We monitor 175 App Store storefronts to answer one question —

Is 模拟城市:我是市长 censored by Apple?

Yes.

Apple does not offer 模拟城市:我是市长 in most of the App Stores it operates — 65 of 175, including the United States. 1.68B people cannot install it. It has been unavailable in the United States since Aug 28, 2019.

783 tests on record·last checked 5 days ago

Why it is unavailable

Five things can put an app out of one App Store. Each is weighed below against what can be seen from outside — open a card for the reasoning.

  • A government or a court demanded itPossible

    and Apple complied. Apple publishes a count of these per country each year and never says which apps they were. Apple's 2025 App Store Transparency Report

    • 18% of Games apps are unavailable in South Korea — 530 of 2,886 — against 15% of everything we test there.
    • Apple reports 1,213 government-ordered removals in Russia for 2025, naming none of them.
  • Apple applied a rule, unaskedPossible

    either its own review guidelines, or its own reading of a local law, with nobody having demanded anything. This is the largest category in Apple's own removal figures by a wide margin, and it covers distribution permits as well as content — Apple kept a free Bible app out of mainland China in 2021 for want of one. Apple's 2025 App Store Transparency Report

    • 18% of Games apps are unavailable in South Korea — 530 of 2,886 — against 15% of everything we test there.
  • The developer withheld itPossible

    freely, or under legal advice of their own, or because Apple's guidelines require that kind of app to be limited to certain countries. Switching a country off is easy for a developer to do in Apple's own tools: it needs no new version of the app, and it leaves no public trace other than the app being unavailable.

    • 18% of Games apps are unavailable in South Korea — 530 of 2,886 — against 15% of everything we test there.
  • Something brokeUnlikely

    a rejected update, a lapsed certificate, a payment or licensing problem, a mistake nobody has got round to noticing.

    • 18% of Games apps are unavailable in South Korea — 530 of 2,886 — against 15% of everything we test there.
    • Gone for 7 years.
  • A local rule about paying for itRuled out

    gambling licences, financial rules, tax — the kind of law that governs a transaction. Apple can obey every one of them by refusing the payment, which is why this is the only restriction we would accept and the only one that cannot touch a free app.

    • It is free, so Apple sells nothing here.
How this is weighed, and what it cannot tell you

Weighed from the evidence under each card, not from a model. There is no published figure for how Apple's removals divide up, so these are ordered words rather than percentages. For scale on the same-day counts: across the whole record an app leaves a storefront with fewer than two others, so a dozen at once is not a dozen coincidences.

None of this is certain, and a citation does not make it so: Apple naming a Chinese agency tells you what Apple said, not everything that happened. What can be said is that the readings alone cannot separate these five — a developer switching off a country and a government ordering it removed arrive at Apple's catalogue looking identical — and that nobody has ever measured how they divide across the App Store. The one careful study of the question was done on Google's store, using an error message Apple does not emit.

Apple publishes no record of which apps are unavailable in which of its App Stores. For the removals it makes on a government's demand it publishes the agency and the law behind every one — 2,045 of the 166,899 apps it removed during 2025 — and never which app. Where a reason reaches the public at all, it is usually because a developer chose to say so. Apple's App Store Transparency Report

Know of a statement, notice or order we have missed? Tell us →

模拟城市:我是市长

Developer: Beijing Bewinner Communications Co., Ltd. · Category: Games · Released: Feb 20, 2017 · Rating: 3.5★

View in App Store ↗
1stores where available
65stores where blocked
1.68Bpeople behind the block
66of 175 stores tested
783tests on record

Other Games apps missing from the United States

Everything missing from the United States →

Life of this app

  1. Feb 20, 2017Released on the App Store
  2. Aug 28, 2019First tested by AppleCensorship
  3. Mar 27, 2020Gone from 65 storefronts
  4. Sep 13, 2026Most recent test

Testing history

One column per month, every month from the first reading to the last. Height follows how many readings we took that month; red is the share of them that found the app unavailable. An empty month is one nobody tested.

2019-082026-09

Found availableFound unavailable

Availability by storefront

Every storefront we test, current status first. Data is a measurement, not a promise: each row carries its own date.

