We monitor 175 App Store storefronts to answer one question —
Is Golf Channel censored by Apple?
Apple does not offer Golf Channel in most of the App Stores it operates — 85 of 175, including mainland China. 3.35B people cannot install it. It has been unavailable in mainland China since Dec 29, 2023.
569 tests on record·last checked 11 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 it
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
- 27% of Sports apps are unavailable in the Maldives — 17 of 63 — 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, unasked
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
- 27% of Sports apps are unavailable in the Maldives — 17 of 63 — against 15% of everything we test there.
The developer withheld it
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.
- 27% of Sports apps are unavailable in the Maldives — 17 of 63 — against 15% of everything we test there.
Something broke
a rejected update, a lapsed certificate, a payment or licensing problem, a mistake nobody has got round to noticing.
- 27% of Sports apps are unavailable in the Maldives — 17 of 63 — against 15% of everything we test there.
- Gone for 2 years.
A local rule about paying for it
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 →
Golf Channel
Developer: Golf Channel · Category: Sports · Released: Oct 13, 2011 · Rating: 3.6★
Life of this app
- Oct 13, 2011Released on the App Store
- Apr 2, 2019First tested by AppleCensorship
- Jun 22, 2024Gone from 85 storefronts
- Sep 7, 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.
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 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AlgeriaDZ | Unavailable | Dec 29, 2023 | 3 years ago | ||
| AngolaAO | Unavailable | Jun 6, 2024 | 2 years ago | ||
| Antigua & BarbudaAG | Unavailable | Mar 13, 2024 | 3 years ago | ||
| ArgentinaAR | Unavailable | Dec 29, 2023 | 1 month ago | ||
| ArmeniaAM | Unavailable | Aug 14, 2024 | 2 years ago | ||
| BahrainBH | Unavailable | Dec 29, 2023 | 11 days ago | ||
| BarbadosBB | Unavailable | Oct 23, 2024 | 2 years ago | ||
| BelarusBY | Unavailable | Dec 29, 2023 | 6 months ago | ||
| BelgiumBE | Unavailable | Apr 22, 2024 | 2 years ago | ||
| BeninBJ | Unavailable | Dec 31, 2023 | 13 months ago | ||
| BhutanBT | Unavailable | Aug 16, 2025 | 13 months ago | ||
| Bosnia & HerzegovinaBA | Unavailable | Mar 13, 2026 | 6 months ago | ||
| BruneiBN | Unavailable | Jul 1, 2025 | 15 months ago | ||
| CambodiaKH | Unavailable | Dec 29, 2023 | 3 years ago | ||
| Cape VerdeCV | Unavailable | Apr 12, 2025 | 16 months ago | ||
| Cayman IslandsKY | Unavailable | Jan 21, 2025 | 2 years ago | ||
| ChadTD | Unavailable | Mar 27, 2026 | 6 months ago | ||
| China (Mainland)CN | Unavailable | Dec 29, 2023 | 4 months ago | ||
| Costa RicaCR | Unavailable | Dec 29, 2023 | 13 months ago | ||
| DominicaDM | Unavailable | Feb 20, 2025 | 11 months ago | ||
| Dominican RepublicDO | Unavailable | Dec 29, 2023 | 5 months ago | ||
| EgyptEG | Unavailable | Mar 12, 2025 | 2 years ago | ||
| El SalvadorSV | Unavailable | Feb 1, 2024 | 3 years ago | ||
| EswatiniSZ | Unavailable | Aug 18, 2024 | 2 years ago | ||
| FinlandFI | Unavailable | Jun 29, 2024 | 2 years ago | ||
| GabonGA | Unavailable | Jan 6, 2024 | 1 year ago | ||
| GermanyDE | Unavailable | Mar 13, 2024 | 7 months ago | ||
| GreeceGR | Unavailable | Feb 12, 2024 | 3 years ago | ||
| GuatemalaGT | Unavailable | Dec 9, 2024 | 1 year ago | ||
| GuyanaGY | Unavailable | Jul 27, 2024 | 2 years ago | ||
| HondurasHN | Unavailable | Dec 29, 2023 | 7 months ago | ||
| Hong KongHK | Unavailable | Dec 29, 2023 | 6 months ago | ||
| HungaryHU | Unavailable | Dec 29, 2023 | 7 months ago | ||
| IndonesiaID | Unavailable | Jan 20, 2026 | 8 months ago | ||
| IraqIQ | Unavailable | Jan 1, 2024 | 8 months ago | ||
| IsraelIL | Unavailable | Mar 20, 2025 | 1 year ago | ||
| KenyaKE | Unavailable | May 5, 2024 | 2 years ago | ||
| LiberiaLR | Unavailable | Feb 7, 2025 | 2 years ago | ||
| LibyaLY | Unavailable | Apr 1, 2026 | 6 months ago | ||
| MaldivesMV | Unavailable | Aug 11, 2025 | 13 months ago | ||
| MaliML | Unavailable | Dec 29, 2023 | 2 years ago | ||
| MauritaniaMR | Unavailable | Sep 7, 2026 | 11 days ago | ||
| MauritiusMU | Unavailable | Jan 13, 2024 | 3 years ago | ||
| MontserratMS | Unavailable | May 20, 2024 | 5 months ago | ||
| MoroccoMA | Unavailable | Feb 25, 2026 | 7 months ago | ||
| MozambiqueMZ | Unavailable | Jun 14, 2025 | 15 months ago | ||
| NamibiaNA | Unavailable | Feb 1, 2024 | 3 years ago | ||
| NauruNR | Unavailable | Jun 22, 2024 | 11 days ago | ||
| NepalNP | Unavailable | Dec 29, 2023 | 2 years ago | ||
| New ZealandNZ | Unavailable | May 27, 2024 | 2 years ago | ||
| NicaraguaNI | Unavailable | Apr 24, 2025 | 1 year ago | ||
| NorwayNO | Unavailable | Mar 8, 2024 | 2 years ago | ||
| OmanOM | Unavailable | Jul 8, 2024 | 2 years ago | ||
| PalauPW | Unavailable | Aug 4, 2026 | 1 month ago | ||
| Papua New GuineaPG | Unavailable | Aug 17, 2024 | 2 years ago | ||
| ParaguayPY | Unavailable | Oct 6, 2024 | 2 years ago | ||
| PhilippinesPH | Unavailable | Apr 24, 2024 | 16 months ago | ||
| PolandPL | Unavailable | Aug 16, 2024 | 2 years ago | ||
| PortugalPT | Unavailable | Jan 7, 2025 | 10 months ago | ||
| QatarQA | Unavailable | Dec 1, 2024 | 8 months ago | ||
| Republic of the CongoCG | Unavailable | Feb 25, 2024 | 3 years ago | ||
| RussiaRU | Unavailable | Dec 29, 2023 | 2 years ago | ||
| RwandaRW | Unavailable | May 14, 2026 | 4 months ago | ||
| São Tomé & PríncipeST | Unavailable | Mar 13, 2025 | 2 years ago | ||
| SerbiaRS | Unavailable | Apr 16, 2025 | 1 year ago | ||
| SeychellesSC | Unavailable | Jun 19, 2026 | 3 months ago | ||
| Sierra LeoneSL | Unavailable | Aug 23, 2024 | 2 years ago | ||
| SlovakiaSK | Unavailable | Mar 9, 2026 | 4 months ago | ||
| SloveniaSI | Unavailable | Jan 21, 2025 | 8 months ago | ||
| South AfricaZA | Unavailable | Dec 29, 2023 | 3 months ago | ||
| South KoreaKR | Unavailable | Aug 13, 2024 | 2 years ago | ||
| Sri LankaLK | Unavailable | Jun 9, 2025 | 15 months ago | ||
| TajikistanTJ | Unavailable | Apr 3, 2024 | 2 years ago | ||
| TanzaniaTZ | Unavailable | Nov 26, 2024 | 5 months ago | ||
| ThailandTH | Unavailable | Dec 29, 2023 | 8 months ago | ||
| TunisiaTN | Unavailable | Feb 27, 2024 | 3 years ago | ||
| TürkiyeTR | Unavailable | Jun 22, 2024 | 2 years ago | ||
| Turks & Caicos IslandsTC | Unavailable | Feb 8, 2026 | 7 months ago | ||
