Apple has begun requiring new applications to show confirmation of a Chinese government license before being released on its China App Store, following in the footsteps of local competitors who had implemented the policy years earlier to comply with tighter state rules.
Apple started forcing app developers to submit the “internet content provider (ICP) filing” last Friday when they publish new applications on the App Store, according to its developer website.
An ICP file is a long-standing registration mechanism that is necessary for websites to function lawfully in China, and it has been used by most local app stores, including those managed by Tencent and Huawei, since at least 2017.
To get an ICP filing license, developers must establish a firm in China or collaborate with a Chinese publisher, which has been a barrier for many international applications.
Apple’s lax ICP policy has enabled it to sell many more mobile applications than local app competitors, boosting the US tech giant’s appeal in China, its third-largest market after the Americas and Europe.
Apple’s move comes after China tightened its regulation of mobile applications even further in August when it issued a new law mandating all app shops and app developers to submit an “app filing” detailing business facts to authorities.
Chinese officials disclosed the names of the first batch of mobile app retailers that finished app submissions last week, but Apple’s App Store was not among them.
A request for comment from Apple was not returned.
Apple’s compliance status may have an impact on the accessibility of hundreds of thousands of applications on its App Store in China, including popular foreign apps like X, previously known as Twitter, and Telegram, which gained popularity amid demonstrations over COVID-19 lockdowns last year.
As Beijing focuses more on security, Apple is also encountering other issues in China, such as certain government entities prohibiting staff from using iPhones, as Reuters reported last month.
According to Rich Bishop, CEO of AppInChina, requiring ICP files from developers gets Apple one step closer to becoming completely compliant in China.
The new regulation released in August requires an app’s backend to be hosted in China, which became a requirement last month for applications to be shown on local Android app stores.
Many developers have resorted to social media to express their displeasure with Apple’s move, believing that it may restrict limits even more to completely comply with China’s requirements.
In a post on X, Jinyu Meng, an independent developer, said, “If my apps can’t be launched in China without app filing, I will take down my apps [there].”
Some Chinese iPhone users remarked on X that they may need to start using Apple accounts from other countries to access their preferred applications.
applications that do not have correct files will be penalized after the grace period, which ends in March next year, while newly built applications must comply with the requirement beginning in September.
