Apple changes China app store rules and is expected to restrict access to foreign apps as regulatory scrutiny mounts
- Apple recently updated its app developer guidelines despite reports that some staff had raised concerns with Chinese officials
- Despite China’s internet “Great Firewall”, an Apple App Store loophole has seen Western apps accessed by Chinese netizens using VPNs
Apple has updated guidelines on its Chinese app developer website to reflect the latest government policy that requires the licensing of all apps for local users, signalling the US tech giant will once again move to comply with changing regulations amid ongoing tensions between Washington and Beijing.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the matter.
China is set to enforce a policy to address a major loophole in its ‘Great Firewall’ that allows citizens using Apple’s App Store to download and access banned foreign apps through the use of a virtual private network (VPN).
Apple recently updated its app developer guidelines despite a report by the Wall Street Journal that some staff had raised concerns with Chinese officials about the new rules, which demand that new and existing apps be licensed.
The development comes after the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) last week published a list of properly registered “app distribution platforms” on its website, with Apple – which accounted for a fourth of smartphone shipments in China in the first half of 2023 – absent.
