Skip to main content

Apple removes apps with CallKit framework from the app store in China

Peogeo/123RF

It’s been nearly a year since Apple began removing all VPN apps from the App Store in China, and now the iEmpire is bringing down the hammer on another type of app. Following the enforcement of new regulation from the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Apple is removing apps that use the CallKit framework. This allows developers to integrate their calling services with other call-related apps, providing the calling interface but allowing developers to handle the back-end communication with their own VoIP service.

Apple has begun notifying developers who use this framework that they cannot use this functionality as per new government regulations. In order for their apps to be displayed in the app store, they’ll have to remove any CallKit features. This move doesn’t really come as a surprise, given that popular messaging app WeChat was forced to remove its own CallKit integration after implementing it very briefly.

While it’s not entirely clear why the Chinese government is disallowing CallKit, it’s likely due to the VoIP functionalities, which are generally not permitted in the nation. When Skype was removed from the app store last summer, it was for a similar issue. These VoIP services could allow users to dodge censorship and surveillance, as they make it difficult for government officials to monitor communication.

Apple has come under fire previously for bending too quickly to China’s will when it comes to app censorship. Not only have users protested the company’s seemingly quick adherence to rather far-reaching rules and regulations designed to stymie communication, but U.S. lawmakers have also expressed their displeasure — last year, senators released a letter noting that they were “concerned that Apple may be enabling the Chinese government’s censorship and surveillance of the Internet.”

Apple has also been noted to be taking down apps in China at a much faster clip than normal, as per a study in 2017. In fact, the company was seen to be removing around 58,000 apps in just a two week period, which 9to5Mac described as a “drastic increase compared to normal” around this time last year. We’ll just have to see what apps fall victim next.

Editors' Recommendations

Lulu Chang
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Fascinated by the effects of technology on human interaction, Lulu believes that if her parents can use your new app…
Apple cracks down on ChatGPT apps with harsh age ratings
App Store on-screen illustration

Apple is in a deadlock with email app BlueMail over its decision to give the app's latest update an age restriction of 17 and older due to its ChatGPT integration.

Apple is currently blocking the update because the app's developer Blix Inc. disagrees with the company's stance to give BlueMail an age restriction, having rejected the brand's update application last week, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Read more
Our 5 favorite iPhone and Android apps by Black developers
An iPhone with apps from Black developers downloaded on it.

As we wrap up the celebration of 2023's Black History Month, it remains important to recognize and appreciate the contributions that Black people have made in various fields, including technology and the smartphone apps we use every day. From social media platforms to productivity tools, Black developers and other people of color have worked hard to create innovative, useful, and just plain fun apps.

Here, we're focusing on five helpful apps developed by Black people that you should check out. These iPhone and Android apps range from ones that help you discover and support Black-owned businesses to ones that provide legal assistance in case of an emergency to ones that curate and highlight sources of news and entertainment by Black creators.
We Read Too

Read more
The EU is preparing an App Store change that Apple won’t like
App Store displayed on an iPhone 14 Pro against a pink background

The EU is narrowing its focus on Apple's App Store, a new report says. Coming from the Financial Times, which cites three sources familiar with the matter, the body now plans to focus on Apple's ban against linking to subscriptions off the App Store. The EU confirmed this report in an update to its statement of objections shared on Tuesday morning.

Where this policy might have been merely annoying at first, the color of it changed once Apple began offering competitors to rival services it had banned from advertising in the store.

Read more