Test now
AnguillaAIUnavailableFeb 17, 20204 years ago
AustriaATUnavailableOct 7, 20193 years ago
AzerbaijanAZUnavailableNov 29, 20194 years ago
BahamasBSUnavailableMar 27, 20203 years ago
BarbadosBBUnavailableNov 29, 20193 years ago
BelarusBYUnavailableJul 18, 20214 years ago
BeninBJUnavailableNov 17, 20214 years ago
BermudaBMUnavailableMar 10, 20203 years ago
BhutanBTUnavailableApr 2, 20203 years ago
BoliviaBOUnavailableOct 11, 20193 years ago
British Virgin IslandsVGUnavailableMar 25, 20242 years ago
BruneiBNUnavailableSep 20, 20214 years ago
BulgariaBGUnavailableFeb 17, 20204 years ago
Burkina FasoBFUnavailableJul 18, 20214 years ago
CambodiaKHUnavailableDec 8, 20194 years ago
CanadaCAUnavailableOct 4, 20193 years ago
Cape VerdeCVUnavailableMay 12, 20233 years ago
ChileCLUnavailableMar 10, 20203 years ago
Costa RicaCRUnavailableNov 16, 20194 years ago
CroatiaHRUnavailableOct 11, 20193 years ago
CyprusCYUnavailableAug 9, 20203 years ago
EswatiniSZUnavailableJul 26, 20204 years ago
FijiFJUnavailableNov 17, 20214 years ago
GambiaGMUnavailableOct 1, 20193 years ago
GermanyDEUnavailableAug 28, 20193 years ago
GhanaGHUnavailableJul 16, 20214 years ago
GreeceGRUnavailableOct 6, 20194 years ago
Guinea-BissauGWUnavailableDec 11, 20194 years ago
Hong KongHKUnavailableJul 18, 20214 years ago
IcelandISUnavailableOct 6, 20193 years ago
IrelandIEUnavailableOct 4, 20193 years ago
ItalyITUnavailableNov 17, 20194 years ago
KyrgyzstanKGUnavailableAug 9, 20204 years ago
LebanonLBUnavailableOct 13, 20193 years ago
LibyaLYUnavailableJan 20, 20234 years ago
LithuaniaLTUnavailableFeb 29, 20204 years ago
LuxembourgLUUnavailableMar 26, 20233 years ago
MacaoMOUnavailableMar 27, 20203 years ago
MexicoMXUnavailableOct 7, 20193 years ago
MongoliaMNUnavailableAug 25, 20213 years ago
NepalNPUnavailableJan 15, 20232 years ago
NicaraguaNIUnavailableAug 25, 20213 years ago
NigerNEUnavailableJul 18, 20214 years ago
PalauPWUnavailableSep 3, 20204 years ago
PhilippinesPHUnavailableOct 1, 20193 years ago
PortugalPTUnavailableOct 1, 20194 years ago
QatarQAUnavailableJul 16, 20214 years ago
RussiaRUUnavailableJan 15, 20232 years ago
São Tomé & PríncipeSTUnavailableJul 9, 20204 years ago
Saudi ArabiaSAUnavailableJan 15, 20234 years ago
SenegalSNUnavailableOct 13, 20194 years ago
SeychellesSCUnavailableFeb 29, 20203 years ago
SingaporeSGUnavailableOct 1, 20193 years ago
SloveniaSIUnavailableFeb 18, 20204 years ago
Solomon IslandsSBUnavailableNov 17, 20213 years ago
South KoreaKRUnavailableApr 2, 20204 years ago
Sri LankaLKUnavailableNov 2, 20214 years ago
TanzaniaTZUnavailableMar 27, 20233 years ago
Trinidad & TobagoTTUnavailableNov 2, 20213 years ago
TürkiyeTRUnavailableNov 17, 20194 years ago
UkraineUAUnavailableSep 12, 20202 years ago
United Arab EmiratesAEUnavailableJan 15, 20232 years ago
United KingdomGBUnavailableNov 23, 20194 years ago
United StatesUSUnavailableAug 28, 20195 days ago
VietnamVNUnavailableNov 16, 20194 years ago
China (Mainland)CNAvailable5 days ago
AfghanistanAFNot tested0
AlbaniaALNot tested0
AlgeriaDZNot tested0
AngolaAONot tested0
Antigua & BarbudaAGNot tested0
ArgentinaARNot tested0
ArmeniaAMNot tested0
AustraliaAUNot tested0
