Apple is locking down the iPhone App Store to comply with a new law in China

fne8w2ah@lemmy.world to Technology@lemmy.world – 151 points –
Apple is locking down the iPhone App Store to comply with a new law in China
theverge.com
17

And Apple is getting forced to UNLOCK the iphone app store in the EU lmao

It seems Apple find it less difficult to comply with China's censorship policies than EU pro-consumer regulations.

It’s pretty simple… removing apps a country doesn’t want people to have access to doesn’t meaningfully affect Apple’s revenue

Allowing you to install things outside of their control does affect their revenue

Of course the first is less difficult for them

That doesn't make any sense at all. If 10% of apps are not getting users in china anymore then there's fewer subscriptions and in-app purchases apple is getting a cut of (and we all know the actual math will be far harsher since china has a vested interest in blocking the most popular apps)

The apps getting removed weren’t popular apps there in the first place

The most popular apps here have never been the most popular apps there

Yes, the CCP is trying to cut them off before they become popular, but it’s better for Apple to get money from the currently popular apps there

Nice of the headline not to specify this only applies to the Chinese version of the apple app store.

But then again, this is the verge, so clickbait in the norm.

Thanks for clarifying that. While still shit, it's obvious China would do that. Censorship is the norm there

China is a toxic shithole. I feel sorry for the people and culture destroyed because of the revolution.

It's not revolution when same person stays in power for decades.

This is why Taiwan (ROC) is the true China who tried their best to preserve their own culture and country as much as they could, moving artifacts and such to the island (colloquially mainlanders even call Taiwan "treasure island). The CCP were demolishing temples and artifacts as well as killing millions and people and destroying their country.

I just want to add some additional context: Taiwan existed as a nation long before the RoC fled to the island and massacred the population (look up the White Terror). There continues to be quite a bit of tension between the original population and the RoC about the national identity. I wouldn't really call Taiwan the true China. My family is native Taiwanese and I know there is a lot of anger at how their government was taken over.

Apple when Europe wants them to protect their customers vs. Apple when China wants them to lock every profitable app out

No, they treated it the same as the EU regulations and held back until the policy was effective.

But if they use that same VPN they can just access the US App Store,... The step has just been moved forward... 😅

VPNs are useless for accessing the US App Store, you need to change your Apple ID region which is even easier

This is the best summary I could come up with:


Apple’s iPhone App Store in China is getting a whole lot more locked down.

China recently updated an existing online software regulation to lay out strict criteria for app stores and apps in the country, and after looking for ways around it, Apple has started to comply.

Now, as Apple honors the regulation, it closes a loophole that had let iPhone users in China download and, with a VPN, use apps that the government there has blocked for most or all of the country, like WhatsApp, Facebook, and YouTube.

Reuters writes that, in order for an app to qualify for an ICP license, they are “effectively” required to host their back end in China.

Apple was pushing back on the requirement, but app stores from Tencent, Huawei, and others had apparently already complied with the rule.

We asked Apple for a comment and whether the rule has affected any apps yet but did not receive a response by press time.


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