Why Apple Removed RSS Reader Apps From Chinese App Store

Apple has removed some RSS reader apps from the Chinese App Store in order to comply with the Asian country's local laws, a report reveals.

Developers of two RSS reader apps, namely Fiery Feeds and Reeder, tweeted that Apple informed them that their iOS apps will be removed from the Chinese App Store. The revelation came after the devs replied to a 2017 tweet from the people behind Inoreader, an RSS reader app that was removed from the same App Store years ago.

Fiery Feeds and Reeder tweeted that they received the same notice Apple sent to Inoreader years ago. The notice read:

“We are writing to notify your that your application will be removed from the China App Store because it includes content that is illegal in China, which is not in compliance with the App Store Review Guidelines.”

The notice didn't really specify what kind of content is prohibited or banned in China. It did, however, say that “apps that solicit, promote, or encourage criminal or clearly reckless behavior will be rejected.”

Why remove them?

TechCrunch explained that Apple had to remove the apps from its China App Store because they allow content from third-party websites to bypass the country's infamous Great Firewall. By using RSS reader apps, locals will be able to gain access to information that the Chinese government considers "illegal" and normally won't permit to be distributed in its territory.

That said, it's easy to understand that Apple is simply doing what it needs to do to abide by the Chinese government's laws, including removing the apps China doesn't want.

Are RSS reader apps bad?

For those who do not know, RSS reader apps let users stay informed by giving them steady updates regarding the things they are interested in. RSS stands for “really simple syndication” or “rich site summary” (according to Digital Trends) and refers to simple text files that contain updated information such as news, articles, blogs and so on.

RSS reader apps such as Fiery Feeds and Reeder provide users with a steady stream of updates from the web. These basically work like Google or a news aggregating site, collecting news and other articles that the user might be interested in.