App Store

On the heels of unveiling the App Store Awards winners last week, Apple today unveiled the most downloaded apps and games of the year in the United States. This year, the most downloaded free iPhone app was ChatGPT, while the top paid iPhone app was HotSchedules.

Meanwhile, the top free iPhone game was Block Blast!, while the top paid iPhone game was Minecraft: Dream it, Build it.

Head below for the full list of the top iPhone and iPad apps and games of 2025.

Apple has been accused of breaking the law by failing to comply with US sanctions after the App Store was found to have contain dozens of apps from sanctioned companies. The same was true of Google, though at a smaller scale.

The banned apps were identified by the Tech Transparency Project, which says it demonstrates that Apple failed to live up to its promises that the App Store represents a safe and trusted source …

In preparation for a law that will prohibit Australians under 16 from having social media accounts, Apple is highlighting the App Store tools that developers can use to ensure their apps comply. Here are the details.

After announcing the finalists last month, Apple today officially announced the winners of the 2025 App Store Awards. This year, the App Store Awards recognize 17 apps and games for their “technical ingenuity and lasting cultural impact.”

The winners were selected by App Store Editors for “demonstrating exceptional innovation, user experience, and design.”

Apple is facing hundreds of millions of euros in damages claims over its allegedly “excessive” App Store fees. Here are the details.

As it’s tradition, many indie (and major) app developers take Black Friday and Cyber Monday to offer steep and rare discounts for their apps. Here’s a list of great deals you should check out.

There’s been growing pressure to protect children from age-inappropriate content in both apps and websites at both state and federal levels.

Moves to shift the responsibility from individual developers to app stores is gaining momentum, and that’s reflected in a new proposed law: the App Store Accountability Act …

As we approach the end of 2025, Apple is gearing up to unveil the winners of the 2025 App Store Awards.

As part of that process, Apple today announced the 45 finalists for the App Store Awards. The nominations span a wide range of categories. Head below for the full list.

Roblox, one of the most popular kids’ apps in the world, is now requiring children as young as nine years old to submit a video selfie for age verification.

While the developer is doing this for good reasons, it adds further weight to the argument that Apple and Google, rather than individual app developers, should be responsible for age verification …

Apple has updated its App Review Guidelines with multiple new rules, including one targeting the misleading use of other developers’ branding. Here are the details.

Earlier today, reporting emerged of Apple and WeChat owner Tencent coming to an agreement that will earn Apple a 15% commission on revenue from mini apps.

Now, it seems that this is actually tied to a newly announced Mini Apps Partner Program wherein Apple offers that reduced 15% commission to all developers.

Tencent, like all developers, will first need to apply to take part in the program.

Here’s how it all works.

Apple was today denied permission to appeal the result of a billion-dollar lawsuit filed by UK app developers accusing the company of abusive commission levels.

The company last month lost the case and a hearing today is deciding how the damages are calculated. If the ruling stands, it is expected to end up costing Apple anywhere between £1B and £2B ($1.3B to $2.6B) – but Apple is expected to counter this with four arguments …

Apple’s opposition to the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) antitrust legislation took a turn back in September when the company started arguing that the law should be repealed. It also suggested that more new features would be delayed for EU customers, and perhaps even new hardware.

The company is now claiming a new study proves that the DMA fails to live up to one of its core promises: reducing app prices …

Apple has removed two of the most popular gay dating apps in China from its App Store there to comply with a government order.

The company gave the usual statement it makes in such circumstances, but did provide little more detail in this particular case …

Apple’s monopoly on the sale of iPhone apps is set to be further eroded according to a new tweet showing third-party app stores in the iOS 26.2 beta in Japan. This follows a ruling by Japan’s Fair Trade Commission in August that both Apple and Google must allow alternative app stores.

This will make Japan the 29th country to get third-party app stores for the iPhone, with others set to follow as courts and antitrust regulators continue to issue rulings …

Apple has released new APIs and sandbox tools to help developers comply with the new requirements for apps available in Texas. Here are the details.

Update, November 8, 9:46 a.m. ET: The GitHub repository and its forks have been taken down. The original story follows below.

Just hours after Apple launched a revamped web interface for the App Store, a GitHub project was released with the site’s entire front-end source code. Here’s how that happened.

Apple has launched a dramatic new web interface for the App Store. You can now get the full App Store experience right in your browser, with dedicated pages for the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision, Watch, and TV app libraries.

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Update, November 1, 10:59 a.m. ET: Apple has removed the sketchy ChatGPT clone app mentioned below. I’ve also received unverified claims that many other copycats have been taken down too.

Around this time two years ago, OpenAI’s incredibly popular GPT-4 API was spreading like wildfire all over the App Store. It wasn’t long before AI-powered productivity apps, chatbot companions, nutritional trackers, and basically anything else you could think of dominated the charts, garnering millions of downloads. Fast forward to today, many of those vibe-coded, opportunistic apps have disappeared, partly due to cooling hype but also Apple’s tougher stance against knockoffs and misleading apps.

However, this week, security researcher Alex Kleber noticed that one misleading AI chatbot, impersonating OpenAI’s branding, managed to achieve top marks in the Business category. Albeit on the less popular Mac App Store, this is still significant and warrants a brief PSA to be cautious when sharing personal information with these apps.

Today, Apple informed developers that prices for apps and In-App Purchases will be adjusted in Poland, Switzerland, and Türkiye starting next month. Here are the details.

Apple is rolling out a round of enhancements that will make it easier for developers to submit, manage, and market their apps on the App Store. Here’s what’s new.