Apple took a really embarrassing time to unfairly dismiss a simple app update

Apple has a rocky relationship with some iOS developers as it publishes arbitrary decisions about what and when and why – due to a dumb miss, by Myanmar, founder of ProtonMail and Proton VPN He is being accused of putting profits ahead of human rights. Even though it probably did not happen.

Proton founder Andy Yen writes that Apple blocked an important security update to Proton VPN software protecting the company’s privacy simply because Apple did not like the app’s details, particularly this line:

Whether it is challenging governments, educating the public, or training journalists, we have a long history of helping bring online freedom to more people around the world.

If you’re having a hard time finding anything objectionable there, you’re not alone – but Apple told Proton that “it wasn’t okay to encourage users to bypass geo-restrictions or content limitations.”

The context here is that VPNs have become an important tool for demonstrators in Myanmar to ease a huge internet crack during the country’s ongoing, bloody military coup. A researcher Told Bloomberg VPN use has increased 7,200 percent since the beginning of last month, when the government blocked Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

I’m with Daring fireballJohn Gruber on this: I highly doubt that Apple made a conscious decision to deny ProtonVPN to Myanmar – the company’s smart enough to know what it would be like, and not like it Applications Was blocked, just a security update. Yen is an outspoken critic of the App Store, now telling Congress (and The Reporter Door) How he was strengthened by Apple last year.

But this is just a security update fact that makes the rejection Extra dumb, Because apple Clearly stated Last year that it would no longer fix bugs due to violations of these arbitrary guidelines.

Regardless, Apple stops looking like the bad guy here, especially now that Proton VPN has taken the high road and cited Apple’s demands. “Due to emergencies in Myanmar, we removed language about challenging governments that Apple found objectionable, and the app was eventually approved,” Yen reveals The Reporter Door. Apple did not respond to a request for comment.

It seems that it is becoming increasingly difficult to fight, now that the antitrust scrutiny of the Apple Store has been heated up in Congress and the courts, with the Epic App Store trial starting May 3.

It doesn’t help when Apple is caught breaking its rules and needs to apologize, especially when it can be seen as retaliation against an app developer (Yen) who has previously spoken. Last year, many other developers were unwilling to come forward and admit that they were forced to add in-app purchases to their apps, especially because they feared retaliation.