Connect with us

Tech

Over 540,000 apps wiped from Apple App Store in Q3 reaching lowest number in 7 years

Published

4 years ago

on

The App Store remains a crucial segment in Apple’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) business line; hence the number of applications on the platform has emerged as a critical metric to track. Over the years, the apps on the App Store have fluctuated marginally, but the recent quarter highlights an accelerated drop in apps. 

In particular, according to data acquired by Finbold, the number of apps in the Apple App Store hit a seven-year low during 2022 Q3 to stand at 1,642,759. The value represents a drop of 541,697 or 24.79% from the 2,184,456 registered during Q2 2022. The last time the number of apps was this low was during Q3 2015 at 1,672,271.

Elsewhere, regarding the number of apps on leading app stores globally as of Q3 2022, Google Play Store ranks top at 3,553,050 while App Store ranks second at 1,642,759. Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) Appstore has the third highest number of applications at 483,328. 

Policy changes trigger a drop in App Store apps 

It is worth noting that removing apps from the App Store is a perennial practice initiated by Apple as part of maintaining quality on the platform. However, the recent spike in removed apps can be attributed to several decisions by the company to improve user experience. 

In this case, in April 2022, the company notified developers that it was rolling out a plan to remove old apps that had not been updated for some time. The directive saw developers directed to make updates within 30 days or risk removal from the platform. 

Previously, Apple had not set any timeline for removing apps, but the recent update stressed that cleaning the App Store is an ongoing process and will evaluate apps, removing apps that no longer function as planned, don’t adhere to reviewed guidelines, or need to be updated.

Notably, the policy has received a lot of criticism, with developers arguing that the old apps should continue to exist on the platform as long as they are still functional. For instance, gaming developers maintain that the apps should be treated as old video games that remain playable on consoles.

At the same time, in recent months, the App Store has become a center of controversy with reported scams and fraudulent applications existing on the platform. In this case, the company resorted to removing virus-scanning apps, app clones, and other low-quality apps cluttering the App Store, with Apple maintaining that the App Store offers a safe experience for users. 

Overall, removing apps aligns with Apple’s long-standing policy of curating the App Store to eliminate apps that routinely fail to adhere to set standards. 

App Store drop in revenue

Interestingly, the drop in the number of apps has also correlated with a period in which the App Store registered one of the significant declines in revenues during 2022 Q3. Notably, the revenue plunge was also witnessed from the gaming apps that are crucial to the store’s financial performance.

In the meantime, Apple continues to explore the App Store as a possible strategic source of revenue through some decisions that have been deemed unpopular, like increasing app purchases, in-app purchases, and subscriptions from the App Store.

Elsewhere, the App Store trails the Google Play Store in the number of applications driven by factors like a larger Android market than iOS devices. Also, developing Android apps is cheaper since developers do not need significant resources. At the same time, approval for publishing apps on the Play Store is less cumbersome.

App Store future outlook  

At the same time, the outlook of the App Store is likely to be impacted in the future, especially with regulators increasingly cracking down on the company’s market dominance. This is highlighted by a recent European antitrust law that aims to allow users to install software applications from third parties.

In general, the number of apps removed from the App Store will likely increase, especially with the company targeting specific sectors. For instance, Apple recently clarified its rules for apps affecting cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). For crypto exchanges, Apple’s policy indicates that the apps may facilitate transactions or transmissions of cryptocurrency on a regulated exchange. However, such apps can only be offered in regions with licensing and permission to operate a business.

The post Over 540,000 apps wiped from Apple App Store in Q3 reaching lowest number in 7 years appeared first on Finbold.

Related Topics:

Crypto Chain Wire specifically designed for crypto, NFT, DeFi and all other blockchain companies to provide them instant and effortless crypto news syndication services. CryptoChainWire is the best PR syndication platform for any blockchain startup looking to gain maximum media attention. Visit Us : https://www.cryptochainwire.com/ Contact Us: contact@cryptochainwire.com

Continue Reading

Tech

NEAR AI says IronClaw 1.0 is now deployed as part of July shipments

Published

1 day ago

on

August 4, 2026

By

NEAR Protocol said its July shipments included NEAR staking for NEAR AI compute going live and the launch of IronClaw 1.0 on mainnet, marking a new step in the project’s AI and agent-related rollout. In a blog post announcing IronClaw 1.0, NEAR AI said the release is deployed across NEAR Foundation and NEAR AI.

The official recap also grouped the updates with broader AI and agent infrastructure changes, suggesting the deployments were part of a wider set of July deliveries rather than a standalone launch. That framing matters for readers tracking the project’s product pace: the post presents staking and IronClaw as live components, not as plans or test-stage features.

What NEAR said changed

According to the recap shared by NEAR Protocol, NEAR staking for NEAR AI compute is now live. The same update says IronClaw 1.0 has launched on mainnet, adding an additional deployment milestone to the project’s AI stack.

