An app turning your iPhone into an iPod was naturally going to be a hit. Isn’t it? Well, that was the case with the Retro Pod app that started going viral in December with the help of Tik Tok.
Let’s find out the reason why it was pulled down by the Apple app store.
The app was available for download starting in October 2022 but it started going viral when the users started posting videos claiming Retro Pod as ‘sweet nostalgia’. Videos featuring the app got almost 5 million views and caught the attention of many.
Happy birthday, iPod!
Try out retroPod on the Play Store if you want a taste of the iPod! 🤩 https://t.co/0LLwDY0JTH pic.twitter.com/UwrcW6SYSV— @[email protected] (@Futur3Sn0w) October 23, 2022
YALL GOTTA STOP WHAT YALL DOING AND CHECK THIS OUT!!!! There’s an app that turns your music into a CLASSIC IPOD!!!! It’s called “RetroPod” and it’s FREE in the app store!!!!! pic.twitter.com/hEBqNPYHFj
— kenny jones (@relientkenny) January 2, 2023
But certainly, it grabbed the wrong attention also as by the second week of January, viewers started complaining that they couldn’t find the app. Clearly, Retro Pod had disappeared from the App store.
It is not officially confirmed by Apple why the app was removed. But the company has an explicit rule against apps that replicate Apple products. Though Retro Pod had a good run – it was able to work with users’ Apple music library. The app received 450,000 total downloads on iOS according to Sensor Tower including 275,000 in the first week of this month. It peaked at number 11 among the other music apps on the App store before it was apparently removed. Retro Pod was even able to go through five updates since October but according to Apple’s app store rules, if an app is ever going to replicate the iPod experience for iOS users, they need the approval of Apple.
Just because of this Retro Pod has also become a victim like other apps which have been pulled down as emulating Apple products is a big no on the app store.
