We monitor 175 App Store storefronts to answer one question —

Is How to App Box - How To Do Anything censored by Apple?

Gone.

How to App Box - How To Do Anything is gone from every App Store storefront we test. It was last seen available on Oct 14, 2019.

1,058 tests on record·last checked 2 months 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

    • 36% of Lifestyle apps are unavailable in Afghanistan — 142 of 395 — against 24% of everything we test there.
    • Apple reports 1,213 government-ordered removals in Russia for 2025, naming none of them.
  • A local rule about paying for itPossible

    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 a paid app, so a rule about selling it could apply.
    • 36% of Lifestyle apps are unavailable in Afghanistan — 142 of 395 — against 24% of everything we test there.
  • 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

    • 36% of Lifestyle apps are unavailable in Afghanistan — 142 of 395 — against 24% 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.

    • 36% of Lifestyle apps are unavailable in Afghanistan — 142 of 395 — against 24% 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.

    • 36% of Lifestyle apps are unavailable in Afghanistan — 142 of 395 — against 24% of everything we test there.
    • Gone for 6 years.
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 →

How to App Box - How To Do Anything

Developer: Pocket Books · Category: Lifestyle · Paid app · Released: Aug 25, 2010 · Rating: 5.0★

View in App Store ↗
0stores where available
135stores where blocked
4.87Bpeople behind the block
135of 175 stores tested
1,058tests on record

Other Lifestyle apps missing from mainland China

Everything missing from mainland China →

Life of this app

  1. Aug 25, 2010Released on the App Store
  2. Mar 21, 2019First tested by AppleCensorship
  3. Oct 14, 2019Last seen available anywhere
  4. Sep 19, 2021Gone from 135 storefronts
  5. Jul 24, 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.

