Apple to disable access to News app in China

Those trying to access the service on a network in China are faced with an error message, the newspaper reports. The ban appears to be limited to mainland China and not Hong Kong, a special administration region of the People’s Republic.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has not said a word about the absence of Apple News support in China.

As a result, it’s not unusual for Apple to stagger the deployment of services around the world. It doesn’t matter what your physical location is, or if you have location services disabled, if you connect to a Chinese mobile network. However, the idea developed behind this move might be because the company is avoiding the many struggles that come with censoring specific articles and sources one by one, and taking the easier road by simply disabling it all together from the News app.

Western media, including the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Reuters, have invested heavily into developing Chinese language news websites. Users who have the app on their iPhones can continue to use it in other countries when they travel – except in China, according to the New York Times.

Tech companies have also been stymied by the stringent rules, which require companies to block sensitive information or content inside China.

Following the United States, China is Apple’s second largest market that generated $13 billion of revenue in the third quarter this year.

A man takes pictures as Apple iPhone 6s and 6s Plus go on sale at an Apple Store in Beijing, China September 25, 2015.

“On device censorship is much different than having your server blocked by the Great Firewall or not enabling a feature for customers with certain country iTunes account”, his post continued.

His testing suggests Apple uses the wireless network the iOS device is connected to in order to make the decision whether to freeze out Apple News or not.

The Apple News app is allegedly not being blocked in China. While the news app is only available for download in the United States, the app can function elsewhere if it is already installed by a travelling user or if the phone has a registered US number, according to Engadget.

Deciding to block Apple News itself, rather than run afoul of the Chinese government, is just the latest step in the company’s attempt to appease authorities in hopes of retaining access to the market.