China mainland distribution permit (March 2024)

[marc-medley]

The Apple App Store provides an "Availability in China mainland" entry field for the permit number provided by the applicable China agency.

See the description in the "Availability in China mainland" section of the App Store App information reference:

• App information > Availability in China mainland scroll down
  • Note: At this moment, Apple's docs do not appear to reflect the newly announced rule.

To date, the Daily Dozen mobile applications have not needed a distribution permit for mainland China.

However, this is expected to change based on the Reuters report that China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has announced that all mobile app providers will be required to file business details with the government.

The new rule, which will take effect in March 2024, requires app providers to provide information such as company name, address, contact information, purpose of their app and the data collected.

• Reuters: "China to require all apps to share business details in new oversight push"

[marc-medley]

Apple has not yet updated the app information reference relative to "Availability in China mainland". The page still refers to game apps, book & magazine apps and news apps which has been a requirement for several years.

Apple Developer App Information Reference
--> https://developer.apple.com/help/app-store-connect/reference/app-information

The Reuter's "China to require all apps to share business details in new oversight push" headline seems to refer to the Chinese government announcement:

"Notice of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on Carrying out the Filing of Mobile Internet Applications"
--> https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/202308/content_6897341.htm (in Chinese)

… with an english translation provided by AppInChina:
--> https://www.appinchina.co/government-documents/notice-of-the-ministry-of-industry-and-information-technology-on-the-record-filing-of-mobile-internet-apps/

From the AppInChina page, it would appear that if the App does not have an internet user id & login, then announcement might not apply to that app. The DailyDozen does not have a user login account although the user is referred to internet web pages on NutritionFacts.org.

This may turn out to be a non-issue since there is no user login to an internet account in the Daily Dozen mobile app.