Apple Banishes Lost AirPod-Tracking App from App Store

AirPods cost $159 to purchase and $69 to replace if they are lost or stolen. And common sense dictates that the pricey and relatively small wireless earbuds are very easy to misplace, or at least twice as loss-prone as traditional headphones attached to cables.

In response to this concern, Deucks developed an AirPod-tracker app that detects the Bluetooth signal strength of the lost earbud. It displays a bar that grows longer as you get closer to the wayward AirPod, letting you at least determine its general location with a limited degree of accuracy. The limitations to this solution are that it only works if the AirPods have power and are within Bluetooth detecting range.

However, AppleInsider reports that Apple has opted to pull ‘Finder for AirPods’ from its App Store just a few days after its debut. One of the app developers advised on Reddit that the app had been removed and a refund program had been established for the $3.99 app.

So far, it’s unclear what reasons Apple had for its move. According to the developer who claimed to have spoken with Apple over the phone, Cupertino “didn’t find anything wrong with the app itself, but rather they they didn’t like the ‘concept’ of people finding their AirPods and hence was deemed ‘not appropriate for the App Store.”

Apple’s decision has generated confusion given that it was initially admitted to the App Store and serves a useful purpose.