App Store is once again conducting a purge of apps associated with Russian companies without warning. Following a new package of Western sanctions, a number of apps with millions of users have disappeared from the marketplace.
For example, car owners who had the "Avtodor" app on their iPhones to pay for travel on federal highways and replenish their transponder account were affected. It is associated with "GK Avtodor," which has been included in the EU sanctions lists.
The SBPey app for quick payment of goods and services via smartphone and the "Hello, World" app, which allowed instant cashback for purchases via SBP and the "Mir" card, are also no longer available in the App Store.
They are associated with the National Payment Card System (NSPK), which is the operator of the Russian payment system "Mir." NSPK has also fallen under sanctions, but from the American Ministry of Finance, and these sanctions may affect owners of "Mir" cards who are currently outside of Russia.
The banks "Avangard," Databank, Modulbank, and the International Financial Club are also under American sanctions, and their apps have also been removed from the App Store.
The mobile app of the household appliances and electronics store chain "M.Video" (part of the "M.Video-Eldorado" group) has also been removed. The "Eldorado" app, however, is still in place.
Representatives of "M.Video" and NSPK ask not to delete the apps already installed on users' iPhones, as they are still fully functional. The main thing is not to try to update them.
App Store and Removal of Russian Apps
The first mass removal of Russian mobile apps from the AppStore due to Western sanctions occurred in the spring of 2022. By the fall of 2023, some of them had returned, albeit under different names. For example, Sber and "Tinkoff" did this: their new mobile apps became known as SBOL and "Business Slova."
But at the end of November and the beginning of December 2023, the App Store and Google Play again declared war on "Gosuslugi" and other Russian apps. Ten large Russian apps with millions of users were removed. These included, for example, Russian Railways, "Home Bank," "Post Bank," "Russian Standard," "Absolut," and "All-Russian Bank for Regional Development."
While Android owners, after removing important apps from Google Play, can download programs from another large and secure app store. These are, for example, AppGallery, Galaxy Store, or the Russian analogue of Google Play called RuStore.
Owners of iOS devices have it a little harder. To restore deleted apps, they will need the iMazing utility, linked to their account. In the case of banks, the installation file of banking apps is available on their official websites.
However, soon the life of Russian "apple users" may be made easier. The Ministry of Digital Development intends to use the EU's experience with the App Store. This means that Russia will be able to oblige Apple to allow the installation of third-party apps on iOS devices from other sources.
In addition, it became known that Russia plans to create its own alternative marketplace for Apple apps. It will be called NashStore.