2019-032026-07

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
AfghanistanAFUnavailableDec 4, 20259 months ago
AlbaniaALUnavailableJul 17, 20242 years ago
AngolaAOUnavailableMar 2, 20234 years ago
AnguillaAIUnavailableOct 17, 20203 years ago
Antigua & BarbudaAGUnavailableAug 3, 20224 years ago
AustraliaAUUnavailableNov 23, 20233 years ago
AustriaATUnavailableOct 12, 20202 years ago
AzerbaijanAZUnavailableJan 13, 20222 years ago
BahamasBSUnavailableSep 14, 20242 years ago
BahrainBHUnavailableMay 14, 20214 years ago
BelarusBYUnavailableSep 9, 202512 months ago
BelgiumBEUnavailableApr 10, 20203 years ago
BeninBJUnavailableSep 26, 202113 months ago
BermudaBMUnavailableNov 1, 20207 months ago
BotswanaBWUnavailableJul 14, 20212 years ago
BrazilBRUnavailableMar 7, 20243 years ago
British Virgin IslandsVGUnavailableJul 20, 20262 months ago
BulgariaBGUnavailableMar 31, 20242 years ago
Burkina FasoBFUnavailableFeb 4, 20223 years ago
CambodiaKHUnavailableDec 26, 20224 years ago
CanadaCAUnavailableOct 26, 20202 years ago
Cape VerdeCVUnavailableSep 3, 20214 years ago
Cayman IslandsKYUnavailableJan 11, 20234 years ago
ChadTDUnavailableFeb 10, 20223 years ago
ChileCLUnavailableFeb 26, 20233 years ago
China (Mainland)CNUnavailableDec 16, 20192 months ago
Costa RicaCRUnavailableOct 10, 20214 years ago
CroatiaHRUnavailableJan 18, 20234 years ago
CzechiaCZUnavailableMay 10, 20224 years ago
DominicaDMUnavailableMay 26, 20213 years ago
Dominican RepublicDOUnavailableApr 8, 20213 years ago
DR CongoCDUnavailableAug 3, 20224 years ago
EcuadorECUnavailableDec 16, 20193 years ago
El SalvadorSVUnavailableOct 26, 20213 years ago
EstoniaEEUnavailableJul 26, 20214 years ago
FijiFJUnavailableMar 13, 20214 years ago
FinlandFIUnavailableMay 24, 20214 years ago
FranceFRUnavailableMar 8, 20223 years ago
GabonGAUnavailableSep 22, 20223 months ago
GambiaGMUnavailableOct 17, 20204 years ago
GeorgiaGEUnavailableNov 18, 20223 years ago
GermanyDEUnavailableMay 29, 20213 years ago
GhanaGHUnavailableApr 8, 20212 years ago
GrenadaGDUnavailableApr 15, 20213 years ago
GuatemalaGTUnavailableMar 12, 20214 years ago
Guinea-BissauGWUnavailableOct 7, 20213 years ago
GuyanaGYUnavailableDec 27, 20214 years ago
HondurasHNUnavailableJan 26, 20223 years ago
Hong KongHKUnavailableNov 3, 20203 years ago
HungaryHUUnavailableAug 11, 20224 years ago
IraqIQUnavailableNov 26, 20233 years ago
IrelandIEUnavailableMar 15, 20224 years ago
ItalyITUnavailableNov 2, 20202 years ago
JamaicaJMUnavailableJun 13, 20227 months ago
JapanJPUnavailableJan 29, 20223 years ago
JordanJOUnavailableApr 15, 20212 years ago
KazakhstanKZUnavailableJul 26, 20213 years ago
KenyaKEUnavailableJun 4, 20224 years ago
LaosLAUnavailableJan 13, 20223 years ago
LatviaLVUnavailableApr 9, 20214 years ago
LiberiaLRUnavailableJul 19, 20213 years ago
LithuaniaLTUnavailableOct 28, 20202 years ago
LuxembourgLUUnavailableJun 13, 20212 years ago
MadagascarMGUnavailableDec 4, 20212 years ago
MalawiMWUnavailableSep 22, 20202 years ago
MalaysiaMYUnavailableDec 19, 20223 years ago
MaldivesMVUnavailableNov 15, 20233 years ago
MaliMLUnavailableMay 29, 20214 years ago
MaltaMTUnavailableJan 5, 20223 years ago
MauritaniaMRUnavailableJul 14, 20213 years ago
MauritiusMUUnavailableOct 7, 20212 years ago
MexicoMXUnavailableFeb 26, 20243 years ago
MicronesiaFMUnavailableOct 17, 20203 years ago
MoldovaMDUnavailableSep 19, 20213 years ago
MongoliaMNUnavailableJun 10, 202116 months ago
MontserratMSUnavailableJun 13, 20227 months ago
MoroccoMAUnavailableJun 24, 20223 years ago
MozambiqueMZUnavailableMay 9, 202113 months ago