BahrainBHNot tested0
BelgiumBENot tested0
BelizeBZNot tested0
Bosnia & HerzegovinaBANot tested0
BotswanaBWNot tested0
BrazilBRNot tested0
CameroonCMNot tested0
Cayman IslandsKYNot tested0
ChadTDNot tested0
ColombiaCONot tested0
Côte d’IvoireCINot tested0
CzechiaCZNot tested0
DenmarkDKNot tested0
DominicaDMNot tested0
Dominican RepublicDONot tested0
DR CongoCDNot tested0
EcuadorECNot tested0
EgyptEGNot tested0
El SalvadorSVNot tested0
EstoniaEENot tested0
FinlandFINot tested0
FranceFRNot tested0
GabonGANot tested0
GeorgiaGENot tested0
GrenadaGDNot tested0
GuatemalaGTNot tested0
GuyanaGYNot tested0
HondurasHNNot tested0
HungaryHUNot tested0
IndiaINNot tested0
IndonesiaIDNot tested0
IraqIQNot tested0
IsraelILNot tested0
JamaicaJMNot tested0
JapanJPNot tested0
JordanJONot tested0
KazakhstanKZNot tested0
KenyaKENot tested0
KosovoXKNot tested0
KuwaitKWNot tested0
LaosLANot tested0
LatviaLVNot tested0
LiberiaLRNot tested0
MadagascarMGNot tested0
MalawiMWNot tested0
MalaysiaMYNot tested0
MaldivesMVNot tested0
MaliMLNot tested0
MaltaMTNot tested0
MauritaniaMRNot tested0
MauritiusMUNot tested0
MicronesiaFMNot tested0
MoldovaMDNot tested0
MontenegroMENot tested0
MontserratMSNot tested0
MoroccoMANot tested0
MozambiqueMZNot tested0
Myanmar (Burma)MMNot tested0
NamibiaNANot tested0
NauruNRNot tested0
NetherlandsNLNot tested0
New ZealandNZNot tested0
NigeriaNGNot tested0
North MacedoniaMKNot tested0
NorwayNONot tested0
OmanOMNot tested0
PakistanPKNot tested0
PanamaPANot tested0
Papua New GuineaPGNot tested0
ParaguayPYNot tested0
PeruPENot tested0
PolandPLNot tested0
Republic of the CongoCGNot tested0
RomaniaRONot tested0
RwandaRWNot tested0
SerbiaRSNot tested0
Sierra LeoneSLNot tested0
SlovakiaSKNot tested0
South AfricaZANot tested0
SpainESNot tested0
St. Kitts & NevisKNNot tested0
St. LuciaLCNot tested0
St. Vincent & GrenadinesVCNot tested0
SurinameSRNot tested0
SwedenSENot tested0
SwitzerlandCHNot tested0
TaiwanTWNot tested0
TajikistanTJNot tested0
ThailandTHNot tested0
TongaTONot tested0
TunisiaTNNot tested0
TurkmenistanTMNot tested0
Turks & Caicos IslandsTCNot tested0
UgandaUGNot tested0
UruguayUYNot tested0
UzbekistanUZNot tested0
VanuatuVUNot tested0
VenezuelaVENot tested0
YemenYENot tested0
ZambiaZMNot tested0
ZimbabweZWNot tested0

Testing asks Apple whether it will sell this app in that storefront, right now, by the same method the crawler has used since 2019. Your browser asks Apple directly, so the answer describes what Apple serves your connection — and if your browser cannot reach Apple at all, we ask on your behalf and say so. The result is a link: open it to see Apple's own answer and check ours. Readings are added to the record above; roughly a quarter of the readings taken each day come from people testing.

How we test

Availability is checked against Apple's own catalog servers for every storefront, the same way the App Store app asks. "Unavailable" means Apple's servers say the app cannot be offered in that country — it does not say who asked for the removal. Removals initiated by the developer and removals demanded by governments look the same from outside; the history and context on this page are how we tell them apart.