Censorship of the iTunes Store

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Censorship of the iTunes Store refers to external attempts at blocking access to digital content distributed through the iTunes Store.

Contents

Australia

In 2010, the Australian Labor Party announced its intent to subject the 220,000 mobile apps available on the Australia App Store to Australian Classification Board regulations, which require that developers pay evaluation fees ranging from $470 to $2040. [1] A 2011 article in the Sydney Morning Herald clarified that "Australians will soon be able to complain about mobile game apps they take offence to and get them removed from app stores such as Apple's iTunes if they're deemed 'refused classification'. And if mobile game apps are classified anything above MA15+ and the government doesn't introduce an R18+ games classification (which it plans to vote on in July), then any game app rated over MA15+ will also be refused classification." Sentiments were also expressed over other apps: "What is unclear, however, is how the Classification Board will classify apps that aren't necessarily games like Grindr, an app for gay users which uses [GPS] to find nearby males." [2]

China

The China App Store was affected by connection-level censorship until an unknown point in time when Apple enabled a HTTPS-by-default configuration. [3] Searches for 'VPN', for example, would cause the connection to be reset. [3]

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said on 13 December 2012 that it planned to strengthen regulation of China's mobile applications market.[ citation needed ] The Shanghai-based IT Times quoted Chen Jinqiao as saying that the plans included "[bringing] app developers under supervision and [establishing] a real-name registration system for independent developers.[ citation needed ]

In 2013, Apple pulled several apps from the China App Store for containing books banned by the government. [4] [5] Several apps enabling users to bypass the Great Firewall and access restricted sites in China were also removed later. [6] The Apple News application bundled with iOS 9 is disabled in China for all users as well, of which all contents, including the articles already downloaded to the device, are not available to read in China. [7]

Apple's iBooks and iTunes Movies, available in China since September 2015, were both shut down in China in April 2016, less than seven months after the launch. [8] [9] The services were disabled by the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television of China after the authority introduced regulations imposing strict curbs on online publishing, particularly for foreign firms. [10] [11] [12] Apple said in response that they hope to restore the services in China "as soon as possible". [9] [12]

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iTunes Apples media library and media player software

iTunes is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating systems, and can be used to rip songs from CDs as well as playing content from dynamic, smart playlists. It includes options for sound optimization and wirelessly sharing iTunes libraries.

iTunes Store Digital media store

The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,000 TV shows, and 65,000 films. When it opened, it was the only legal digital catalog of music to offer songs from all five major record labels.

iLife Discontinued software suite for macOS and iOS

iLife is a discontinued software suite for macOS and iOS developed by Apple Inc. It consists of various programs for media creation, organization, editing and publishing. At various times, it included: iTunes, iMovie, iPhoto, iDVD, iWeb, and GarageBand. Only iMovie and GarageBand remain and are now freely available on Apple's Mac App Store. iDVD and iWeb have been discontinued while iTunes and iPhoto have been succeeded by Music and Photos respectively.

The iPhone is a line of smartphones produced by Apple that use Apple's own iOS mobile operating system. The first-generation iPhone was announced by then–Apple CEO Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007. Since then, Apple has annually released new iPhone models and iOS updates. As of November 1, 2018, more than 2.2 billion iPhones had been sold.

iOS Mobile operating system by Apple

iOS is a mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its smartphones. It was unveiled in January 2007 for the first-generation iPhone, launched in June 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">App Store (Apple)</span> Mobile app distribution platform by Apple

The App Store is an app marketplace developed and maintained by Apple, for mobile apps on its iOS and iPadOS operating systems. The store allows users to browse and download approved apps developed within Apple's iOS SDK. Apps can be downloaded on the iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad, and some can be transferred to the Apple Watch smartwatch or 4th-generation or newer Apple TVs as extensions of iPhone apps.

Apple ID is a user account by Apple for their devices and software. Apple IDs contain the user's personal data and settings. When an Apple ID is used to log in to an Apple device, the device will automatically use the data and settings associated with the Apple ID.

Flipboard is a news aggregator and social network aggregation company based in Palo Alto, California, with offices in New York, Vancouver, and Beijing. Its software, also known as Flipboard, was first released in July 2010. It aggregates content from social media, news feeds, photo sharing sites, and other websites, presents it in magazine format, and allows users to "flip" through the articles, images, and videos being shared. Readers can also save stories into Flipboard magazines. As of March 2016 the company claims there have been 28 million magazines created by users on Flipboard. The service can be accessed via web browser, or by a Flipboard application for Microsoft Windows and macOS, and via mobile apps for iOS and Android. The client software is available at no charge and is localized in 21 languages.

Submissions for mobile apps for iOS are subject to approval by Apple's App Review team, as outlined in the SDK agreement, for basic reliability testing and other analysis, before being published on the App Store. Applications may still be distributed ad hoc if they are rejected, by the author manually submitting a request to Apple to license the application to individual iPhones, although Apple may withdraw the ability for authors to do this at a later date.

iCloud Cloud storage and cloud computing service by Apple

iCloud is a cloud service developed by Apple Inc. Launched on October 12, 2011, iCloud enables users to store and sync data across devices, including Apple Mail, Apple Calendar, Apple Photos, Apple Notes, contacts, settings, backups, and files, to collaborate with other users, and track assets through Find My. It is built into iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, tvOS, macOS, and visionOS. iCloud may additionally be accessed through a limited web interface and Windows application.

