Change of Heart: Apple Policy Allow Bitcoin Transmitting Apps

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It was just earlier today that NEWSBTC had written about Apple’s upcoming software announcements in San Francisco, California.

We asked whether or not we could learn today why Apple was shunning bitcoin-related applications, such as Coinbase and Blockchain.info — which have been removed due to alleged policy violations.

What we learned was something a whole lot different: Apple is now allowing bitcoin and other virtual currency wallet applications, as opposed to only allowing informational applications.

The change of heart is published in the company’s App Store Review Guidelines, section 11.17.

Therein:

11.17 Apps may facilitate transmission of approved virtual currencies provided that they do so in compliance with all state and federal laws for the territories in which the app functions

The news is huge for users of Apple’s iOS mobile operation system, who did not have access to wallet applications following the removal of the above-listed apps, along with others, such as CoinJar.

It is unclear what defines an “approved” virtual currency, so it will be interesting to see how this guideline changes shape over time.

Confirmed: Apple allowing Bitcoin (virtual currency) apps. Section 11.17 https://t.co/Neg59Ofs3Q

— Ben Davenport (@bendavenport) June 2, 2014

The company took a beating over social media some months ago with the removal of the applications, prompting users to destroy their devices in protest.

Videos emerged of users beating, throwing, and even shooting their iPhones — deeming the useless.

Of course, the general consensus in the community has been that Apple would stick to their guns and continue the prohibition — but they’ve certainly proved the community wrong.

The ban even led developers to create workarounds, such as HTML5 wallets.

“As someone finishing development of an HTML5 wallet targeted at Apple users…F*ck,” wrote one user in a comment on social sharing website Reddit.com.

This will likely mean the resubmission of Coinbase/Blockchain.info apps to the App Store, which will of course please the ever-growing base of digital currency users.