Apple 'mistakenly' blocks developers from Belarus then apologizes


Apple returns the ‘Ready for Sale’ status to the apps developed by Belarusians and unblocks accounts. Messages that the account was under sanctions were also removed, writes dev.by.

According to some developers and publishers, they have been blocked and later unblocked by Apple. Their status is now “Free of Sanctions.”

On February 5, developers began complaining that Apple was blocking accounts related to Belarus without warning. Both publishers and developers – individuals and sole proprietors – received messages about the blocking. A status box appeared in the App Store Connect accounts indicating that the profile had fallen under sanctions.

However, on February 6, developers began to receive letters of apology from Apple. The company explained that the accounts were blocked by mistake:

“You were mistakenly sent an email informing you that the legal entity associated with your Apple Developer account matched a restricted region. Your legal entity does not match the restricted regions list and we have corrected the error. Your developer account is now active and any associated apps and in-app purchases are once again available. No further actions are required on your part. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you”.

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