gives users simple ways to help LA wildfire victims by linking donation pages in popular apps directly to the American Red Cross, CEO Tim Cook said in an X.com post Wednesday. This follows the iPhone giant’s own donation of an undisclosed amount as well as considerations extended to wildfire victims regarding their Apple Card payments.
It’s a new year, and it’s a fine time to clear out some of the mistakes of the past. That includes no longer paying for apps or services you don’t use anymore. Luckily, it’s easy — if you know how to cancel subscriptions on your Apple devices.
Here’s how to find everything you’ve signed up for through the App Store, see what it’s costing you, and cancel it if you’ve lost interest. Or perhaps save a bit of money by changing how often you’re billed.