Microsoft has confirmed that Skype has been "temporarily removed" from the App Store on iPhone and iPad, according to a statement given to The New York Times.
Apple told The New York Times that it was forced to remove a number of voice and video calling apps from the App Store in China to comply with laws in the country.
We have been notified by the Ministry of Public Security that a number of voice over internet protocol apps do not comply with local law. Therefore these apps have been removed from the app store in China. These apps remain available in all other markets where they do business.
Skype has been unavailable on the App Store since at least late October, according to users on Twitter and other websites. The service appears to function normally still for users who have already installed the app.
Skype is the latest victim of China's strict internet filters, colloquially known as the Great Firewall. Earlier this year, Apple was forced to remove many VPN apps from the App Store in China due to regulations, while other apps affected in the past or present include WhatsApp, Facebook, Snapchat, and Twitter.
Microsoft wouldn't comment on why Skype is also unavailable on at least a few major third-party Android app stores. Many of Google's services, including Gmail and YouTube, have been blocked in China for several years.
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Top Rated Comments
Cook can criticize the president of US but doesn’t even argue with China.
Just something to think about
I’m not gonna chime in much in this thread I’m in like every pol one (of my own will)
No vpn? Fine
No skype? Fine
Makes you wonder how much of a fight they put up on the backend for users privacy here in the US, something Tim Cook loves to boast about as a brand differentiator
I think it’s time for a new person to run Apple
Tim is the swamp
Let's be honest - the US isn't the world's overlord and we're guilty of many many of our own abuses right here at home as well as many questionable things we've done abroad. Want to see "the swamp?" It's in every American mirror because we've never demanded anything differently because it was "keeping us safe," "manifest destiny" or any other number of catchphrases that we used to excuse our actions.
[doublepost=1511279099][/doublepost]That's because Cook is an American citizen and that's kind of part of Americans' civic duty. That doesn't mean we have the right to demand squat from any other nation or its leaders.
[doublepost=1511279196][/doublepost]The app isn't on the store. They didn't break the encryption. Major fundamental difference. That's like saying since the US doesn't nationally allow people to smoke pot, somehow it's lost its effects in Amsterdam and people can't get high there.
Given all this anti-encryption frenzy in China (I was present there when WhatsApp suddenly stopped working in the end of September) I am wondering how supposedly end-to-end encrypted iMessages are still allowed.
[doublepost=1511273381][/doublepost]Because those requests have a sound legal basis in that country. There are laws that say that pretty much every entity (a person or a company) has to comply with security services and facilitate intelligence gathering as per their request.