applecensorship

We monitor 175 App Store storefronts to answer one question —

Is Private Browser – Data Saver censored by Apple?

Gone.

Private Browser – Data Saver is gone from every App Store storefront we test. It was last seen available on Feb 23, 2022.

200 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

    • Utilities apps in the United States are unavailable at 5%, 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

    • Utilities apps in the United States are unavailable at 5%, 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 →

Private Browser – Data Saver

Developer: APPATOMIC LIMITED · Category: Utilities · Released: Sep 5, 2014 · Rating: 3.7★

View in App Store ↗
0stores where available
43stores where blocked
2.58Bpeople behind the block
43of 175 stores tested
200tests on record

Other Utilities apps missing from mainland China

Everything missing from mainland China →

Life of this app

  1. Sep 5, 2014Released on the App Store
  2. Feb 2, 2022First tested by AppleCensorship
  3. Feb 23, 2022Last seen available anywhere
  4. Oct 21, 2024Gone from 43 storefronts
  5. Aug 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.

2022-022026-08

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
AngolaAOUnavailableApr 9, 20252 years ago
Antigua & BarbudaAGUnavailableNov 22, 20242 years ago
AustriaATUnavailableNov 22, 20242 years ago
BarbadosBBUnavailableJul 19, 20263 months ago
BeninBJUnavailableSep 10, 20242 years ago
Bosnia & HerzegovinaBAUnavailableAug 7, 20262 months ago
CanadaCAUnavailableFeb 20, 20244 months ago
China (Mainland)CNUnavailableFeb 20, 20243 months ago
CyprusCYUnavailableJan 25, 20269 months ago
CzechiaCZUnavailableFeb 5, 20268 months ago
DenmarkDKUnavailableAug 21, 202513 months ago
DominicaDMUnavailableFeb 18, 20268 months ago
Dominican RepublicDOUnavailableMar 3, 20243 years ago
EcuadorECUnavailableJul 17, 20242 years ago
GabonGAUnavailableDec 23, 20242 years ago
Hong KongHKUnavailableFeb 20, 20245 months ago
IcelandISUnavailableJul 9, 20242 years ago
KosovoXKUnavailableFeb 20, 20243 years ago
KyrgyzstanKGUnavailableJul 12, 20263 months ago
LiberiaLRUnavailableJun 28, 20264 months ago
MalaysiaMYUnavailableMar 5, 20252 years ago
MaldivesMVUnavailableNov 25, 202511 months ago
MontserratMSUnavailableMay 22, 20251 year ago
MozambiqueMZUnavailableSep 25, 20242 years ago
NauruNRUnavailableJul 9, 20242 months ago
NepalNPUnavailableFeb 20, 202410 months ago
New ZealandNZUnavailableOct 6, 20249 months ago
PakistanPKUnavailableFeb 14, 20252 years ago
RomaniaROUnavailableOct 12, 20249 months ago
RussiaRUUnavailableFeb 20, 20249 months ago
RwandaRWUnavailableMay 4, 20265 months ago
São Tomé & PríncipeSTUnavailableAug 16, 20242 years ago
SingaporeSGUnavailableNov 21, 20242 years ago
SlovakiaSKUnavailableApr 21, 20242 years ago
SurinameSRUnavailableOct 21, 20242 years ago
SwitzerlandCHUnavailableNov 22, 202511 months ago
TunisiaTNUnavailableFeb 20, 20243 years ago
UkraineUAUnavailableFeb 20, 20242 months ago
United Arab EmiratesAEUnavailableFeb 20, 20242 months ago
United KingdomGBUnavailableMay 24, 20242 years ago
United StatesUSUnavailableFeb 20, 20242 months ago
UruguayUYUnavailableAug 17, 202514 months ago
VenezuelaVEUnavailableJan 24, 20269 months ago
