These are the frequently asked questions about our methodology:
What is the app store monitor and how does it work?
If an app is unavailable in one or more app stores, does it mean it has been censored by apple?
How do I really know if an app has been censored?
What about “detected changes” in app stores?
How do apps’ availability tests work?
Why does the “view in app store” link not work?
Can I export this data?
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What is the app store monitor and how does it work?
The App Store Monitor (ASM), is a web crawler that indexes all apps available in any of the countries and regions which currently have an App Store, and verifies availability of these apps on each of these App Stores.
If an app is available in at least one App Store but remains unavailable in one or more App Stores, the ASM will mark that app as unavailable in those App Stores. It’s that simple!
So if an app is unavailable in one or more app stores, does it mean it has been censored by apple?
No. Unfortunately, no algorithm could ever detect censorship that easily, for the simple reason that censorship is a human decision that is invisible in the binary realm of the World Wide Web. What the ASM does is detect if an app is available somewhere but unavailable elsewhere.
At this point, further research – that only humans can do – must be conducted to determine the cause of this unavailability. There are two main reasons for an app to be unavailable in one or several app stores (not in any particular order):
Apple decided, for some reason, not to allow an app to be available in certain app stores. This includes, but is not limited to, censorship.
The app was only released on certain App Stores by choice of its developer.
The above motives can also include some situations which are in between, for example:
A specific version of the App encountered issues which led to the removal of the app on one or a few specific App Stores. For example, the Arabic language version of an App encountered issues in displaying arabic fonts. Apple notified the developer and decided to remove the app until resolution of the problem.
A technical issue in a given App Store (i.e on Apple’s side and not the developer’s) occurred and is still currently occuring after more than 24 hours, and prevents access to the app. That means the ASM is not counting an app as “unavailable” in the “Detected Changes” page if such unavailability lasted for 24 hours or less. However such data will be included in the App page’s “test table” This is to avoid shorter technical glitches that would unnecessarily send back false positives.
The App Store Monitor (ASM), is a web crawler that indexes all apps available in any of the countries and regions which currently have an App Store, and verifies availability of these apps on each of these App Stores.
If an app is available in at least one App Store but remains unavailable in one or more App Stores, the ASM will mark that app as unavailable in those App Stores. It’s that simple!
So, how do i really know if an app has been censored?
We could be tempted to answer like Apple does, by saying “you’ll know it when you’ll see it”, but generally speaking, additional information can be obtained to determine the reason why an app is unavailable somewhere :
By looking at the app’s page (on AppleCensorship.com and not on the App Store) you can quickly find out in which App Stores the app is available or unavailable. An app that is available in one country was most probably uploaded for that country only. Some apps may be available in App Stores which share a common language (for example, Spanish-speaking countries).
By looking at the country’s page where an app is unavailable. If several apps of the same type are unavailable, like VPNs in China, for example, this might indicate that this type of app is banned in the country.
By searching for “external” information online. Information including media reports, press releases, or social media posts, might help to confirm the unavailability or an app.
Ultimately, only by contacting the developer, can one confirm censorship. This is something that you might not do, but we will regularly contact developers of apps we suspect are being censored by Apple. Such contact can be helpful because Apple often removes apps from the App Store without informing developers.
What about “detected changes” in app stores (and the status of apps)?
The ASM was officially launched in February, 2019, so when an app is labeled as “Never Available”, it can mean 2 different things:
For apps that existed before the ASM (the vast majority): the app in question has always been found to be unavailable since the ASM only started to verify its availability from February, 2019.
For apps that were uploaded to the App Store after the launch of the ASM: The app was never available in the app store in question since it has first been tested by the ASM (because of censorship or by choice of the developer).
The same reasoning applies for apps in the “Always Available” column.
For apps that are “Currently Not Available But Previously Available”, you’ll need to scroll down to see when the app was listed in the left column “Never Available” for the first time for a given country. The first test that returned such a result should be highlighted.
How do app availability tests work?
The ASM will report a detected change (“deleted” or “restored”) if an app has been tested at least 5 times over a period longer than 24 hours and if results are consistent during this period. Tests include user generated tests and tests conducted automatically by the ASM.
To test an app’s availability, simply enter in the test bar (available on the homepage or App Store Monitor Overview page):
The name of the app: if an auto-suggest matches what you are typing, click on it.
Key words: if you don’t know the exact name of the app or are looking for certain topics or categories, just type any keyword and hit the “Test” button (you have to click on “Test”, as pressing “Enter” on keyboard will only show you a suggestion of existing apps).
The app’s ID number: if you enter the app’s ID number
Note : App ID numbers can be found in an app’s URL on the App Store webpage: for example: https://apps.apple.com/fr/app/onion-browser/id519296448
Why does the “view in app store” link sometimes not work?
This link provides a way to verify in real time that the results displayed by the ASM are correct and that the app is indeed currently unavailable in the country.
But first, if you want to view the presentation page of the app in an App Store, you’ll have to proceed as follow:
> Go to the App page
> Select an App Store (country name) from any of the available columns (Never Available, Currently Not Available But Previously Available, Currently Available But Previously Not Available, Always Available)
> A link “View in App Store” appears, click on it.
Note that if you selected an App Store in which the App is currently unavailable, you will not be able to reach the App’s page on the App Store but you will have confirmed that the information provided by the App Store Monitor was accurate.
Can I export this data?
Yes, you can export data as .CSV or .JSON files from both the Overview page and any country page.
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