A separate post from a member of the project community also pointed to staking mechanics for NEAR AI compute and IronClaw hosting, but the clearest public confirmation in the material comes from NEAR’s own recap and the IronClaw 1.0 announcement.

The available information does not spell out all operational details of the deployments in one place, but it does make one thing clear: NEAR is presenting both the compute staking component and IronClaw 1.0 as active releases rather than future roadmap items.

The post NEAR AI says IronClaw 1.0 is now deployed as part of July shipments appeared first on The Cryptocurrency Post.

Continue Reading

Tech

BNB Chain says BEP-590 helped push finality below one second

Published

5 days ago

on

July 31, 2026

By

BNB Chain says its latest consensus-related upgrades have brought the network to sub-second finality, with the project pointing to BEP-590 and BEP-648 as key steps in the process. In an official blog post, the network said production finality has reached about 0.65 seconds after a sequence of upgrades.

The company described BEP-590 as an update that extended voting to recent ancestor blocks, a change it said was meant to absorb network jitter and improve finality speed. It said that approach brought average finality down to roughly 0.9 seconds.

BNB Chain then pointed to BEP-648, which it said added an in-memory vote pool that aggregates votes in real time. According to the network, finality is confirmed at about 0.65 seconds once a two-thirds quorum is reached.

A sequence of upgrades, not a single switch

The blog framed the improvement as the result of a series of BEP upgrades rather than one isolated change. BNB Chain said the move from a 45-second finality model to around 0.65 seconds came through sequential updates, with BEP-590 and BEP-648 among the most recent steps highlighted publicly.

The sub-second result was presented as the outcome of layered consensus changes, not a standalone upgrade with an immediate effect on its own.

BNB Chain’s public thread also linked to the blog for further detail, but the core claim remains the same: the network says it has crossed into sub-second finality on production systems.

The post BNB Chain says BEP-590 helped push finality below one second appeared first on The Cryptocurrency Post.

Continue Reading

Tech

NEAR Integrates Confidential Intents to Anchor Emerging Agentic Economy

Published

6 days ago

on

July 30, 2026

By

NEAR Protocol is shifting its infrastructure toward the “agentic economy,” integrating confidential execution and intent-based systems to support autonomous AI agents. The latest updates, detailed in the NEAR official roadmap, highlight a focus on enabling machines to act as economic participants through private coordination and universal liquidity.

The core of this transition is Confidential Intents, a feature designed to provide privacy for cross-chain trading and payments. Unlike fully transparent decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, which expose transaction details to bots and observers, Confidential Intents utilizes private shards to mask transaction size, direction, and asset pairs by default. The protocol aims to combine the privacy levels of specialized chains with the composability of public networks.

Adoption Metrics and Private Volume

Data from the second quarter indicates a significant shift toward private transaction execution within the ecosystem. According to an analysis by Nansen, Confidential Intents’ Total Value Locked (TVL) surpassed $30 million. Furthermore, the firm reported that 42% of the swap volume on the near.com interface was executed privately by default during this period.

The integration of intents—a system where users specify a desired outcome rather than a sequence of technical steps—has expanded beyond native protocol tools. Third-party platforms including SimpleSwap and Ledger have recently incorporated NEAR-powered intent systems, facilitating swaps across more than 30 different blockchains.

Building Infrastructure for AI Agents

NEAR’s objective is to provide an “open stack” for AI agents that require more than just a large language model to function as economic actors. According to the protocol’s development team, an effective agentic economy requires several specialized capabilities, including:

  • Confidential execution: Allowing agents to process sensitive data and financial moves without public exposure.
  • Settlement speed: Infrastructure capable of handling machine-driven transactions at a micro scale.
  • Universal liquidity: Enabling agents to access assets across multiple chains without fragmented user experiences.
  • Private inference: Ensuring that the data processed by AI models remains secure.

The project characterizes Confidential Intents as a solution to the tension between high-speed execution and the liability of on-chain transparency. By running these flows on a private shard rather than relying solely on client-side zero-knowledge proofs, the protocol claims to maintain a standard user experience while preventing the leakage of trade positions.

Future Strategic Focus

The roadmap through 2026 continues to emphasize the convergence of AI and blockchain settlement. Beyond current swap and payment features, the protocol is working toward “Universal Send,” a feature intended to allow confidential payments to any user on any chain without exposing wallet history.

While the infrastructure for these agent-led transactions is scaling, with NEAR Intents cumulative volume reportedly reaching $19 billion in late May, the long-term success of the “agentic economy” depends on the developer adoption of these private execution layers and the continued integration of secure public-sector AI initiatives.

The post NEAR Integrates Confidential Intents to Anchor Emerging Agentic Economy appeared first on The Cryptocurrency Post.

Continue Reading

Trending