AfghanistanAFNot tested——0
AlbaniaALNot tested——0
AlgeriaDZNot tested——0
AnguillaAINot tested——0
ArgentinaARNot tested——0
ArmeniaAMNot tested——0
AustraliaAUNot tested——0
AzerbaijanAZNot tested——0
BahamasBSNot tested——0
BahrainBHNot tested——0
BelarusBYNot tested——0
BelgiumBENot tested——0
BelizeBZNot tested——0
BermudaBMNot tested——0
BhutanBTNot tested——0
BoliviaBONot tested——0
BotswanaBWNot tested——0
BrazilBRNot tested——0
British Virgin IslandsVGNot tested——0
BruneiBNNot tested——0
BulgariaBGNot tested——0
Burkina FasoBFNot tested——0
CambodiaKHNot tested——0
CameroonCMNot tested——0
Cape VerdeCVNot tested——0
Cayman IslandsKYNot tested——0
ChadTDNot tested——0
ChileCLNot tested——0
ColombiaCONot tested——0
Costa RicaCRNot tested——0
Côte d’IvoireCINot tested——0
CroatiaHRNot tested——0
DR CongoCDNot tested——0
EgyptEGNot tested——0
El SalvadorSVNot tested——0
EstoniaEENot tested——0
EswatiniSZNot tested——0
FijiFJNot tested——0
FinlandFINot tested——0
FranceFRNot tested——0
GambiaGMNot tested——0
GeorgiaGENot tested——0
GermanyDENot tested——0
GhanaGHNot tested——0
GreeceGRNot tested——0
GrenadaGDNot tested——0
GuatemalaGTNot tested——0
Guinea-BissauGWNot tested——0
GuyanaGYNot tested——0
HondurasHNNot tested——0
HungaryHUNot tested——0
IndiaINNot tested——0
IndonesiaIDNot tested——0
IraqIQNot tested——0
IrelandIENot tested——0
IsraelILNot tested——0
ItalyITNot tested——0
JamaicaJMNot tested——0
JapanJPNot tested——0
JordanJONot tested——0
KazakhstanKZNot tested——0
KenyaKENot tested——0
KuwaitKWNot tested——0
LaosLANot tested——0
LatviaLVNot tested——0
LebanonLBNot tested——0
LibyaLYNot tested——0
LithuaniaLTNot tested——0
LuxembourgLUNot tested——0
MacaoMONot tested——0
MadagascarMGNot tested——0
MalawiMWNot tested——0
MaliMLNot tested——0
MaltaMTNot tested——0
MauritaniaMRNot tested——0
MauritiusMUNot tested——0
MexicoMXNot tested——0
MicronesiaFMNot tested——0
MoldovaMDNot tested——0
MongoliaMNNot tested——0
MontenegroMENot tested——0
MoroccoMANot tested——0
Myanmar (Burma)MMNot tested——0
NamibiaNANot tested——0
NetherlandsNLNot tested——0
NicaraguaNINot tested——0
NigerNENot tested——0
NigeriaNGNot tested——0
North MacedoniaMKNot tested——0
NorwayNONot tested——0
OmanOMNot tested——0
PalauPWNot tested——0
PanamaPANot tested——0
Papua New GuineaPGNot tested——0
ParaguayPYNot tested——0
PeruPENot tested——0
PhilippinesPHNot tested——0
PolandPLNot tested——0
PortugalPTNot tested——0
QatarQANot tested——0
Republic of the CongoCGNot tested——0
Saudi ArabiaSANot tested——0
SenegalSNNot tested——0
SerbiaRSNot tested——0
SeychellesSCNot tested——0
Sierra LeoneSLNot tested——0
SloveniaSINot tested——0
Solomon IslandsSBNot tested——0
South AfricaZANot tested——0
South KoreaKRNot tested——0
SpainESNot tested——0
Sri LankaLKNot tested——0
St. Kitts & NevisKNNot tested——0
St. LuciaLCNot tested——0
St. Vincent & GrenadinesVCNot tested——0
SwedenSENot tested——0
TaiwanTWNot tested——0
TajikistanTJNot tested——0
TanzaniaTZNot tested——0
ThailandTHNot tested——0
TongaTONot tested——0
Trinidad & TobagoTTNot tested——0
TürkiyeTRNot tested——0
TurkmenistanTMNot tested——0
Turks & Caicos IslandsTCNot tested——0
UgandaUGNot tested——0
UzbekistanUZNot tested——0
VanuatuVUNot tested——0
VietnamVNNot tested——0
YemenYENot tested——0
ZambiaZMNot tested——0
ZimbabweZWNot 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.