We monitor 175 App Store storefronts to answer one question —

Is zMap Lite censored by Apple?

Gone.

zMap Lite is gone from every App Store storefront we test. It was last seen available on Jan 16, 2022.

376 tests on record·last checked 21 hours 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

    • Travel apps in the United States are unavailable at 3%, near the 5% for everything there, which cuts neither way.
    • 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

    • Travel apps in the United States are unavailable at 3%, near the 5% for everything there, which cuts neither way.
  • 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.

  • Something brokeUnlikely

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

    • Gone for 2 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 →

zMap Lite

Developer: Ho Pui Yu · Category: Travel · Released: Jun 10, 2012 · Rating: 0.5★

View in App Store ↗
0stores where available
63stores where blocked
4.61Bpeople behind the block
63of 175 stores tested
376tests on record

Other Travel apps missing from India

Everything missing from India →

Life of this app

  1. Jun 10, 2012Released on the App Store
  2. Apr 25, 2019First tested by AppleCensorship
  3. Jan 16, 2022Last seen available anywhere
  4. Aug 4, 2024Gone from 63 storefronts
  5. Sep 17, 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.

2019-042026-09

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
AlbaniaALUnavailableMay 10, 202516 months ago
AlgeriaDZUnavailableFeb 20, 20256 months ago
Antigua & BarbudaAGUnavailableMar 10, 20243 years ago
AustriaATUnavailableNov 12, 20242 years ago
BelgiumBEUnavailableJul 28, 202514 months ago
BelizeBZUnavailableJan 6, 202516 months ago
BeninBJUnavailableJan 11, 202441 days ago
BhutanBTUnavailableJan 11, 20242 months ago
BrazilBRUnavailableJan 12, 20243 years ago
Burkina FasoBFUnavailableAug 5, 20242 years ago
Cape VerdeCVUnavailableSep 5, 202512 months ago
ChileCLUnavailableJan 11, 20244 months ago
China (Mainland)CNUnavailableJan 11, 202421 hours ago
CyprusCYUnavailableOct 17, 202511 months ago
CzechiaCZUnavailableApr 14, 20242 years ago
DenmarkDKUnavailableOct 27, 20242 years ago
Dominican RepublicDOUnavailableJul 14, 20262 months ago
EswatiniSZUnavailableSep 17, 202621 hours ago
GabonGAUnavailableJun 30, 202515 months ago
GreeceGRUnavailableDec 13, 20242 years ago
GuyanaGYUnavailableJun 4, 202515 months ago
HungaryHUUnavailableAug 4, 20242 years ago
IndiaINUnavailableAug 8, 202641 days ago
IsraelILUnavailableFeb 3, 20243 years ago
ItalyITUnavailableJan 11, 20242 months ago
JordanJOUnavailableFeb 13, 20267 months ago
KuwaitKWUnavailableJan 11, 202412 months ago
LebanonLBUnavailableDec 20, 202411 months ago
MacaoMOUnavailableJun 1, 20264 months ago
MaldivesMVUnavailableApr 10, 20242 years ago
MauritiusMUUnavailableJan 25, 20243 years ago
MexicoMXUnavailableJan 15, 20243 years ago
MoroccoMAUnavailableJun 2, 20242 years ago
NamibiaNAUnavailableAug 2, 202514 months ago
NauruNRUnavailableAug 4, 202421 hours ago
NepalNPUnavailableJan 11, 20242 years ago
NigerNEUnavailableDec 20, 202410 months ago
North MacedoniaMKUnavailableAug 3, 20262 months ago
PakistanPKUnavailableJan 24, 20243 years ago
Papua New GuineaPGUnavailableSep 23, 20242 years ago
PolandPLUnavailableApr 12, 20251 year ago
PortugalPTUnavailableJan 11, 202425 days ago
Republic of the CongoCGUnavailableMay 29, 20242 years ago
RomaniaROUnavailableMay 19, 20264 months ago
