applecensorship

We monitor 175 App Store storefronts to answer one question —

Is Shadowsocks - Rocket VPN censored by Apple?

Gone.

Shadowsocks - Rocket VPN is gone from every App Store storefront we test. It was last seen available on Dec 10, 2020.

187 tests on record·⚠ last verified 8 months ago — treat as historical

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 itLikely

    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

  • A local rule about paying for itLikely

    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.

  • Apple applied a rule, unaskedLikely

    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

  • The developer withheld itUnlikely

    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.

  • Something brokeUnlikely

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

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 →

Shadowsocks - Rocket VPN

Developer: Changzhou Maidi Network Technology Co.,ltd. · Category: Utilities · Paid app · Released: Nov 14, 2019 · Rating: 0.9★

View in App Store ↗
0stores where available
44stores where blocked
4Bpeople behind the block
44of 175 stores tested
187tests on record

Other VPN and proxy apps missing from India

Everything missing from India →

Life of this app

  1. Nov 14, 2019Released on the App Store
  2. Dec 10, 2020First tested by AppleCensorship
  3. Dec 10, 2020Last seen available anywhere
  4. Dec 1, 2022Gone from 44 storefronts
  5. Jan 9, 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.

2020-122026-01

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
AustraliaAUUnavailableNov 16, 20224 years ago
BahamasBSUnavailableJan 5, 20234 years ago
BarbadosBBUnavailableApr 17, 20233 years ago
BelarusBYUnavailableApr 22, 20228 months ago
BermudaBMUnavailableNov 4, 20224 years ago
BoliviaBOUnavailableOct 18, 20224 years ago
Bosnia & HerzegovinaBAUnavailableNov 24, 20224 years ago
BulgariaBGUnavailableFeb 7, 20234 years ago
CameroonCMUnavailableNov 4, 20224 years ago
CanadaCAUnavailableApr 22, 20222 years ago
Cape VerdeCVUnavailableSep 29, 20242 years ago
China (Mainland)CNUnavailableApr 22, 20224 years ago
Dominican RepublicDOUnavailableJun 11, 20242 years ago
EcuadorECUnavailableMay 14, 202516 months ago
GabonGAUnavailableJul 7, 20224 years ago
GambiaGMUnavailableApr 9, 20242 years ago
GrenadaGDUnavailableJan 9, 20268 months ago
IndiaINUnavailableSep 25, 20242 years ago
JordanJOUnavailableJul 7, 20224 years ago
KazakhstanKZUnavailableMar 28, 20233 years ago
KuwaitKWUnavailableMay 21, 20222 years ago
MalawiMWUnavailableMay 30, 20242 years ago
MaldivesMVUnavailableApr 16, 20233 years ago
Myanmar (Burma)MMUnavailableJan 17, 20243 years ago
NauruNRUnavailableJul 29, 20248 months ago
NepalNPUnavailableJan 5, 20232 years ago
NetherlandsNLUnavailableJul 14, 20224 years ago
NicaraguaNIUnavailableMay 21, 20222 years ago
PakistanPKUnavailableJul 29, 20242 years ago
RussiaRUUnavailableApr 22, 20222 years ago
SerbiaRSUnavailableNov 16, 20223 years ago
SlovakiaSKUnavailableNov 24, 20224 years ago
Solomon IslandsSBUnavailableOct 10, 20224 years ago
St. Kitts & NevisKNUnavailableMay 23, 20222 years ago
St. LuciaLCUnavailableApr 22, 20222 years ago
TaiwanTWUnavailableSep 23, 20242 years ago
TongaTOUnavailableJul 14, 20224 years ago
TunisiaTNUnavailableAug 30, 20233 years ago
Turks & Caicos IslandsTCUnavailableDec 1, 20224 years ago
UkraineUAUnavailableApr 22, 20222 years ago
