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Telegram: Apple has blocked our updates since Russian ban

By PCmag
Published | Updated
Telegram

File photo: The Telegram messaging app logo is seen on a website in Singapore November 19, 2015. The mobile messaging service Telegram, created by the exiled founder of Russia’s most popular social network site, has emerged as an important new promotional and recruitment platform for Islamic State. (REUTERS/Thomas White)

Has your Telegram app been acting wonky on iPhone since downloading iOS 11.4? You're not alone.

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov on Thursday revealed that Apple has been blocking the company's iOS updates ever since Russian authorities ordered Cupertino to remove the encrypted messaging app from its App Store. As a result, "some Telegram features, such as stickers, don't work correctly under iOS 11.4 … even though we fixed this issue weeks ago," Durov wrote.

Russian state communications watchdog Roskomnadzor blocked Telegram on April 16 over the company's repeated refusal to hand over the encryption keys to its messaging service. The country's Federal Security Service has been demanding access to those keys, citing Telegram's use among terrorists, including a suicide bomber who killed 15 people in St. Petersburg in April 2017.

"We believe we did the only possible thing, preserving the right of our users to privacy in a troubled country," Durov wrote today. "Unfortunately, Apple didn't side with us. While Russia makes up only 7 percent of Telegram's userbase, Apple is restricting updates for all Telegram users around the world since mid-April."

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Apple's decision to block Telegram updates also prevents the app maker from being able to fully comply with the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation, which went into effect on May 25, Durov added.

"We are continuing our efforts to resolve the situation and will keep you updated," he wrote.

Apple did not immediately respond to PCMag's request for comment.

Since the block, Russian users have flocked to VPN services to continue using Telegram. Russia has reportedly responded by blocking VPNs, yet Russians continue to find new access routes, turning this into a cat and mouse game.

This isn't Telegram's first run-in with Apple. In February, the iPhone maker temporarily yanked Telegram from its App Store over "inappropriate content."

This article originally appeared on PCMag.com.