Russian App Store loses nearly 7K apps since Ukraine invasion
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Moscow: The Russian App Store has lost nearly 6,982 mobile apps as several companies decided to pull off their apps and games from the Apple App Store, since the start of the Ukraine invasion.
According to data shared with TechCrunch by app intelligence firm Sensor Tower, those apps had been downloaded around 218 million times in Russia, representing around 3 per cent of their total 6.6 billion installs globally.
The app removals on the Russian App Store after the Ukraine invasion (February 24) represent a 105 per cent increase compared to the first two weeks of February.
During that earlier period, Russia's App Store had seen only 3,404 app removals
As a result of Russia's decision to wage war against Ukraine, the country has been cut off from the global economy as the U.S. and its allies coordinated to enact broad economic sanctions. Large companies have also stopped doing business in Russia, including some of the world's best-known brands, like McDonald's, Apple, Microsoft, Disney, IKEA, H&M, Adidas and Starbucks, as well as payments giants Visa, Mastercard and Amex, among others.
Coca-Cola has pulled its iOS app out of the Russian App Store. Retailers like H&M and American Eagle Outfitters also pulled apps, along with Ebates' shopping platform ShopStyle, the report said late on Tuesday.
Apps from the NFL, NBA, WWE and Eurosport have also disappeared from the Russian App Store.
The Russian App Store has also lost several top games from publishers including Zynga, Supercell, Take-Two (Rockstar Games) and others.
Netflix has also removed its streaming app in the country, so are dating apps Bumble and Badoo.
Other app removals include Amazon's IMDb, travel app Trivago, The Weather Channel (IBM) and Google Home.
Instagram has been blocked in Russia, impacting 80 million users, but the app has not been removed from the App Store.
Amid the widespread exits, several Big Tech companies' apps continue to rank highly on the Russian App Store, though the Top Charts currently are filled with VPN apps.