We monitor 175 App Store storefronts to answer one question —

Is HKL App censored by Apple?

Gone.

HKL App is gone from every App Store storefront we test. It was last seen available on Oct 31, 2021.

416 tests on record·last checked 2 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 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

  • 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.

  • 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 →

HKL App

Developer: HKL BAUMASCHINEN GmbH · Category: Business · Released: Apr 10, 2013 ·

View in App Store ↗
0stores where available
62stores where blocked
3.28Bpeople behind the block
62of 175 stores tested
416tests on record

Other Business apps missing from mainland China

Everything missing from mainland China →

Life of this app

  1. Apr 10, 2013Released on the App Store
  2. Oct 11, 2019First tested by AppleCensorship
  3. Oct 31, 2021Last seen available anywhere
  4. May 6, 2024Gone from 62 storefronts
  5. Sep 16, 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.

2019-102026-09

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
ArgentinaARUnavailableMar 20, 20266 months ago
AustriaATUnavailableJul 13, 20242 years ago
BahamasBSUnavailableJun 28, 20242 years ago
BahrainBHUnavailableMay 12, 20242 years ago
BelarusBYUnavailableMay 27, 202516 months ago
BermudaBMUnavailableNov 13, 202510 months ago
BoliviaBOUnavailableAug 6, 20232 years ago
British Virgin IslandsVGUnavailableFeb 5, 202414 months ago
CameroonCMUnavailableMay 11, 20242 years ago
Cape VerdeCVUnavailableAug 6, 20239 months ago
ChadTDUnavailableMar 18, 202516 months ago
ChileCLUnavailableJul 14, 20242 years ago
China (Mainland)CNUnavailableAug 6, 20234 months ago
ColombiaCOUnavailableFeb 27, 20243 months ago
CroatiaHRUnavailableJan 31, 20252 years ago
CzechiaCZUnavailableApr 26, 20265 months ago
DominicaDMUnavailableMay 2, 20242 years ago
EswatiniSZUnavailableApr 18, 20251 year ago
FinlandFIUnavailableOct 24, 20233 years ago
Guinea-BissauGWUnavailableAug 6, 20232 months ago
Hong KongHKUnavailableAug 6, 202310 days ago
HungaryHUUnavailableSep 8, 20242 years ago
IcelandISUnavailableAug 6, 202316 months ago
IrelandIEUnavailableDec 22, 20242 years ago
ItalyITUnavailableAug 6, 202314 months ago
LebanonLBUnavailableMar 16, 20242 years ago
LibyaLYUnavailableOct 6, 20242 years ago
LuxembourgLUUnavailableSep 9, 20233 years ago
MaldivesMVUnavailableMay 18, 20264 months ago
MaliMLUnavailableDec 15, 20259 months ago
MauritaniaMRUnavailableApr 5, 20242 years ago
MoldovaMDUnavailableMay 6, 20242 years ago
MontserratMSUnavailableMay 30, 20242 years ago
NauruNRUnavailableJun 27, 20242 days ago
NepalNPUnavailableAug 6, 20232 years ago
NetherlandsNLUnavailableAug 6, 20234 months ago
NigerNEUnavailableJun 3, 20264 months ago
NigeriaNGUnavailableMar 13, 20266 months ago
OmanOMUnavailableFeb 21, 20243 years ago
PakistanPKUnavailableJul 16, 20262 months ago
PalauPWUnavailableAug 6, 20232 days ago
PolandPLUnavailableJun 4, 202515 months ago
RussiaRUUnavailableAug 6, 20232 years ago
Saudi ArabiaSAUnavailableAug 6, 20233 years ago
SeychellesSCUnavailableAug 6, 20232 years ago
Solomon IslandsSBUnavailableOct 16, 202511 months ago
St. Kitts & NevisKNUnavailableNov 23, 20232 years ago
