Can Apple remove apps from my iphone, without my consent?
This is a very broadly-worded, open-ended question … and, almost always, the only truthful answer is some variation on, “Anything is possible.” Could an apple fall up from the tree? Well, glue a couple firecrackers to it …
As a practical matter, though, Apple has never done this nor expressed any intention or desire to do so.
(There might be some footnote about malware, but that would fall under the “stick firecrackers in an apple” category.)
Asking because there are rumors Apple will remove the Telegram app from the apple store, after the arrest of Durov.
It will take much more just than the arrest of the CEO for Apple to remove Telegram from the store. At a minimum, Apple would have to determine that the app violates Apple’s terms of service, and I’ve not heard any hint that it does so. A court might be able to order Apple to remove it, but the closest parallel there I can think of is TikTok, and that’s requiring a literal act of Congress that still hasn’t finished.
Assuming Telegram relies on some sort of centralized service, your biggest worry should be that service shutting down — whether because French commandoes have seized its servers, or the French government has seized the company’s assets (so it’s now bankrupt and can’t pay its bills), or whatever. But, even then, the more likely scenario is that the company simply shuts down, the developers all lose their jobs, and the app never gets any new updates.
Apps that don’t get updates keep working … indefinitely … until they break. You know how all your software keeps getting updates? Some of those updates are for features; others are for bugs; still others are for compatibility with new operating system releases. So, eventually, there would be a new feature you’d like but couldn’t get; there’d be some bug that’s a problem for you that doesn’t get fixed; or there’s a new version of iOS that, if you installed it, would break the app. (And the “bug” category includes newly-discovered security flaws, so don’t overlook it.)
How long the app would remain viable without ongoing support is anybody’s guess. Could be days, could be decades — but probably a couple years or so.
b&
