The popular Ethereum wallet MetaMask left Apple’s App Store for at least an hour on Oct. 14, according to the project itself and third-party reports.
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MetaMask wrote on Twitter/X:
“FYI: We’re aware that MetaMask isn’t currently available for download on the App Store. This [is not] related to anything malicious and our team is working hard to resolve it ASAP.”
Later, MetaMask announced that its crypto wallet was “as promised, back on the Apple App Store” and apologized for the inconvenience.
MetaMask still has not provided any specific reasons for the takedown. In statements to multiple crypto news sites, a representative from MetaMask owner Consensys stated that the takedown was not related to malicious activity, a vulnerability, or the app’s functionality. They also encouraged users to report any fake MetaMask apps.
Though a status update on Apple’s App Store said that MetaMask developers took down the app, the store has rules that might have required the wallet to be removed until developers could demonstrate compliance. Apple’s App Store prohibits background processes such as crypto mining. It also has rules that prevent apps from gating content and features behind crypto payments or offering in-app crypto purchases.
It should be noted that MetaMask recently added a new feature that allows users to deposit funds through a Stripe on-ramp. However, there is no indication that this addition caused the takedown, and the platform previously offered many similar fiat on-ramps.
App stores have strict crypto policies
MetaMask has been delisted from other app stores in the past. It was briefly removed from Google’s Chrome Web Store in July 2018. Once again, no explanation was provided. However, the removal occurred just before a policy change affecting mining apps, and some speculated that the store targeted crypto apps overbroadly.
MetaMask was then delisted on Google Play in December 2019. MetaMask said that Google incorrectly claimed that the app had mining features in violation of its store policy. In both cases, MetaMask was reinstated on the app store shortly after.
Other apps have had similar troubles with Apple’s App Store. Coinbase Wallet and Trust Wallet were both briefly unavailable in 2022 before being reinstated. Uniswap also reported difficulty obtaining a listing on Apple’s App Store before April 2023.
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