Apple iOS News App In China Inaccessible; Cause Of Unavailability Determined?

With the strict censorship currently imposed in the largest Asian country, the American computer company decided to disable the all-new Apple iOS's News app in China, New York Times reports.

Formerly the Newsstand, the News app is one of the latest features rolled out in latest software update which is the iOS 9, released on Sept. 30. With the application, users can get all the latest headlines at the touch of their fingertips from top news sources such as New York Times, CNN, Wired, and ESPN. It also supports RSS feeds from Safari, ensuring that Apple users will never fail to get the latest updates from their current subscriptions.

The company hasn't released any statement yet regarding the disabled status of Apple iOS's New app in China, but a clear theory is that its developers would rather disable the application altogether instead of dealing with so many issues regarding the country's censorship of certain US websites and applications such as Facebook and Instagram, according to Engadget.

Also, it doesn't matter if your iPhone is registered in US - as long as you're staying in the said country, you cannot access Apple iOS's News app in China. Visitors are greeted with a popup message that the app is not supported in the country whenever they try to access it within Chinese borders. The disability is no longer a government move but from the company itself, according to Quartz.

Also, Apple automatically disables regular data from another application which is Maps when the user is in China, and it is replaced with government-approved map information. If the company's goal for disabling Apple iOS's News app in China is for them to continue selling their devices in the country, they are quite successful.

However time may come that the government may ask Apple to disable other applications as well that they seem to find threatening to the nation's current political status.