An app store, also called an app marketplace or app catalog, is a type of digital distribution platform for computer software called applications, often in a mobile context. Apps provide a specific set of functions which, by definition, do not include the running of the computer itself. Complex software designed for use on a personal computer, for example, may have a related app designed for use on a mobile device. Today apps are normally designed to run on a specific operating system—such as the contemporary iOS, macOS, Windows, Linux or Android—but in the past mobile carriers had their own portals for apps and related media content.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Microsoft Store</span> Digital distribution platform for Microsoft Windows, Xbox One and Series X/S

The Microsoft Store is a digital distribution platform operated by Microsoft. It was created as an app store for Windows 8 as the primary means of distributing Universal Windows Platform apps. With Windows 10 1803, Microsoft merged its other distribution platforms into Microsoft Store, making it a unified distribution point for apps, console games, and digital videos. Digital music was included until the end of 2017, and E-books were included until 2019.

A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a phone, tablet, or watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop applications which are designed to run on desktop computers, and web applications which run in mobile web browsers rather than directly on the mobile device.

iTunes Connect is an Apple service that producers can use to distribute music, podcasts, movies, and TV programmes to customers on the iTunes Store and ebooks to customers on the Apple Books Store.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Google Play</span> Digital distribution service by Google

Google Play, also known as the Google Play Store or Play Store and formerly Android Market, is a digital distribution service operated and developed by Google. It serves as the official app store for certified devices running on the Android operating system and its derivatives, as well as ChromeOS, allowing users to browse and download applications developed with the Android software development kit (SDK) and published through Google. Google Play has also served as a digital media store, offering games, music, books, movies, and television programs. Content that has been purchased on Google Play Movies & TV and Google Play Books can be accessed on a web browser and through the Android and iOS apps.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apple Wallet</span> Digital wallet platform by Apple

Apple Wallet is a digital wallet developed by Apple Inc. and included with iOS and watchOS that allows users to store Wallet passes such as coupons, boarding passes, student ID cards, government ID cards, business credentials, resort passes, car keys, home keys, event tickets, public transportation passes, store cards, and – starting with iOS 8.1 – credit cards, and debit cards for use via Apple Pay.

Censorship by Apple refers to Apple Inc.'s removal, omission, or disruption of the spread of content or information from its services or subsidiaries, such as the iTunes Store and the App Store (iOS), in order to comply with Apple's company policies, legal demands, or various government censorship laws.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">OS X Mavericks</span> Tenth major release of OS X

OS X Mavericks is the 10th major release of macOS, Apple Inc.'s desktop and server operating system for Macintosh computers. OS X Mavericks was announced on June 10, 2013, at WWDC 2013, and was released on October 22, 2013, worldwide.

tvOS Operating system for the Apple TV

tvOS is an operating system developed by Apple Inc. for the Apple TV, a digital media player. In the first-generation Apple TV, Apple TV Software was based on Mac OS X. Starting with the second generation, the software is based on the iOS operating system and has many similar frameworks, technologies, and concepts.

References

  1. ↑ Bodey, Michael (16 August 2010). "Apps and games to face censor, says ALP". The Australian. Archived from the original on 6 August 2014. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
  2. ↑ Grubb, Ben (9 March 2011). "Government to censor iTunes app store". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 16 October 2013. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
  3. 1 2 Muncaster, Phil (21 December 2012). "Apple shifts iTunes to HTTPS, sidesteps China's censors". The Register. Archived from the original on 22 November 2017. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
  4. ↑ "Apple Pulls Bookstore App in China Over Illegal Content, FT Says". Bloomberg. 4 April 2013. Archived from the original on 15 January 2017. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  5. ↑ Anderlini, Jamil (4 April 2013). "Apple bars China app for 'illegal' content". Financial Times. ISSN   0307-1766. Archived from the original on 16 October 2015. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  6. ↑ Tim Hume and Feng Ke (4 October 2013). "Apple slammed in China for pulling firewall-busting app OpenDoor - CNN.com". CNN. Archived from the original on 13 May 2016. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  7. ↑ "Apple has disabled the Apple News app in China". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 26 April 2016. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  8. ↑ "Apple – Press Info – Apple Brings Apple Music, iTunes Movies & iBooks to Customers in China Starting Today". www.apple.com. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  9. 1 2 "Apple's iBooks store and iTunes movie services go dark in China". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 23 April 2016. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  10. ↑ Mozur, Paul; Perlez, Jane (21 April 2016). "Apple No Longer Immune to China's Scrutiny of U.S. Tech Firms". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on 5 January 2017. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  11. ↑ "Apple's iTunes Movies, iBooks Store reportedly shut down in China". VentureBeat. 22 April 2016. Archived from the original on 25 September 2017. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  12. 1 2 "Apple says iTunes Movies, iBooks services closed down in China". The Business Times. Archived from the original on 25 April 2016. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
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