Apple’s compliance with China app rules plugs censorship loophole, creates new obstacles for developers

Toughened requirements on which apps Apple can offer in China are set to make it difficult for locals to download Instagram, YouTube
The rule affects not just censored foreign apps, but also apps that target Chinese users, but do not have local operations

Apple

Dylan Butts

Published: 8:00am, 15 Oct 2023

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Apple’s move to require developers to apply for Chinese government licensing before their apps can be made available in its app store in the country will close one of Beijing’s censorship loopholes, but also make life harder for developers, according to analysts and users.

For many years, users like Alex, a 28 year old in southern China’s Guangzhou city, have bought iPhones to regularly browse Instagram and YouTube, apps that are blocked by China’s “Great Firewall”, but downloadable from the Chinese iOS store. By using a virtual private network (VPN), Alex was able to access content on those apps.

While VPNs are increasingly hard to find in China, Alex, who declined to disclose his full name for fear of prosecution, said the effort is worth it because it allows him to experience a more diverse set of views and information than he can get from local apps.

Alex’s discreet hobby is not uncommon. Banned foreign apps commonly rack up millions of downloads on the mainland Chinese iOS Store, often by younger demographics seeking to connect overseas or circumvent web censorship.

During widespread protests in China over pandemic restrictions late last year, X – formerly Twitter – and Telegram briefly became two of the country’s top trending apps. In 2023, Google Chrome has led the pack so far, already downloaded about 7 million times, while Instagram and X both reached 5 million downloads, according to data from app market intelligence provider Sensor Tower.

An Apple store on Nanjing Road shopping street in Shanghai, China. Photo: Bloomberg

But iPhone users in China could soon lose this virtual window. Following the country tightening its app regulation last year, Apple has recently begun asking app developers targeting mainland users to show proof of licensing from local internet regulators, in the US giant’s latest move to comply with censorship laws in one of its most lucrative markets.

Experts predict that Apple will soon start retroactively removing apps unlikely to be licensed, such as Instagram, Google and X. While some of these platforms are also reachable through web browsers using a VPN, Alex said the policy change would complicate his usage of the foreign-based platforms.

Meanwhile, many other services – such as WhatsApp, which has been steadily gaining traction in China – can only be accessed through an app.

A key change to Apple’s policy is the need for apps to receive an Internet Information Provider (ICP) licence from Chinese regulators, which effectively requires all apps to use a mainland domain and be hosted by a local entity, according to Chinese app developers familiar with the process.

“It’s already having a big impact on the space,” said Samuel Jesse, founder and digital director of Digital Creative Asia, a Shanghai-based digital product and user experience agency.

The rule affects not just censored foreign apps, but also apps that target Chinese users, but do not have local operations, said Jesse, adding that small, independent developers are likely to face the most difficulties.

He said that Digital Creative Asia has been advising foreign clients who wish to remain on Apple’s app store on how they can host their apps in China, or create a Chinese-focused version of their app that is separate from the global version.

The second option has not always worked out.

Professional networking platform LinkedIn created a Chinese compliant version of its app with strict content filters in 2021, but it gave up on the effort earlier this year.

The LinkedIn headquarters in Mountain View, California. Photo: AP Photo

Other app developers have been seeking to partner with local publishers that offer app hosting services in China for a fee.

One such publishing firm, AppInChina, has seen inquiries to act as a China-based proxy surge since Apple updated its developer guidelines and began preventing unlicensed apps from launching updates, according to CEO Rich Bishop.

Small local developers have also voiced frustrations with app filing requirements, warning that they increase costs and hinder a common business model of quickly launching apps and innovating over time through rapid updates.

Aside from the ICP licensing, the apps will likely need to satisfy a multitude of censorship policies and standards, such as various data transfer laws ramped up in 2021.

Additional and more restrictive licensing also exists in China for apps containing materials related to games, books, magazines, religion and news.

The South China Morning Post, owned by Hangzhou-based tech conglomerate Alibaba Group Holding, has an app currently available on the Chinese iOS store, but its content is blocked by the country’s firewall.

For years, Apple had resisted falling in line with its local competitors’ more restrictive app development policies, in part, by carrying out special requests from Chinese regulators to remove specific controversial apps.

But in August last year, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) updated its app provider policy, asking app distribution platforms to submit certain information to the authority for registration, and stipulating that app stores should actively police their products and refuse to upload apps that “contain illegal or bad information”.

Apple had been meeting with Chinese officials over the policy, according to a Wall Street Journal report. Still, the CAC in late September released a list of registered app stores, with the Californian company notably absent. Officials said that failure to register between September to March would result in punishment.

Soon after, Apple began mandating ICP licences from app developers.

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How China censors the internet

Another side effect of the CAC’s requirements is that they could shrink the number of apps available in China – seen by some as an indicator of the health of a country’s digital economy.

China’s Apple App Store currently has the largest amount of app offerings out of all platforms in the country, with about 21 per cent of its 5,000 most downloaded apps published by foreign developers, according to data from Sensor Tower.

That data does not account for people who downloaded apps through iOS stores set to other regions, or from third-party platforms.

Kareem Abdelkader, an Egyptian working in Shanghai, said he was able to continue to access and update banned apps such as Instagram from China by keeping his Apple ID regional settings in Egypt.

In general, users who want to change their App Store regional settings are required to provide a payment method accepted by the region they are switching to, which can complicate the process.

However, Tanya, a 28-year-old social media manager in Shanghai who only gave the Post her first name, said she was able to purchase a US Apple ID online, and used it to download a VPN and access Instagram, YouTube and WhatsApp. Having to constantly switch between accounts was annoying though, she added.

“There will definitely remain loopholes that citizens [in China], especially the more tech savvy of them, will find to use these apps,” Abraham Yousef, senior insights analyst at Sensor Tower, said.

“Still, I do expect a drop-off in this usage, with the tightened policy presenting a more significant barrier to entry, with users less likely to find the apps in the first place,” he added.

– Additional reporting by Yuke Xie and Meredith Chen

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