Retro Pod, the viral app that recreated the look and feel of listening to music on an iPod, is no longer on the App Store.
The app was available for download starting in October 2022, but it really picked up steam in early January once it started making the rounds on TikTok. Users posted videos lauding Retro Pod for its “sweet nostalgia” and ability to bring back the tactile element of using the iPod’s click wheel.
Retro Pod rose in popularity, garnering nearly half a million downloads, but by the second week of January, The Verge reported it had vanished. TikToks about the Retro Pod received comments as early as Jan. 7 that they could no longer find the app in the App Store.
Retro Pod recreated the iPod experience.
Credit: Retro Pod / Mashable Composite
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Mashable. However, the explanation for Retro Pod’s removal from the App Store is likely right there in Apple’s App Store review guidelines. These guidelines have a strict rule against copying other apps and Apple products — in 2019, an app similar to Retro Pod called Rewound met the same fate for violating these guidelines.
Retro Pod is the latest in a series of attempts to resurrect early 2000s tech like digital cameras and flip phones, proving that technological nostalgia continues to thrive in current digital spaces like TikTok. The app may be gone from the App Store, but the driving force behind it — the desire to make the old new again — is alive and well. Besides, if you’re craving the experience of scrolling through an iPod, you can find it in browser alternatives like ipod.js, which syncs up to Spotify.
