Apple bite

Apple has removed all VK applications from its store. So what now?

Apple removed VK apps from the App Store, including Zen, once purchased from Yandex, and the VK Messenger (Max) messenger, which the state tried to impose with great effort on Russians. Against this backdrop, shares of the already unprofitable Russian company fell to a historical low, which is not surprising: applications are one of the main access points to services. Officials propose switching to Android, and rumors about a ban on iPhone have appeared on the Internet.

To be honest, regardless of the legality and decency of the removal procedure itself, I just want to gloat. They got what they deserved. There is no need to create malicious software that spies on users. Dreams of how all citizens would use a controlled messenger were dashed by harsh reality.

But there are questions about the procedure. Apple explains the removal of applications by sanctions, but VK still did not fall under them. Given the paucity of external communications, details are unknown. At the same time, applications for bypassing blocking are disappearing from the same App Store, which causes logical complaints from the already liberal public. Moreover, they do not disappear on their own, but at the request of Roskomnadzor. I would like to ask the company the question “where is the logic?”, but the chances that it will remain unanswered are too high. Most likely, we are talking about some kind of threat of secondary sanctions or simply a broad interpretation of compliance rules.

Okay, what about Android? Is it possible to consider devices running this OS in its many reincarnations as a real alternative? Of course not. Firstly, everything is not so smooth there: the state messenger is also being promoted in local application stores (the latest news is that it is no longer available on Huawei devices). Secondly, all the money is in iOS. Look at the cream of society - they all have iPhones. Nobody wants to switch to Android. The consequences are logical: Yabloko residents pay more and buy applications or virtual goods more often.

Yes, there is a small group of wealthy owners of top models from Google, but for the most part, an Android user is not the most luxurious owner of a not-so-expensive device. A bitten apple has been an object of desire since the creation of the world.

So maybe we should ban it? As in the best traditions! But there are difficulties here. According to formal criteria, Apple products are already illegal: devices are not officially sold, there is no support or service, the functionality of Russian accounts is significantly limited. It’s unclear how to annoy the manufacturer without shooting yourself in the foot. Of course, you can order carriers to block all iPhones—cellular providers can see the type of device, and that would probably not be difficult. But this would be a disaster worse than blocking the Internet. Despite the fact that Apple users are in the minority in quantitative terms, the question about the quality of the audience described above will be critical.

Of course, you can start acting “within the law”, accuse Apple of all mortal sins, recognize it as something undesirable, or issue a fine, like Google, with the number of zeros as characters in this text. But this won't help either.

We have to admit: sovereignty, which implied comfortable isolation from the whole world and the ability to behave like a pig, has failed. National app stores are pointless, all attempts to create your own device codenamed "iPhone killer" have failed. The state, which is so proud of its bonds, found itself hostage to Western companies. This is not Iran or even North Korea or China. Russia, in its diversity, has turned out to be diversified here too. With all the inconveniences, whoever needs it works.

Yes, you won’t envy ordinary users who don’t want to fight the surrounding reality. Some have collections of music or photographs, others depend on sanctioned banks, for others, a seemingly banal change of region is an unbearable stress.

But this, alas, is the cost of the current situation.

The further development of events seems no less boring and obvious. Sanctions against Apple will remain on paper and will not affect ordinary people; it makes no sense to seriously consider device restrictions on the part of operators. Of course, the championship of shooting yourself in the foot continues, but it is worth remembering that the endurance of the limbs is limited. Roblox is a good example of this. And the anger of Russian officials about this is just a reason to laugh. There are no tools left except verbal interventions.

It’s worth clarifying: deleting applications and some minor regional restrictions are, in fact, trifles compared to what Google and Apple are really capable of. Turning most of the devices located on Russian territory into “bricks” is a piece of cake.

By and large, all this is not about technology at all. Current events are a clear demonstration that an attempt to isolate oneself from the outside world is doomed to failure. Actually, there is nothing new in this idea, it was immediately clear, but, probably, some people needed to get their head around it to be convinced of this. Are you satisfied?

Beyond sympathy for the little person who is forced to endure all these hardships of life, formally there are no regrets. What has happened now and in the near future is not force majeure, not a natural disaster, but an absolutely man-made process. So, to pretend to be offended is, to put it mildly, strange: this is an absolutely natural result of state policy.

Perhaps the most interesting storyline is the future of Mail.ru Group, which includes VK. The deprivation of such a serious distribution point is a very big blow. It is unclear how the company will develop without access to the most popular application store, without any push notifications and other joys. 183 rubles per share, apparently, is not the limit. Moreover, there is also Google, which can follow its colleagues and begin to clean up the Play Store, the second largest platform. If the wings start being cut there too, there are no prospects at all.

It’s also worth paying attention to other services, one way or another affiliated with the state, that are still available in app stores. As always, everything is like in a fairy tale: the further you go, the scarier it gets. And the ending is predictable: the old woman wanted to become the mistress of the sea, but now she sits at nothing. And you can’t even download the goldfish app.