In 2025, Apple safeguarded the App Store by halting over $2.2 billion in potentially fraudulent transactions. Utilizing a blend of human expertise and artificial intelligence, Apple thwarted more than 2 million problematic app submissions and blocked over 1.1 billion attempts to create fraudulent accounts.
The App Store is founded on providing a secure environment for users to discover apps and a thriving marketplace for developers. With ever-evolving threats from malicious actors, Apple remains vigilant, combining human reviews with advanced machine learning to detect and prevent fraudulent activities.
Apple’s measures in 2025 included rejecting over 2 million problematic app submissions and terminating 193,000 developer accounts over fraud concerns. Additionally, the company deactivated 40.4 million customer accounts involved in fraudulent activities.
Efforts to protect the ecosystem also involved detecting and blocking 28,000 unauthorized apps from pirate storefronts, which often contained malware and other harmful content. This action also shields developers from having their apps manipulated or used maliciously.
In the past month, Apple stopped 2.9 million attempts to install or launch apps outside the App Store or approved marketplaces. As submission rates surged, Apple’s App Review team evaluated over 9.1 million app submissions, welcoming 306,000 new developers while rejecting over 2 million for guideline violations.
The App Review process, which combines human and AI analysis, improved efficiency in identifying malicious patterns, enhancing the overall curation process. The team removed nearly 59,000 apps for deceptive practices like bait-and-switch tactics and rejected over 836,000 submissions for privacy violations and content that misled users.
Apple’s fraud detection extends to payment security, where in 2025, the company prevented 5.4 million stolen credit cards from being used fraudulently and banned nearly 2 million user accounts from making transactions.
Additional measures to enhance user experience include tools like the Kids category, which adheres to stricter guidelines. Apple rejected over 5,000 apps from this category for guideline non-compliance. Features like Screen Time and Ask to Buy empower parents to manage their children’s app usage effectively.
Apple continuously invests in its commitment to maintaining the App Store as a leading platform for safe exploration and innovation. More information on app safety can be found at support.apple.com/en-ca/122712.
