India is continuing to pressure Apple into preloading locally sold iPhone units with state-backed apps, something Apple has been keen to resist.

India's Ministry of Communications issued a directive on November 28, ordering Apple and other smartphone producers to preload an app onto new iPhones sold in the country. The order, affecting Apple as well as Samsung, Oppo, Vivo, and Xiaomi, will require a state-owned cyber security app to be preinstalled and be unable to be removed at all.

The order, first reported by Reuters, requires Apple and others to have the Sanchar Saathi app preinstalled on new mobile devices within 90 days. The order applies to both manufactured iPhones and those still being produced, with India demanding it be installed by software updates as well.

Unusually, the order was issued privately to affected companies instead of being made public, despite it affecting millions of consumers in the future.

The app has been downloaded approximately 5 million times since its launch in January. Government data claims it has been used to recover over 700,000 lost devices, including 50,000 in October.

To India, the app helps prevent the duplication and spoofing of IMEI numbers, acts which allow for network abuse and scams to propagate. The government says the app prevents cyber threats and helps to keep counterfeit devices out of the black market.

Privacy and user agency

The order is problematic to Apple, which has historically resisted attempts by governments to require preloaded apps on devices. However, it's part of a longer discussion Apple has had with the country's government.

In January, India was reported to have talked to Apple and Google about preinstalling a state-backed suite of apps. At the time, there were undertones of potential legal changes to force the companies to comply, which has evidently become a reality.

India also attempted in 2023 to demand Apple and others to provide operating system updates to the government for pre-screening, under supposed spying and abuse concerns.

The latest attempt is one that will be viewed by privacy advocates as being a big issue and overreach by the Indian government. Lawyer Mishi Choudhary, who works on matters of internet advocacy, called it a cause for concern and effectively "removes user consent as a meaningful choice."

In the case of the app, while it does help reduce crime, it's also a privacy issue for citizens by the very nature of its existence. It uses a central registry accessed by all smartphone networks, which can also be used to identify and disconnect fraudulently made connections.

This is not the first time that Apple has had to deal with preinstalled software. In 2021, it capitulated and agreed to install mandatory apps on devices sold in Russia to comply with laws passed in 2019.