St. Vincent & GrenadinesVCUnavailableFeb 21, 20267 months ago
SurinameSRUnavailableOct 16, 20242 months ago
SwedenSEUnavailableDec 22, 20233 years ago
TajikistanTJUnavailableSep 9, 202310 days ago
ThailandTHUnavailableJun 27, 20242 years ago
TongaTOUnavailableFeb 18, 20242 years ago
TürkiyeTRUnavailableSep 5, 20242 years ago
TurkmenistanTMUnavailableFeb 2, 202513 months ago
UgandaUGUnavailableOct 5, 20233 years ago
UkraineUAUnavailableAug 6, 20238 months ago
United Arab EmiratesAEUnavailableAug 6, 20232 days ago
United KingdomGBUnavailableAug 6, 20239 months ago
United StatesUSUnavailableAug 6, 20232 days ago
VietnamVNUnavailableAug 10, 20231 year ago
YemenYEUnavailableSep 16, 20262 days ago
AfghanistanAFNot tested0
AlbaniaALNot tested0
AlgeriaDZNot tested0
AngolaAONot tested0
AnguillaAINot tested0
Antigua & BarbudaAGNot tested0
ArmeniaAMNot tested0
AustraliaAUNot tested0
AzerbaijanAZNot tested0
BarbadosBBNot tested0
BelgiumBENot tested0
BelizeBZNot tested0
BeninBJNot tested0
BhutanBTNot tested0
Bosnia & HerzegovinaBANot tested0
BotswanaBWNot tested0
BrazilBRNot tested0
BruneiBNNot tested0
BulgariaBGNot tested0
Burkina FasoBFNot tested0
CambodiaKHNot tested0
CanadaCANot tested0
Cayman IslandsKYNot tested0
Costa RicaCRNot tested0
Côte d’IvoireCINot tested0
CyprusCYNot tested0
DenmarkDKNot tested0
Dominican RepublicDONot tested0
DR CongoCDNot tested0
EcuadorECNot tested0
EgyptEGNot tested0
El SalvadorSVNot tested0
EstoniaEENot tested0
FijiFJNot tested0
FranceFRNot tested0
GabonGANot tested0
GambiaGMNot tested0
GeorgiaGENot tested0
GermanyDENot tested0
GhanaGHNot tested0
GreeceGRNot tested0
GrenadaGDNot tested0
GuatemalaGTNot tested0
GuyanaGYNot tested0
HondurasHNNot tested0
IndiaINNot tested0
IndonesiaIDNot tested0
IraqIQNot tested0
IsraelILNot tested0
JamaicaJMNot tested0
JapanJPNot tested0
JordanJONot tested0
KazakhstanKZNot tested0
KenyaKENot tested0
KosovoXKNot tested0
KuwaitKWNot tested0
KyrgyzstanKGNot tested0
LaosLANot tested0
LatviaLVNot tested0
LiberiaLRNot tested0
LithuaniaLTNot tested0
MacaoMONot tested0
MadagascarMGNot tested0
MalawiMWNot tested0
MalaysiaMYNot tested0
MaltaMTNot tested0
MauritiusMUNot tested0
MexicoMXNot tested0
MicronesiaFMNot tested0
MongoliaMNNot tested0
MontenegroMENot tested0
MoroccoMANot tested0
MozambiqueMZNot tested0
Myanmar (Burma)MMNot tested0
NamibiaNANot tested0
New ZealandNZNot tested0
NicaraguaNINot tested0
North MacedoniaMKNot tested0
NorwayNONot tested0
PanamaPANot tested0
Papua New GuineaPGNot tested0
ParaguayPYNot tested0
PeruPENot tested0
PhilippinesPHNot tested0
PortugalPTNot tested0
QatarQANot tested0
Republic of the CongoCGNot tested0
RomaniaRONot tested0
RwandaRWNot tested0
São Tomé & PríncipeSTNot tested0
SenegalSNNot tested0
SerbiaRSNot tested0
Sierra LeoneSLNot tested0
SingaporeSGNot tested0
SlovakiaSKNot tested0
SloveniaSINot tested0
South AfricaZANot tested0
South KoreaKRNot tested0
SpainESNot tested0
Sri LankaLKNot tested0
St. LuciaLCNot tested0
SwitzerlandCHNot tested0
TaiwanTWNot tested0
TanzaniaTZNot tested0
Trinidad & TobagoTTNot tested0
TunisiaTNNot tested0
Turks & Caicos IslandsTCNot tested0
UruguayUYNot tested0
UzbekistanUZNot tested0
VanuatuVUNot tested0
VenezuelaVENot tested0
ZambiaZMNot 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.