There is too much left to-be-determined in the legislation to really know if it could cause Apple to do anything special. If the state-mandated apps were not subject to Apple’s review/approval process, then that would be a deal-breaker, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.
My bet is that all of the tech companies cave, including Apple, and do not pull out of Russia. But it would be nice if Apple could implement some technology into the OS that when one deletes an app, it does a true cleanup and would delete any accompanying spyware, Trojan horses, etc. I could live with that compromise because users could simply delete the apps they don't like and still feel secure.
“A mandate to add third-party applications to Apple’s ecosystem would be equivalent to jailbreaking [gaining unauthorized access to a device’s file system]. It would pose a security threat, and the company cannot tolerate that kind of risk,” a source within Apple told the newspaper Kommersant in April of 2019. Company representatives have said they do not consider the Russian market to be strategically significant and might therefore leave that market entirely if the pre-installation law passes.
Of course Apple may always choose to stay instead.
What are locally made apps? All Apple apps are localised in Russian language. So open an office if there isn't any, and say that the OS has been partly developed in Russia.
If Apple has to open up the OS to include third party apps as primary installed apps, who would choose those apps? Does it have to be equivalent apps to Apple own apps? Like a Russian Music app, TV app, etc. Or can Apple just develop a few Apps in Russia and put those on the Phone?
There is too much left to-be-determined in the legislation to really know if it could cause Apple to do anything special. If the state-mandated apps were not subject to Apple’s review/approval process, then that would be a deal-breaker, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.
” A mandate to add third-party applications to Apple’s ecosystem would be equivalent to jailbreaking [gaining unauthorized access to a device’s file system]. It would pose a security threat, and the company cannot tolerate that kind of risk,” This from a source within Apple.
Pretty clear Apple wouldn’t be allowed to block required apps.
Time for Apple to refuse to comply.
Edit: Short of an iPhone Police, how would this be enforced? Sure, some people will “trust” the Russian leadership to the hilt (look what’s happening in the good old USA!), but we’re talking about millions of iPhones that can be bought outside of Russia then brought in.
I suppose the government could walk around and ping passing phones, thus spotting those that don’t have their software. But that’s pretty conclusive proof of government-installed crap in itself.
Methinks Putin may have overplayed his Big Brother hand on this one....
This can be managed. If this sets a precedent that spreads into other locales I suppose Apple could implement a locale-specific virtual machine inside iOS that hosts all of the mandated local apps. These local apps would run inside a managed and monitored sandbox that is isolated from the native OS and must communicate to the OS using standard, encrypted, far-model based communication schemes rather than local (near-model) calls. The performance and quality of service that these locale-specific apps receive would be less than built-in apps but probably still quite good because all of Apple's iOS platforms are quite robust so the additional overhead would be tolerable. the native OS's hypervisor would monitor the interaction behaviors of the locale-specific apps and if anything unusual occurs, kill the suspect virtual machine. This sounds rather restrictive, but it's actually a very common architectural pattern used in many systems that provide app, container, virtual machine, etc., hosting services and high-availability computing architectures.
True. The alternative is better support for multiple simultaneously active AppStore accounts. Then machines would be delivered with the “government mandated apps account” activated and apps preinstalled. Users can then install additional apps using their own account, can delete preinstalled apps, and even log out of the government apps account. Only prerequisite would be that the apps pass Apple’s AppStore guidelines. If not, it would be a problem, and I hope Apple would rather pull out raising a major stink about it than quietly subject Russian users to government spyware. The loss of sales would be minimal, as nobody can stop private purchases in foreign countries and gray market imports, given the poverty in Russia outside a few big cities, the number of people without access to alternative sources for Apple products would be rather minimal.
We will build a new wall... a wall made of bits and bytes. We will control everything you hear, read, and think. There will be no dissidents. We will keep you safe.
the article and commenters are leaping to some conclusions which just make them seem like cold war hold outs.
where does the legislation say that specific state sponsored applications must be used.
it just says apps written in russia. not one speci ifi
Putin has restarted the cold war. Other folks than you have noticed that.
So you have looked at the actual legislation? You know for a fact that it doesn't specify which apps? Just because the article doesn't say one way or the other? Yeah, right.
the article and commenters are leaping to some conclusions which just make them seem like cold war hold outs.
where does the legislation say that specific state sponsored applications must be used.
it just says apps written in russia. not one speci ifi
Putin has restarted the cold war. Other folks than you have noticed that.
Exactly. Russia is a hostile actor again -- invading its neighbors, cyber-attacking foreign infrastructure, attempting to murder people on foreign soil, tightening down on its own people, and attempting to screw with elections in the free world. These are the facts, not even opinions. Russia is a hostile state.
Hey Ukraine - denuke and we’ll defend you. Oops- perhaps they will in the next 4 or 8 years. Dunno (F’U I got re-elected). Hillary got your back as long as some moron in her staff can’t read English and not hand his password to bad people
There would be a course in free thinking universities in the Communist Manifesto if it wasn’t so alligned with the common “press” or the DNC. As much as you hate on political think of the other side, read “We the living” It happened and will happen once more if your will be done.