| UkraineUA | Unavailable | Dec 29, 2023 | 2 years ago | ||
| United Arab EmiratesAE | Unavailable | Dec 29, 2023 | 11 days ago | ||
| United KingdomGB | Unavailable | Dec 29, 2023 | 5 months ago | ||
| UzbekistanUZ | Unavailable | Dec 29, 2023 | 4 months ago | ||
| VanuatuVU | Unavailable | Jan 27, 2026 | 8 months ago | ||
| YemenYE | Unavailable | Dec 29, 2023 | 13 months ago | ||
| ZimbabweZW | Unavailable | Dec 29, 2023 | 13 months ago | ||
| United StatesUS | Available | — | 11 days ago | ||
| AfghanistanAF | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| AlbaniaAL | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| AnguillaAI | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| AustraliaAU | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| AustriaAT | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| AzerbaijanAZ | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| BahamasBS | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| BelizeBZ | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| BermudaBM | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| BoliviaBO | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| BotswanaBW | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| BrazilBR | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| British Virgin IslandsVG | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| BulgariaBG | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| Burkina FasoBF | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| CameroonCM | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| CanadaCA | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| ChileCL | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| ColombiaCO | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| Côte d’IvoireCI | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| CroatiaHR | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| CyprusCY | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| CzechiaCZ | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| DenmarkDK | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| DR CongoCD | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| EcuadorEC | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| EstoniaEE | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| FijiFJ | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| FranceFR | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| GambiaGM | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| GeorgiaGE | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| GhanaGH | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| GrenadaGD | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| Guinea-BissauGW | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| IcelandIS | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| IndiaIN | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| IrelandIE | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| ItalyIT | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| JamaicaJM | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| JapanJP | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| JordanJO | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| KazakhstanKZ | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| KosovoXK | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| KuwaitKW | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| KyrgyzstanKG | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| LaosLA | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| LatviaLV | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| LebanonLB | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| LithuaniaLT | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| LuxembourgLU | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| MacaoMO | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| MadagascarMG | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| MalawiMW | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| MalaysiaMY | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| MaltaMT | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| MexicoMX | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| MicronesiaFM | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| MoldovaMD | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| MongoliaMN | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| MontenegroME | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| Myanmar (Burma)MM | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| NetherlandsNL | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| NigerNE | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| NigeriaNG | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| North MacedoniaMK | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| PakistanPK | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| PanamaPA | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| PeruPE | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| RomaniaRO | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| Saudi ArabiaSA | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| SenegalSN | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| SingaporeSG | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| Solomon IslandsSB | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| SpainES | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| St. Kitts & NevisKN | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| St. LuciaLC | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| St. Vincent & GrenadinesVC | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| SurinameSR | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| SwedenSE | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| SwitzerlandCH | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| TaiwanTW | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| TongaTO | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| Trinidad & TobagoTT | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| TurkmenistanTM | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| UgandaUG | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| UruguayUY | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| VenezuelaVE | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| VietnamVN | Not tested | — | — | 0 | |
| ZambiaZM | Not 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.