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Apple's App Store Officially Bans Cryptocurrency Mining (venturebeat.com)
Apple has updated the App Store's Review Guidelines to explicitly ban on-device mining across any type of app, and all of Apple's platforms. The new section 3.1.5 (b), titled Cryptocurrencies, provides five clear rules for what will and won't be allowed in macOS, iOS, tvOS, and watchOS apps going forward. VentureBeat reports: 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. As AppleInsider notes, the Review Guidelines were previously less concerned with cryptocurrencies, allowing an app to facilitate crypto and ICO transactions if it complied with the laws in the app's distributed territories.
Since the App Store is virtually the only place to acquire software for iPhones, iPads, iPod touches, Apple TVs, and Apple Watches, Apple's decision will effectively end crypto mining on those devices. On macOS, however, users will continue to be able to acquire apps outside of the Mac App Store, enabling mining and other activities to continue without Apple's seal of approval.
Since the App Store is virtually the only place to acquire software for iPhones, iPads, iPod touches, Apple TVs, and Apple Watches, Apple's decision will effectively end crypto mining on those devices. On macOS, however, users will continue to be able to acquire apps outside of the Mac App Store, enabling mining and other activities to continue without Apple's seal of approval.
The freedom to run what you want on your own devices
That's not really what is going on here. These are scumbag app developers offering "free" apps that run miners in the background. The user is either not informed, or informed in fine print that nobody reads. The device owners don't even know anything is going on until they notice their phone is unusually hot and the battery is dead.
Depends on the coin. It's not all that crazy to think a mobile platform as an alternative to ads could pull in enough revenue from mining and selling alt coins to be a viable product.
It's my device, I should be able to run whatever I want.
So what is stopping you? Just because Apple isn't cooperating with you is irrelevant. As you said it's your hardware so wipe off iOS and put whatever idiotic mining software or malware you want on it. Hell, run Android on an iPhone if you want.
That's why I prefer Android.
A distinction without a difference. If you like Android better that's fine but it doesn't change the fact that you own the hardware and you can compile and run whatever software you want on it. If you want to argue that Apple should cooperate with you running whatever software you want, then you have an argument. It's a walled garden with all that entails. But if your argument is that you should be allowed to run whatever software you want then your argument is moot because you already have that right. The flipside is that Apple is not and should not be under any obligation to cooperate with you if they don't think it is in their interest to do so.
But if they had let Electroneum in they'd have to let them all into the store or they'd be picking winners and losers, so I guess it had to be all or none.
That's kind of the point. Most of the activity surrounding cryptocurrency mining is nothing more than transparent get rich quick scams. There also is quite a lot of organized criminal activity surrounding them including bitcoin. While there is undoubtedly some amount of honest activity, there is no practical way for Apple to determine who is "honest" and who isn't. Allowing such software also would tend to make their devices perform like shit and Apple would of course get blamed for this. Apple isn't stupid so it makes sense to ban all mining software because there is no upside for them nor for virtually any of their users.
If you want to do this sort of mining on a mobile phone for whatever reason buy some other sort of phone. I assure you nobody will care - Apple least of all.
As it is prone to, Apple has decided that its customers are too stupid to do this.
How is preventing a bunch of fraudulent scammers from hijacking people's computers in any way a statement that users are "too stupid"? If you want to run mining software knock yourself out. Nothing is preventing you from doing it - you just can't get it through the App Store. Go compile the software yourself if its important to you. Neither Apple nor the vast majority of their customers have anything to gain by permitting this sort of crap in the App Store. You know damn well that these apps would chew up all the performance of the phone and Apple would get blamed for it AND have to clean up the mess. You know damn well that these apps would be disguised as something other than what they actually are - effectively a form of malware.
Alternatively, is this just another case of "we know better than you what you want to do"?
No, it's simply protecting Apple's own interest and the interests of the vast majority of their users. Most of us have little to zero interest in cryptocurrency and even less in the fraud and criminality that tends to surround it. The majority of cryptocurrency activity is nothing but thinly disguised get rich quick scams and pyramid schemes. While there is some honest activity too it's impossible to tell who those parties are reliably and so it's sensible to just prevent such apps from being distributed through the App Store as policy. If you don't like it then don't buy Apple products.