Anecdotally, Russia has long been the most popular country for AltStore Classic usage by *far* cc/ @gruber https://daringfireball.net/linked/2024/10/02/russia-app-store-vpns
@rileytestut I guess that shouldn’t be surprising but wow. Per-capita that’s even more striking — looks like iPhones have about 30 percent market share in Russia (down though, after Ukraine invasion):
https://gs.statcounter.com/vendor-market-share/mobile/russian-federation
@gruber I want to say it was right around the time Russia invaded Ukraine that they became one of our top countries
@rileytestut @gruber They should pull out of Russia entirely.
@Gte @rileytestut @gruber Agreed. And brick everyone’s devices on the way out the door. I’m only half-joking.
@bhalla @rileytestut @gruber I’m a firm believer that international trade and common standards makes the world a better and safer place. Interdependence is the flip side to the MAD doctrine. That’s partially why I want Apple and others to play well with the EU—they are our partners in democracy and peace. Russia, on the other hand, has proven themselves to want no part of this and as such we should pull the strongest levers we have. (Nb: Apple *has* paused sales there per western sanctions)
@Gte @rileytestut @gruber They’ve been a rogue mafia state for some time now, and no Western company has any business doing business there.
@Gte @bhalla @rileytestut @gruber yes
russsia is an imperialist barbarian terrorist state
The only moral thing to do is to completely isolate and ignore russia
End all business, science, culture, sports, absolutely everything with russia, until they stop attacking and invading their neighbors
russians can take their complaints to Kremlin. The smart ones anyway left a while ago. We do not owe russians anything
@Gte @rileytestut There's a part of me that agrees with that sentiment, but a bigger part of me thinks of the apparently millions of Russian citizens who own Apple devices. Same goes for China. If I lived in Russia or in China, I'd want to own an iPhone, and I'd be thankful Apple supports its users in the country as best it can.
@gruber @Gte @rileytestut Hear me out: Maybe they should just allow a user to install any app they want (after the usual scare pop ups of course). The product fragmentation around country borders is really untenable in the long run.
@gruber @rileytestut Sanctions are always such a difficult tool to wield as they so often impact the innocent of the target state while the oligarchs are largely unscathed. On the other hand I think it may be time to put Russia in the same boat as Iran and North Korea. Obviously the intricacies of international relations and trade aren’t for tweets. Here’s my broad argument though:
https://mastodon.social/@Gte/113246783843326035
@gruber @Gte @rileytestut for many people in Russia (and other similar regimes e.g. Iran, China) having an iPhone and working VPN is the maximum they can do to protect themselves from the regime and have some fresh air on the global web. Calling to brick iPhones there is very cruel.
@ivanopcode @gruber @rileytestut To be clear—I’m not suggesting Apple brick anything. And I’m aware of the opposition and Navalny’s persecution. This VPN removal is clearly a step by the Russian government to disrupt opposition and non-state sanctioned communication.
@gruber @Gte @rileytestut A real question is Apple engineers who allegedly have like a dozen standing seats out of SFO every day … what VPN are they using in Shenzhen China!
@pmcg @Gte @rileytestut Surely Apple’s own.
Didn't you argue for Apple to basically pull out of EU because AppStore revenue wasn't high enough or something?
You didn't seem to concerned with millions of users then
@dmitriid @Gte @rileytestut Read again.
Then let's see how this plays out and if anyone will leave any market (without being forced)
@Gte @rileytestut @gruber 100%. They shouldn’t be beholden to Russia’s laws. They should fully withdraw from it.
@Gte @rileytestut @gruber The Russian nomenklatura and oligarchs will probably continue to use Apple devices and services regardless. They travel and have access to foreign banks and addresses. Pulling out of Russia would only cut off the regular people.