Nearly 7,000 mobile apps removed from App Store in Russia since February 24
As the exodus of tech companies from Russia continues, global developers continue to suspend operations in accordance with sanctions and in support of Ukraine. Nearly 7,000 apps have already been removed from the country’s App Store.
- Sensor Tower has shared new data with Tech Crunchindicating that a total of 6,982 mobile apps were removed between February 24 and March 14.
- This represents a 105% increase in the number of apps deleted compared to the first two weeks of February 2022.
- For example, Apple removed “only” 3404 iOS apps in Russia from February 1 to February 14. That number is in line with the company’s standard cleanup policy, as it removed 3,422 outdated or discontinued apps from the US App Store during the same period.
- According to Sensor Tower, these apps removed between February 24 and March 14 generated around 218 million downloads in Russia. It represents 3% of their 6.6 billion global installs.
- Belarus is another country experiencing this exodus, with 5,900 iOS apps removed since February 24 (up 73% from the first two weeks of February).
- Many global apps are still available in the Russian App Store. However, the country’s top rankings are now filled with different VPN apps as the government continues to ban independent media and foreign social media platforms.
Many mobile game developers have already suspended sales and operations in Russia. The list includes Supercell (clash royale, brawl stars), Rovio (angry Birds), Plarium (RAID: Legends of Shadow), Zynga (FarmCity), and Niantic (Pokemon Go).
