Google Play Store, App Store ban 8 lakh apps; DELETE them from your phone

Google Play Store and Apple App Store have reportedly banned lakhs of apps. The “H1 2021 Delisted Mobile Apps Report” from Pixalate shows that more than 8,13,000 apps were delisted in the first half of 2021 across the Google Play Store and Apple App Store. Out of these, it is said that 86 percent of the apps targeted children age 12 and under. For reference, Pixalate is the market-leading fraud protection, privacy, and compliance analytics platform for Connected TV (CTV) and Mobile Advertising. The data shared in this report is grounded in Pixalate’s proprietary technology and analytics, which Pixalate is continuously evaluating and updating, says the company.

Why did Google Play Store and Apple App Store ban these apps? 

Apps can be banned or delisted from the Google Play Store and Apple App Store for a variety of reasons. The apps’ delisting could be caused by various factors, including an app store policy breach or the developer’s withdrawal” says the report. The “H1 2021 Delisted Mobile Apps Report” from Pixalate shares some key data points. It says that the company analysed more than 5 million mobile apps across Apple’s App Store and Google Play Store. Moreover, these apps had over 21 million consumer reviews on the App Store prior to delisting. Hence, the apps are expected to be present on millions of users’ smartphones despite being delisted from the app stores. “

What you must do 

Google Play Store and Apple App Store may have banned them from their stores, but these apps are probably on your phone. What you must do now is to find them and delete them immediately.

If an app were removed due to an app store policy violation, there is an increased risk to consumer privacy and security, as well as brand safety for advertisers.

Google Play Store and Apple AppStore downloads 

It is reported that Google had had 9.3 billion downloads and Apple apps had 21.8 million user ratings prior to delisting. Moreover, 86% (Google) and 89% (Apple) of the delisted apps targeted children aged 12 and under. Further, 25% of Google and 59% of Apple delisted apps had no privacy policy detected.

The report goes on to say that 26% of delisted apps from Russia had no privacy policy detected on the Google Play Store. On the other hand, 60% of delisted apps from China had no privacy policy detected on the Apple App Store. Additionally, 66% of delisted Google apps had at least one “dangerous permission.” Out of these, 27% had access to GPS coordinates and 19% could access the camera. You can read the full report here.