Apple on Tuesday introduced new figures associated to its App Retailer’s potential to guard app builders and customers from fraud. The corporate mentioned it has prevented greater than $9 billion in fraudulent transactions over the previous 5 years. In 2024, Apple stopped $2 billion in fraudulent transactions and blocked almost 2 million dangerous app submissions from being printed.
The discharge of those metrics, within the days earlier than Apple’s annual Worldwide Developer Convention (WWDC 2025), aren’t simply meant to focus on the advantages of promoting software program on the App Retailer. Additionally they function a stark reminder of what builders will face in the event that they attempt to go it alone on cell funds.
After Fortnite maker Epic Video games successfully prevailed in a high-stakes authorized battle with Apple over App Retailer antitrust points final month, Apple was compelled to offer U.S. app builders the power to hyperlink to different cost strategies inside their apps, the place Apple couldn’t take a fee.
Although bigger apps like Fortnite, Spotify and Amazon Kindle have been fast to make the most of the brand new performance, smaller app builders should still be on the fence as as to if it makes monetary sense for them to course of their very own funds as a result of dangers of fraud, chargebacks, refunds, and different points that Apple’s App Retailer handles in trade for a 15%-30% fee on in-app purchases.
Demonstrating the dimensions of its operation, Apple mentioned it prevented over $2 billion in fraudulent transactions in 2024 alone throughout its App Retailer, which is reside in 175 areas globally and sees a mean of greater than 813 million guests per week.
The iPhone maker additionally reminded builders that transaction fraud isn’t the one type of danger that Apple protects in opposition to, noting that unhealthy actors attempt to exploit customers in different methods, like stealing private knowledge, creating fraudulent accounts, and pirating apps, amongst different issues.
Apple mentioned it terminated greater than 146,000 developer accounts in 2024 over fraud issues, and rejected an extra 139,000 developer enrollments from unhealthy actors. It additionally rejected over 711 million buyer account creations and deactivated almost 129 million buyer accounts final yr. And it blocked over 10,000 illegitimate apps on pirate storefronts, which included malware, pornography apps, playing apps, and pirated variations of builders’ professional apps.in fraudulent transactions and blocked almost 2 million dangerous app submissions from being printed.
Below the EU’s Digital Markets Act, individuals within the area are actually allowed to entry different app shops that host the type of apps that Apple’s insurance policies don’t enable, or apps that need to market themselves to customers exterior Apple’s management for different causes. Apple’s message to builders right here means that these app shops are additionally typically the place the place builders’ personal software program is pirated and resold, placing them in danger.
The corporate additionally famous it stopped almost 4.6 million makes an attempt to put in or launch apps exterior the App Retailer or different permitted third-party marketplaces.
Apple has lengthy used the argument that its App Retailer commissions are about extra than simply processing funds, saying it’s additionally about offering safety, internet hosting, distribution, discovery in addition to blocking fraud.
That’s a compelling case for smaller app builders, together with those that already pay the decreased 15% fee as a part of Apple’s Small Enterprise Program. Actually, early knowledge from RevenueCat, which supplies builders with subscription infrastructure, signifies that small companies are unlikely to financially profit from switching to their very own cost programs.
In its announcement, Apple additionally reviewed different points of its App Retailer enterprise and the way it benefited customers and builders, sharing different, extra detailed metrics round App Assessment, discovery fraud, cost and bank card fraud, and extra.
Mixed, these numbers are designed to remind builders why they need to select the App Retailer in a market the place it’s now now not the one method to attain customers or monetize cell apps.
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