While iOS users can download almost anything from the App Store, Apple is required to comply with the country the App Store is operating to reach its users, in order to be allowed to operate in the first place.
And here, the company has removed more than 30,000 apps from its App Store in China, with games accounted for 90% of the app removals, due to requirements imposed by the Chinese government.
The process of removing that many apps happened overnight, with the peak occurring around 4.15AM local time, when Apple removed more than 2,000 apps from the App Store. The majority of the 30,000 deletions occurred between 3AM and 5AM local time.
Apple did this not without a warning.
Previously, the Cupertino-based company had notified developers of this impending purge on July 8, citing regulatory requirements for payments.
Apple said that developers will need licenses to have their apps available for users in China, by explicitly saying that any unlicensed apps will be banned and removed after July 31.
Apple had to remove those apps because the developers followed unofficial practices of allowing apps to be published while awaiting approval from Beijing’s censors.
It's the Chinese regulations that require developers to register the titles of their apps that are paid or offer in-app purchases. They need to do so and get approvals, before having their apps available to the masses.
The developers managed to exploit a loophole that existed only on iPhones, as local Chinese Android vendors already adhered to the rule without exception. After the purge, there were about 179,000 games that remained in Apple’s China store. 160,000 were free.
This incident is a huge blow for app developers in China, as well as for Apple, which sees China as one of its largest market for selling digital goods and services.
The iPhone maker can typically earn a 30% revenue from each of its users' transaction through the App Store. But since the company is under the spotlight for its business practices, it needs to make a more forceful stance, especially when dealing with the Chinese government.
It should be noted that Apple has actually been gradually removing thousands of applications from the App Store for this reason, but never this fast.
Read: Apple's App Store Ecosystem Supported A Total Of $519 Billion In Commerce In 2019