RussiaRUUnavailableJan 11, 20242 years ago
Saudi ArabiaSAUnavailableDec 4, 20259 months ago
SlovakiaSKUnavailableApr 21, 20242 years ago
SloveniaSIUnavailableJan 11, 20243 years ago
South AfricaZAUnavailableMay 3, 20242 years ago
Sri LankaLKUnavailableJul 14, 20262 months ago
SurinameSRUnavailableJan 8, 20268 months ago
SwedenSEUnavailableJan 11, 20246 months ago
SwitzerlandCHUnavailableAug 24, 202625 days ago
TajikistanTJUnavailableSep 4, 202512 months ago
ThailandTHUnavailableMar 20, 20251 year ago
TongaTOUnavailableJan 24, 20243 years ago
Trinidad & TobagoTTUnavailableJan 11, 202412 months ago
TunisiaTNUnavailableJan 11, 20242 years ago
UkraineUAUnavailableJan 11, 20242 years ago
United Arab EmiratesAEUnavailableJan 11, 202421 hours ago
United StatesUSUnavailableJan 11, 202421 hours ago
YemenYEUnavailableFeb 24, 20243 years ago
ZimbabweZWUnavailableJan 23, 202412 months ago
AfghanistanAFNot tested0
AngolaAONot tested0
AnguillaAINot tested0
ArgentinaARNot tested0
ArmeniaAMNot tested0
AustraliaAUNot tested0
AzerbaijanAZNot tested0
BahamasBSNot tested0
BahrainBHNot tested0
BarbadosBBNot tested0
BelarusBYNot tested0
BermudaBMNot tested0
BoliviaBONot tested0
Bosnia & HerzegovinaBANot tested0
BotswanaBWNot tested0
British Virgin IslandsVGNot tested0
BruneiBNNot tested0
BulgariaBGNot tested0
CambodiaKHNot tested0
CameroonCMNot tested0
CanadaCANot tested0
Cayman IslandsKYNot tested0
ChadTDNot tested0
ColombiaCONot tested0
Costa RicaCRNot tested0
Côte d’IvoireCINot tested0
CroatiaHRNot tested0
DominicaDMNot tested0
DR CongoCDNot tested0
EcuadorECNot tested0
EgyptEGNot tested0
El SalvadorSVNot tested0
EstoniaEENot tested0
FijiFJNot tested0
FinlandFINot tested0
FranceFRNot tested0
GambiaGMNot tested0
GeorgiaGENot tested0
GermanyDENot tested0
GhanaGHNot tested0
GrenadaGDNot tested0
GuatemalaGTNot tested0
Guinea-BissauGWNot tested0
HondurasHNNot tested0
Hong KongHKNot tested0
IcelandISNot tested0
IndonesiaIDNot tested0
IraqIQNot tested0
IrelandIENot tested0
JamaicaJMNot tested0
JapanJPNot tested0
KazakhstanKZNot tested0
KenyaKENot tested0
KosovoXKNot tested0
KyrgyzstanKGNot tested0
LaosLANot tested0
LatviaLVNot tested0
LiberiaLRNot tested0
LibyaLYNot tested0
LithuaniaLTNot tested0
LuxembourgLUNot tested0
MadagascarMGNot tested0
MalawiMWNot tested0
MalaysiaMYNot tested0
MaliMLNot tested0
MaltaMTNot tested0
MauritaniaMRNot tested0
MicronesiaFMNot tested0
MoldovaMDNot tested0
MongoliaMNNot tested0
MontenegroMENot tested0
MontserratMSNot tested0
MozambiqueMZNot tested0
Myanmar (Burma)MMNot tested0
NetherlandsNLNot tested0
New ZealandNZNot tested0
NicaraguaNINot tested0
NigeriaNGNot tested0
NorwayNONot tested0
OmanOMNot tested0
PalauPWNot tested0
PanamaPANot tested0
ParaguayPYNot tested0
PeruPENot tested0
PhilippinesPHNot tested0
QatarQANot tested0
RwandaRWNot tested0
São Tomé & PríncipeSTNot tested0
SenegalSNNot tested0
SerbiaRSNot tested0
SeychellesSCNot tested0
Sierra LeoneSLNot tested0
SingaporeSGNot tested0
Solomon IslandsSBNot tested0
South KoreaKRNot tested0
SpainESNot tested0
St. Kitts & NevisKNNot tested0
St. LuciaLCNot tested0
St. Vincent & GrenadinesVCNot tested0
TaiwanTWNot tested0
TanzaniaTZNot tested0
TürkiyeTRNot tested0
TurkmenistanTMNot tested0
Turks & Caicos IslandsTCNot tested0
UgandaUGNot tested0
United KingdomGBNot tested0
UruguayUYNot tested0
UzbekistanUZNot tested0
VanuatuVUNot tested0
VenezuelaVENot tested0
VietnamVNNot 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.