Hey Ukraine - denuke and we’ll defend you. Oops- perhaps they will in the next 4 or 8 years. Dunno (F’U I got re-elected). Hillary got your back as long as some moron in her staff can’t read English and not hand his password to bad people
There would be a course in free thinking universities in the Communist Manifesto if it wasn’t so alligned with the common “press” or the DNC. As much as you hate on political think of the other side, read “We the living” It happened and will happen once more if your will be done.
This is some of the worst attempts at both sides do it I've seen in a while. One presidency had been constantly critical of Putin, implemented sanctions, deployed missile defense (of which this was the context of the video where two powers were negotiating) to another presidency which can't stop praising Putin, is undoing sanctions, pressures Russia's enemies and what should be US allies, and is actively weakening NATO. But sure both sides because of a video and ignoring the mountain of actual actions.
I don't see Apple casing to this. Apple doesn't put 3rd party crapware on their phones. So I can't see how Apple would cave to Russia for this. People can install Russian apps themselves if they want, but creating laws line this is going way too far.
Hey Ukraine - denuke and we’ll defend you. Oops- perhaps they will in the next 4 or 8 years. Dunno (F’U I got re-elected). Hillary got your back as long as some moron in her staff can’t read English and not hand his password to bad people
There would be a course in free thinking universities in the Communist Manifesto if it wasn’t so alligned with the common “press” or the DNC. As much as you hate on political think of the other side, read “We the living” It happened and will happen once more if your will be done.
This is some of the worst attempts at both sides do it I've seen in a while. One presidency had been constantly critical of Putin, implemented sanctions, deployed missile defense (of which this was the context of the video where two powers were negotiating) to another presidency which can't stop praising Putin, is undoing sanctions, pressures Russia's enemies and what should be US allies, and is actively weakening NATO. But sure both sides because of a video and ignoring the mountain of actual actions.
You are the one who claims “both sides” blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. Your politician wants a reset button and not deploying missile defense in a former WWII free state and now formerly annexed nation, now declared free while being invaded the non-non-soviet state. Do your molars smell and taste of shit? Yes, weakening NATO by ACTUALLY holding charter members to account when they don’t hold true to the treaty.
Any US leader that sucks up to Putin won't get my vote.
What about one who sucks up to China? They get a pass right? Pick your battles wisely. The west needed Russia as an ally, but instead, you painted them as the boogyman and bolstered the Russia/China alliance. Not a good move.
Comments
https://meduza.io/en/feature/2019/11/07/why-is-the-duma-working-to-mandate-pre-installed-russian-made-apps-on-all-devices-sold-in-russia-the-answer-isn-t-as-simple-as-you-d-think
Of course Apple may always choose to stay instead.
Re: Apple vetting the software, from the article:
” A mandate to add third-party applications to Apple’s ecosystem would be equivalent to jailbreaking [gaining unauthorized access to a device’s file system]. It would pose a security threat, and the company cannot tolerate that kind of risk,” This from a source within Apple.
Pretty clear Apple wouldn’t be allowed to block required apps.
Time for Apple to refuse to comply.
Edit: Short of an iPhone Police, how would this be enforced? Sure, some people will “trust” the Russian leadership to the hilt (look what’s happening in the good old USA!), but we’re talking about millions of iPhones that can be bought outside of Russia then brought in.
I suppose the government could walk around and ping passing phones, thus spotting those that don’t have their software. But that’s pretty conclusive proof of government-installed crap in itself.
Methinks Putin may have overplayed his Big Brother hand on this one....
Users can then install additional apps using their own account, can delete preinstalled apps, and even log out of the government apps account.
Only prerequisite would be that the apps pass Apple’s AppStore guidelines. If not, it would be a problem, and I hope Apple would rather pull out raising a major stink about it than quietly subject Russian users to government spyware.
The loss of sales would be minimal, as nobody can stop private purchases in foreign countries and gray market imports, given the poverty in Russia outside a few big cities, the number of people without access to alternative sources for Apple products would be rather minimal.
I mean hail USSR. The old wall fell...
We will build a new wall... a wall made of bits and bytes. We will control everything you hear, read, and think. There will be no dissidents. We will keep you safe.
.....Walk away Apple. Walk away.
So you have looked at the actual legislation? You know for a fact that it doesn't specify which apps? Just because the article doesn't say one way or the other? Yeah, right.
Facts are stubborn things...
Hey Ukraine - denuke and we’ll defend you. Oops- perhaps they will in the next 4 or 8 years. Dunno (F’U I got re-elected). Hillary got your back as long as some moron in her staff can’t read English and not hand his password to bad people
There would be a course in free thinking universities in the Communist Manifesto if it wasn’t so alligned with the common “press” or the DNC. As much as you hate on political think of the other side, read “We the living” It happened and will happen once more if your will be done.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QS2a44F5TgM The 80s called.... Is Russia still a country?
The west needed Russia as an ally, but instead, you painted them as the boogyman and bolstered the Russia/China alliance. Not a good move.