We monitor 175 App Store storefronts to answer one question —

Is PL-Note censored by Apple?

Gone.

PL-Note is gone from every App Store storefront we test. It was last seen available on May 7, 2021.

691 tests on record·last checked 28 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

    • 17% of Utilities apps are unavailable in Jordan — 88 of 514 — against 13% 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.
    • 17% of Utilities apps are unavailable in Jordan — 88 of 514 — against 13% 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

    • 17% of Utilities apps are unavailable in Jordan — 88 of 514 — against 13% 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.

    • 17% of Utilities apps are unavailable in Jordan — 88 of 514 — against 13% 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.

    • 17% of Utilities apps are unavailable in Jordan — 88 of 514 — against 13% of everything we test there.
    • Gone for 4 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 →

PL-Note

Developer: Planet Computer Technology (Shanghai) Co.,Ltd. · Category: Utilities · Paid app · Released: Jun 4, 2011 · Rating: 2.8★

View in App Store ↗
0stores where available
90stores where blocked
5.35Bpeople behind the block
90of 175 stores tested
691tests on record

Other Utilities apps missing from India

Everything missing from India →

Life of this app

  1. Jun 4, 2011Released on the App Store
  2. Aug 12, 2019First tested by AppleCensorship
  3. May 7, 2021Last seen available anywhere
  4. May 7, 2023Gone from 90 storefronts
  5. Aug 21, 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.

