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This Week's News
2025-02-27
1. App Store Updates
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App Store Keyword Ranking Locked for a Week, Now Resumed Normal Update!
From February 18th to February 26th, 2025, the App Store experienced nearly a week of keyword ranking stagnation. This abnormal phenomenon has drawn high attention from developers worldwide.
On February 26th, the rankings gradually resumed. Keywords with high competition started to show ranking changes yesterday:
The ranking optimization and update effect of a certain product:
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10% Consumption Tax Withholding, Apple's Japanese Platform Tax to Take Effect in April
According to the new regulations, starting from April 1st, 2025, all non - domestic enterprises that provide electronic services to Japanese consumers through digital platforms must have the platform withhold and remit a 10% consumption tax (Japan Consumption Tax, JCT). This reform echoes the EU's "Digital Services Tax" (DST) and the OECD's "Pillar One" plan, marking Japan's comprehensive plugging of tax loopholes in cross - border digital services.
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iOS 18.4 Beta 1 Released, with Multiple Function Updates
On February 21st, Apple pushed the first beta version of iOS 18.4 to developers. Ordinary users can also experience it after joining the test program. This version brings many new features, such as "Priority Notifications", which enables Apple Intelligence to intelligently identify and prioritize important notifications; Apple Intelligence adds support for Simplified Chinese, French, German, and other languages; the iPadOS 18.4 Mail app adds a categorization function; Apple Maps adds a preferred language setting; and the Podcast widget is updated.
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Apple News to Launch a Food Section in April, with a Vast Array of Recipes at Your Fingertips
Starting from April this year, with the system updates of iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4, the Apple News app will add a food section. It will have a searchable and filterable recipe catalog, featuring thousands of recipes from well-known food media and updated daily. It also has a "Cooking Mode", and saved recipes support offline viewing.
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Google Upgrades "Results about you" Tool to Protect Personal Information Security
On February 26th, Google announced the upgrade of the "Results about you" tool. It can scan personal information such as phone numbers and home addresses in search results and help users quickly remove this information. This update simplifies the registration process and also actively monitors the network. When search results containing users' personal information are found, it will actively alert users.
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Qualcomm and Google Collaborate to Ensure 8 - Year System Updates
Starting from mobile phones equipped with the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, Qualcomm and Google will collaborate to provide up to 8 years of Android system updates and security patches. This plan utilizes Qualcomm's application - specific integrated circuit (ASIC) and Google's Project Treble architecture, making it easier for manufacturers to conduct OTA updates, and it covers the next five generations of SoCs.
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Amazon Android App Store to Close on August 20th, Business to Be Phased Out
The Amazon Android App Store will officially close on August 20th, 2025. Starting from February 20th, 2025, new apps will no longer be accepted for submission. After August 20th, app updates on third - party Android devices will no longer be possible. In Japan, customers will not be able to perform in - app purchases on Android devices. In other countries, this service will continue until the closing date. Amazon's virtual currency, "Amazon Coins", will also stop being used on the same day.
(Original link to the notice content for Amazon Appstore Developer: Upcoming Changes to Amazon Appstore for Android Devices and Other Programs)
2. Dynamics of major application rankings
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Tencent's "Yuanbao" Function Upgraded, Download Volume Ranks Second in China
Data on February 22nd showed that, thanks to Tencent's powerful advertising push capabilities, Tencent's AI application "Yuanbao" rose to the second place on the free APP download ranking list in the Chinese region of the Apple App Store, second only to DeepSeek. Since February, Tencent Yuanbao has been updated several times, accessing the DeepSeek - R1 model, launching the Hunyuan T1 model, and adding the ability to understand picture information, continuously enhancing its functions.Tencent's "Yuanbao" is currently only available in China.
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xAI's Grok App Tops the US App Store, Grok 3 Free Service
On February 20th, local time, Grok App from Elon Musk's AI company xAI rose to the top of the free App list in the US App Store, surpassing ChatGPT. On the same day, xAI announced that the "world's smartest AI" system, Grok 3, would be free to the public.
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TikTok Returns to the US App Store, Download Volume Surges While Competitors Decline
On February 21st, according to UPUP data, after TikTok returned to the US App Store, its daily download volume surged by over 100% compared to before the delisting. The download volumes of competitors such as YouTube, Snap, Facebook, and Instagram collectively declined. Among them, the download volume of Xiaohongshu (rednote) plummeted by 91% within 5 days. However, the daily active users of "Xiaohongshu" in the US are still 1/4 higher than before. Appfigures predicts that due to the delisting, TikTok has lost approximately $142 million in in - app purchase revenue in the US.
Navigation
1. App Store Updates
App Store Keyword Ranking Locked for a Week, Now Resumed Normal Update!
10% Consumption Tax Withholding, Apple's Japanese Platform Tax to Take Effect in April
iOS 18.4 Beta 1 Released, with Multiple Function Updates
Apple News to Launch a Food Section in April, with a Vast Array of Recipes at Your Fingertips
Google Upgrades "Results about you" Tool to Protect Personal Information Security
Qualcomm and Google Collaborate to Ensure 8 - Year System Updates
Amazon Android App Store to Close on August 20th, Business to Be Phased Out
2. Dynamics of major application rankings
Tencent's "Yuanbao" Function Upgraded, Download Volume Ranks Second in China
xAI's Grok App Tops the US App Store, Grok 3 Free Service
TikTok Returns to the US App Store, Download Volume Surges While Competitors Decline
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