14 DAY TRIAL // AirDrop is a great way to quickly share data between Apple devices, and as it turns out, it has become a very popular way to spread information in China as well.
This is why protesters in the country are turning to AirDrop to bypass censorship and chat with each other about the demonstrations taking place in the largest cities.
AirDrop requires users to be close to each other, so users in China are using the “everyone” setting to be able to find nearby iPhones and therefore spread information about the protests. Each user who receives the information sends it to someone else via AirDrop, so eventually, Apple’s file-sharing feature becomes a very effective way of bypassing the censorship that otherwise affects most messaging apps.
However, the Cupertino-based tech giant too has turned to restrictions for this unusual use of AirDrop. Reports reveal that iOS 16.1.1 comes with a new limitation for Chinese users that only allows them to use the “everyone” setting in AirDrop for a maximum of 10 minutes.
Restriction to expand to the entire world next year
In other words, users can only receive information from non-contacts for up to 10 minutes, after each AirDrop automatically switches to contacts only.
In theory, this is a security update that certainly comes in handy, but on the other hand, it eventually limits the way Chinese users are sharing information about the ongoing protests. At this point, it looks like the new restrictions is specifically aimed at users in China, so AirDrop wouldn’t switch to the contacts only setting after 10 minutes in other parts of the world.
On the other hand, it looks like the Cupertino-based firm is already planning a global rollout of the same configuration at some point next year. The company, however, is yet to say a single word about this change.