Myanmar (Burma)MMUnavailableNov 16, 20224 years ago
NauruNRUnavailableJul 17, 20242 months ago
NepalNPUnavailableJul 9, 20212 years ago
NetherlandsNLUnavailableJul 19, 20214 years ago
New ZealandNZUnavailableDec 16, 20193 years ago
NicaraguaNIUnavailableNov 6, 20212 years ago
NigerNEUnavailableMay 9, 20213 years ago
NigeriaNGUnavailableSep 8, 20214 years ago
North MacedoniaMKUnavailableDec 20, 20232 years ago
NorwayNOUnavailableJan 7, 20223 years ago
PakistanPKUnavailableJun 21, 20214 years ago
PalauPWUnavailableNov 1, 20203 years ago
PanamaPAUnavailableNov 6, 20214 years ago
Papua New GuineaPGUnavailableAug 31, 20213 years ago
ParaguayPYUnavailableMar 8, 20223 years ago
PeruPEUnavailableJan 5, 20224 years ago
PhilippinesPHUnavailableApr 7, 20233 years ago
PolandPLUnavailableAug 9, 20213 years ago
PortugalPTUnavailableApr 10, 20203 years ago
QatarQAUnavailableNov 10, 20202 years ago
Republic of the CongoCGUnavailableSep 26, 20213 years ago
RomaniaROUnavailableMar 12, 20214 years ago
RussiaRUUnavailableMar 8, 20222 years ago
RwandaRWUnavailableAug 19, 20222 years ago
São Tomé & PríncipeSTUnavailableJun 4, 20222 years ago
SerbiaRSUnavailableNov 14, 20221 year ago
SeychellesSCUnavailableOct 10, 20222 months ago
Sierra LeoneSLUnavailableMay 31, 20213 years ago
SingaporeSGUnavailableJul 9, 20224 years ago
SlovakiaSKUnavailableDec 16, 201912 months ago
Solomon IslandsSBUnavailableMay 14, 20213 years ago
South KoreaKRUnavailableFeb 5, 20224 years ago
Sri LankaLKUnavailableJun 13, 20214 years ago
St. Kitts & NevisKNUnavailableMay 24, 20217 months ago
St. LuciaLCUnavailableMay 24, 20213 years ago
St. Vincent & GrenadinesVCUnavailableAug 31, 20213 years ago
SurinameSRUnavailableJan 7, 20222 months ago
SwedenSEUnavailableMar 1, 20222 years ago
SwitzerlandCHUnavailableDec 16, 20192 months ago
TaiwanTWUnavailableOct 21, 20224 years ago
TanzaniaTZUnavailableMay 24, 20212 years ago
ThailandTHUnavailableApr 9, 20214 years ago
TongaTOUnavailableJun 28, 20224 years ago
Trinidad & TobagoTTUnavailableJun 10, 20214 years ago
TunisiaTNUnavailableOct 17, 20203 years ago
TürkiyeTRUnavailableDec 20, 20203 years ago
Turks & Caicos IslandsTCUnavailableMay 14, 20213 years ago
UgandaUGUnavailableOct 28, 20203 years ago
UkraineUAUnavailableOct 13, 20202 years ago
United Arab EmiratesAEUnavailableDec 12, 20222 months ago
United StatesUSUnavailableDec 16, 20192 months ago
UruguayUYUnavailableDec 20, 20205 months ago
UzbekistanUZUnavailableJul 14, 20213 years ago
VenezuelaVEUnavailableDec 16, 20193 months ago
VietnamVNUnavailableDec 31, 20212 years ago
YemenYEUnavailableNov 16, 20222 years ago
ZimbabweZWUnavailableOct 12, 20202 years ago
AlgeriaDZNot tested0
ArgentinaARNot tested0
ArmeniaAMNot tested0
BarbadosBBNot tested0
BelizeBZNot tested0
BhutanBTNot tested0
BoliviaBONot tested0
Bosnia & HerzegovinaBANot tested0
BruneiBNNot tested0
CameroonCMNot tested0
ColombiaCONot tested0
Côte d’IvoireCINot tested0
CyprusCYNot tested0
DenmarkDKNot tested0
EgyptEGNot tested0
EswatiniSZNot tested0
GreeceGRNot tested0
IcelandISNot tested0
IndiaINNot tested0
IndonesiaIDNot tested0
IsraelILNot tested0
KosovoXKNot tested0
KuwaitKWNot tested0
KyrgyzstanKGNot tested0
LebanonLBNot tested0
LibyaLYNot tested0
MacaoMONot tested0
MontenegroMENot tested0
NamibiaNANot tested0
OmanOMNot tested0
Saudi ArabiaSANot tested0
SenegalSNNot tested0
SloveniaSINot tested0
South AfricaZANot tested0
SpainESNot tested0
TajikistanTJNot tested0
TurkmenistanTMNot tested0
United KingdomGBNot tested0
VanuatuVUNot tested0
ZambiaZMNot 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.