Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has rejigged its App Store policy and formally banned all cryptocurrency mining applications at the App Store, reports said Monday.
This comes on the back of Apple’s move in March to remove the Mac app Calendar 2 for running a cryptocurrency mining tool in the background.
The App Store’s review guidelines have now been updated to explicitly ban on-device mining — across any type of app, and all of Apple’s platforms.
Under the Hardware Compatibility section, Apple now states that "apps, including any third party advertisements displayed within them, may not run unrelated background processes, such as cryptocurrency mining," appleinsider.com reported.
The website reported that new developer guidelines released during Apple’s Worldwide Developers' Conference (WWDC) set new rules for cryptocurrency apps distributed through both the iOS and Mac App Stores.
According to the report, Apple will only allow wallets, and apps may facilitate virtual currency storage, provided they are offered by developers enrolled as an organization.
“In addition, apps may not mine directly for cryptocurrencies, unless the mining is performed in the cloud or otherwise off-device,” reported appleinsider.com.
In addition, apps may facilitate transactions or transmissions of cryptocurrency on an approved exchange, provided they are offered by the exchange itself.
Apple is also quite clear that apps facilitating Initial Coin Offerings, cryptocurrency futures trading, and other crypto-securities must come from “established banks, securities firms, futures commission merchants, or other approved financial institutions.”
Demystifying the ban
The upshot of the new rules is that while Apple will permit cryptocurrencies to exist on its platforms, it’s adding requirements to “stop scammers and individuals from exploiting App Store customers, while making explicit that it’s blocking developers from eating Apple device processing power” for mining activities, wrote Jeremy Horwitz in VentureBeat.
Apple is not the only tech giant to crack down on crypto mining apps. In April, Google announced it will ban any cryptocurrency mining extension at its Chrome Web Store.