United Arab EmiratesAEUnavailableJan 5, 20238 months ago
United StatesUSUnavailableApr 22, 20228 months ago
VietnamVNUnavailableMar 11, 20252 years ago
ZambiaZMUnavailableDec 1, 20224 years ago
AfghanistanAFNot tested——0
AlbaniaALNot tested——0
AlgeriaDZNot tested——0
AngolaAONot tested——0
AnguillaAINot tested——0
Antigua & BarbudaAGNot tested——0
ArgentinaARNot tested——0
ArmeniaAMNot tested——0
AustriaATNot tested——0
AzerbaijanAZNot tested——0
BahrainBHNot tested——0
BelgiumBENot tested——0
BelizeBZNot tested——0
BeninBJNot tested——0
BhutanBTNot tested——0
BotswanaBWNot tested——0
BrazilBRNot tested——0
British Virgin IslandsVGNot tested——0
BruneiBNNot tested——0
Burkina FasoBFNot tested——0
CambodiaKHNot tested——0
Cayman IslandsKYNot tested——0
ChadTDNot tested——0
ChileCLNot tested——0
ColombiaCONot tested——0
Costa RicaCRNot tested——0
Côte d’IvoireCINot tested——0
CroatiaHRNot tested——0
CyprusCYNot tested——0
CzechiaCZNot tested——0
DenmarkDKNot tested——0
DominicaDMNot tested——0
DR CongoCDNot tested——0
EgyptEGNot tested——0
El SalvadorSVNot tested——0
EstoniaEENot tested——0
EswatiniSZNot tested——0
FijiFJNot tested——0
FinlandFINot tested——0
FranceFRNot tested——0
GeorgiaGENot tested——0
GermanyDENot tested——0
GhanaGHNot tested——0
GreeceGRNot tested——0
GuatemalaGTNot tested——0
Guinea-BissauGWNot tested——0
GuyanaGYNot tested——0
HondurasHNNot tested——0
Hong KongHKNot tested——0
HungaryHUNot tested——0
IcelandISNot tested——0
IndonesiaIDNot tested——0
IraqIQNot tested——0
IrelandIENot tested——0
IsraelILNot tested——0
ItalyITNot tested——0
JamaicaJMNot tested——0
JapanJPNot tested——0
KenyaKENot tested——0
KosovoXKNot tested——0
KyrgyzstanKGNot tested——0
LaosLANot tested——0
LatviaLVNot tested——0
LebanonLBNot tested——0
LiberiaLRNot tested——0
LibyaLYNot tested——0
LithuaniaLTNot tested——0
LuxembourgLUNot tested——0
MacaoMONot tested——0
MadagascarMGNot tested——0
MalaysiaMYNot tested——0
MaliMLNot tested——0
MaltaMTNot tested——0
MauritaniaMRNot tested——0
MauritiusMUNot tested——0
MexicoMXNot tested——0
MicronesiaFMNot tested——0
MoldovaMDNot tested——0
MongoliaMNNot tested——0
MontenegroMENot tested——0
MontserratMSNot tested——0
MoroccoMANot tested——0
MozambiqueMZNot tested——0
NamibiaNANot tested——0
New ZealandNZNot tested——0
NigerNENot tested——0
NigeriaNGNot tested——0
North MacedoniaMKNot tested——0
NorwayNONot tested——0
OmanOMNot tested——0
PalauPWNot tested——0
PanamaPANot tested——0
Papua New GuineaPGNot tested——0
ParaguayPYNot tested——0
PeruPENot tested——0
PhilippinesPHNot tested——0
PolandPLNot tested——0
PortugalPTNot tested——0
QatarQANot tested——0
Republic of the CongoCGNot tested——0
RomaniaRONot tested——0
RwandaRWNot tested——0
São Tomé & PríncipeSTNot tested——0
Saudi ArabiaSANot tested——0
SenegalSNNot tested——0
SeychellesSCNot tested——0
Sierra LeoneSLNot tested——0
SingaporeSGNot tested——0
SloveniaSINot tested——0
South AfricaZANot tested——0
South KoreaKRNot tested——0
SpainESNot tested——0
Sri LankaLKNot tested——0
St. Vincent & GrenadinesVCNot tested——0
SurinameSRNot tested——0
SwedenSENot tested——0
SwitzerlandCHNot tested——0
TajikistanTJNot tested——0
TanzaniaTZNot tested——0
ThailandTHNot tested——0
Trinidad & TobagoTTNot tested——0
TürkiyeTRNot tested——0
TurkmenistanTMNot tested——0
UgandaUGNot tested——0
United KingdomGBNot tested——0
UruguayUYNot tested——0
UzbekistanUZNot tested——0
VanuatuVUNot tested——0
VenezuelaVENot tested——0
YemenYENot tested——0
ZimbabweZWNot tested——0

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.