--- title: Russia and Belarus are losing their apps - The Hustle description: Publishers are pulling their apps from Russia’s App Store left and right. image: https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1903056922-News-Brief_2022-03-18T000703.837Z.webp --- # Russia and Belarus are losing their apps ![Juliet Bennett Rylah](https://53.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/53/assets/hubspot.com/web-team/WBZ/HubSpot%20Media/Blog%202021/Images/Nav/Optimized/TheHustle_Icon_Dark.svg) [Juliet Bennett Rylah](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/author/juliet-bennett-rylah) [Juliet Bennett Rylah Twitter profile ](https://twitter.com/JBRylah) Published: March 18, 2022 Updated: October 11, 2023 Since Putin’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, [numerous](https://som.yale.edu/story/2022/over-400-companies-have-withdrawn-russia-some-remain) companies have shut down business in Russia, including McDonald’s, Netflix, and [Upwork](https://thehustle.co/03162022-digital-gig-economy/). ![Russia and Belarus are losing their apps](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hs-fs/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1903056922-News-Brief_2022-03-18T000703.837Z.webp?width=595&height=400&name=1903056922-News-Brief_2022-03-18T000703.837Z.webp) Some of these moves are now apparent on Apple’s App Store. Apple regularly [removes](https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/09/apple-promises-to-clean-up-the-app-store-by-removing-old-outdated-apps/) old and outdated apps. In the 1st 2 weeks of February, ~3.4k apps disappeared from both the US and Russian App Stores, [per](https://techcrunch.com/2022/03/15/russias-app-store-lost-nearly-7k-apps-since-its-invasion-of-ukraine-but-some-big-tech-apps-remain/) *TechCrunch*. #### **But between Feb. 24 and March 14…** - ~7k apps vanished from Russia’s App Store, a 105% increase. - Russian ally Belarus also saw a 73% increase in App Store removals. Gone are several gaming, health, music, and productivity apps — plus, loyalty apps for brands no longer doing business in Russia. Yet, there is one type of app that’s super hot right now: VPNs, which Russians are likely using to get around Putin’s [ban](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/12/russians-seek-to-evade-social-media-ban-with-virtual-private-networks) on [social media](https://thehustle.co/02252022-russia-ukraine-conflict/). The top 10 VPN apps saw 4.2m installs in those same 2 weeks, a **2.2k%+** increase. Topics: [Apps](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/tag/apps) ## Follow us on social media prev next - ![Screen time slowing you down? Try ‘monk mode’](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1516654296-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-MonkMode_20231004230113.webp) ### Screen time slowing you down? Try ‘monk mode’ - ![Yelp vs. fake reviews](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1980373282-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-yelp_20230925214718.webp) ### Yelp vs. fake reviews - ![Do dating apps decide who we get to date?](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1112282225-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-dating-app_20230822212519.webp) ### Do dating apps decide who we get to date? - ![Sherlocking, explained](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1113427454-httpsthe-hustle.hubspot.comhubfsDaily20Newsletter20ImagesMay2016202023sherlock.webp) ### Sherlocking, explained - ![The next big app is here — until it isn’t](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1978269103-final_size-apps_20230426005628.webp) ### The next big app is here — until it isn’t - ![Why do our weather apps betray us?](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/680786209-19-News-Brief_2023-04-12T221618.806Z.webp) ### Why do our weather apps betray us? - ![Whether or not it’s the answer we want, Microsoft has one for Zoom fatigue](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/999514725-httpsthe-hustle.hubspot.comhubfsDaily20Newsletter20ImagesMarch2028202023microsoft_teams.webp) ### Whether or not it’s the answer we want, Microsoft has one for Zoom fatigue - ![Whatever happened to Groupon?](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/GIFs/885947250-httpsthe-hustle.hubspot.comhubfsDaily20Newsletter20ImagesApril203202023groupongif.webp) ### Whatever happened to Groupon? - ![Do we need another newsreader?](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1969515777-HS-News-Brief_2023-02-01T015321.243Z.webp) ### Do we need another newsreader? - ![Can Zmail become the new Gmail?](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1987875948-HS-News-Brief_2022-11-22T234553.739Z.webp) ### Can Zmail become the new Gmail? 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