To comply with US sanctions, Apple removed some Iranian apps from its App Store back in 2017 and one of them was Snapp, a popular ride sharing service in the country. However, at some point, the developers snuck it back in the App Store hidden within a music app called RadickRadio…
It was discovered this week that while RadickRadio would work as a music service for those in the US and elsewhere when the app was used from an Iranian IP address, it would actually launch Snapp, an Uber-like ride sharing service. (via The Verge).
When Apple caught wind of what was going on it removed RadickRadio/Snapp from the App Store. However, neither Apple or the RadickRadio/Snapp developers responded to The Verge after a request for comment.
Apple removing the app would have happened in any case but with the US-Iran tension at an extreme after the killing of General Qasem Soleimani, it was likely an even more pressing matter.
RadickRadio was listed in the App Store under the developer Susann Albrecht. Here’s how the secret app worked in Iran:
برگهای اپل ریخت#اسنپpic.twitter.com/c5EioNplPU
— Nima Akbarpour نیما (@nima) January 27, 2020
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