2019-082026-08

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
AlbaniaALUnavailableJun 9, 202515 months ago
AlgeriaDZUnavailableApr 29, 20233 years ago
Antigua & BarbudaAGUnavailableNov 30, 202510 months ago
ArgentinaARUnavailableSep 10, 20224 months ago
AustriaATUnavailableOct 23, 20224 years ago
AzerbaijanAZUnavailableFeb 6, 20233 years ago
BarbadosBBUnavailableMar 22, 20251 year ago
BelizeBZUnavailableDec 7, 20233 years ago
BoliviaBOUnavailableApr 6, 20251 year ago
British Virgin IslandsVGUnavailableJul 24, 202514 months ago
Burkina FasoBFUnavailableJul 5, 20262 months ago
CameroonCMUnavailableOct 25, 20224 years ago
Cape VerdeCVUnavailableOct 14, 20233 years ago
Cayman IslandsKYUnavailableSep 11, 20224 years ago
ChileCLUnavailableMar 31, 20233 years ago
China (Mainland)CNUnavailableSep 10, 202211 months ago
Côte d’IvoireCIUnavailableSep 2, 20245 months ago
CzechiaCZUnavailableFeb 9, 20232 years ago
DenmarkDKUnavailableJan 17, 20232 years ago
DominicaDMUnavailableSep 10, 202215 months ago
DR CongoCDUnavailableSep 29, 20224 years ago
EcuadorECUnavailableJun 1, 20248 months ago
EgyptEGUnavailableMay 18, 20233 years ago
FranceFRUnavailableJan 8, 20242 years ago
GabonGAUnavailableSep 10, 20224 years ago
GambiaGMUnavailableFeb 12, 20243 years ago
Guinea-BissauGWUnavailableDec 27, 20224 years ago
HondurasHNUnavailableMar 20, 20234 years ago
Hong KongHKUnavailableSep 10, 202211 months ago
IcelandISUnavailableDec 3, 202211 months ago
IndiaINUnavailableOct 25, 20222 years ago
IndonesiaIDUnavailableSep 10, 202213 months ago
IraqIQUnavailableMar 30, 20233 years ago
JapanJPUnavailableSep 17, 20242 years ago
JordanJOUnavailableNov 27, 202311 months ago
KazakhstanKZUnavailableOct 11, 202511 months ago
KenyaKEUnavailableMar 10, 20252 years ago
KosovoXKUnavailableAug 14, 20242 years ago
KyrgyzstanKGUnavailableAug 21, 202628 days ago
LatviaLVUnavailableNov 20, 20224 years ago
LithuaniaLTUnavailableFeb 1, 20252 years ago
LuxembourgLUUnavailableAug 6, 20234 months ago
MacaoMOUnavailableNov 28, 20222 years ago
MalawiMWUnavailableMar 17, 20232 years ago
MaldivesMVUnavailableJan 29, 202415 months ago
MexicoMXUnavailableDec 20, 20241 year ago
MicronesiaFMUnavailableSep 10, 202211 months ago
MontenegroMEUnavailableNov 20, 20222 years ago
MoroccoMAUnavailableSep 10, 20224 years ago
MozambiqueMZUnavailableMay 22, 20242 years ago
Myanmar (Burma)MMUnavailableNov 28, 20223 years ago
NauruNRUnavailableDec 30, 202328 days ago
NepalNPUnavailableDec 3, 20222 years ago
New ZealandNZUnavailableNov 10, 20233 years ago
NigerNEUnavailableSep 10, 20222 years ago
North MacedoniaMKUnavailableMay 27, 202516 months ago
OmanOMUnavailableJul 23, 202513 months ago
PakistanPKUnavailableSep 10, 20224 years ago
PalauPWUnavailableJul 17, 20233 years ago
Papua New GuineaPGUnavailableSep 10, 202228 days ago
ParaguayPYUnavailableApr 13, 20251 year ago
PolandPLUnavailableNov 16, 20242 years ago
PortugalPTUnavailableMar 6, 20252 years ago
QatarQAUnavailableJan 19, 20234 years ago
Republic of the CongoCGUnavailableApr 12, 20265 months ago
RomaniaROUnavailableSep 10, 202211 months ago
RussiaRUUnavailableSep 10, 20222 years ago
RwandaRWUnavailableSep 15, 20224 years ago
Saudi ArabiaSAUnavailableJan 4, 20252 years ago
SingaporeSGUnavailableFeb 24, 20267 months ago
Solomon IslandsSBUnavailableMay 20, 20242 years ago
South KoreaKRUnavailableSep 10, 20228 months ago
Sri LankaLKUnavailableAug 23, 20233 years ago
St. Kitts & NevisKNUnavailableJul 22, 20242 years ago
St. Vincent & GrenadinesVCUnavailableFeb 5, 20233 years ago
SurinameSRUnavailableMar 28, 20232 months ago
SwitzerlandCHUnavailableSep 2, 202513 months ago
TaiwanTWUnavailableSep 10, 20222 months ago
TajikistanTJUnavailableSep 17, 202512 months ago
Trinidad & TobagoTTUnavailableJul 1, 202515 months ago
TunisiaTNUnavailableSep 15, 202211 months ago
TürkiyeTRUnavailableApr 29, 20233 years ago
Turks & Caicos IslandsTCUnavailableMay 21, 20233 years ago
UgandaUGUnavailableApr 3, 20242 years ago
UkraineUAUnavailableSep 10, 20222 years ago
United Arab EmiratesAEUnavailableDec 3, 202228 days ago
United StatesUSUnavailableSep 10, 202228 days ago
UruguayUYUnavailableMay 2, 20233 years ago
VanuatuVUUnavailableJan 13, 20243 years ago
ZambiaZMUnavailableMay 7, 20233 years ago
AfghanistanAFNot tested0
AngolaAONot tested0
AnguillaAINot tested0
ArmeniaAMNot tested0
AustraliaAUNot tested0
BahamasBSNot tested0
BahrainBHNot tested0
BelarusBYNot tested0
BelgiumBENot tested0
BeninBJNot tested0
BermudaBMNot tested0
BhutanBTNot tested0
Bosnia & HerzegovinaBANot tested0
BotswanaBWNot tested0
BrazilBRNot tested0
BruneiBNNot tested0
BulgariaBGNot tested0
CambodiaKHNot tested0
CanadaCANot tested0
ChadTDNot tested0
ColombiaCONot tested0
Costa RicaCRNot tested0
CroatiaHRNot tested0
CyprusCYNot tested0
Dominican RepublicDONot tested0
El SalvadorSVNot tested0
EstoniaEENot tested0
EswatiniSZNot tested0
FijiFJNot tested0
FinlandFINot tested0
GeorgiaGENot tested0
GermanyDENot tested0
GhanaGHNot tested0
GreeceGRNot tested0
GrenadaGDNot tested0
GuatemalaGTNot tested0
GuyanaGYNot tested0
HungaryHUNot tested0
IrelandIENot tested0
IsraelILNot tested0
ItalyITNot tested0
JamaicaJMNot tested0
KuwaitKWNot tested0
LaosLANot tested0
LebanonLBNot tested0
LiberiaLRNot tested0
LibyaLYNot tested0
MadagascarMGNot tested0
MalaysiaMYNot tested0
MaliMLNot tested0
MaltaMTNot tested0
MauritaniaMRNot tested0
MauritiusMUNot tested0
MoldovaMDNot tested0
MongoliaMNNot tested0
MontserratMSNot tested0
NamibiaNANot tested0
NetherlandsNLNot tested0
NicaraguaNINot tested0
NigeriaNGNot tested0
NorwayNONot tested0
PanamaPANot tested0
PeruPENot tested0
PhilippinesPHNot tested0
São Tomé & PríncipeSTNot tested0
SenegalSNNot tested0
SerbiaRSNot tested0
SeychellesSCNot tested0
Sierra LeoneSLNot tested0
SlovakiaSKNot tested0
SloveniaSINot tested0
South AfricaZANot tested0
SpainESNot tested0
St. LuciaLCNot tested0
SwedenSENot tested0
TanzaniaTZNot tested0
ThailandTHNot tested0
TongaTONot tested0
TurkmenistanTMNot tested0
United KingdomGBNot tested0
UzbekistanUZNot tested0
VenezuelaVENot tested0
VietnamVNNot tested0
YemenYENot 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.