“Apple first introduced its pride Apple Watch face during the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June,” Tom Warren reports for The Verge. “Inspired by the rainbow flag, it’s designed to celebrate gay pride and stand against discrimination to LGBTQ people.”
“While Apple regularly touts its ‘unwavering commitment to equality and diversity’ in highly-produced gay pride videos, the company has its limits,” Warren reports. “iOS developer Guilherme Rambo has discovered that the pride Apple Watch face is ‘hardcoded to not show up if the paired iPhone is using the Russian locale.'”
“The Verge has tested this on an iPhone running the latest iOS 12 beta, and the pride watch face simply disappears once you switch to the Russian locale,” Warren reports. “Russia implemented a ‘gay propaganda’ law in 2013… [that] comes with the threat of jail time and fines for what Russia deems to be offensive speech. Apple appears to be avoiding this particular legal quandary. Apple sells a special pride edition Apple Watch strap, donating a portion of the proceeds toward LGBTQ advocacy organizations. But it doesn’t sell it in Russia, either.”
The Apple Watch pride face is hardcoded to not show up if the paired iPhone is using the Russian locale pic.twitter.com/vEP8XquYsP
— Guilherme Rambo (@_inside) August 31, 2018
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: In previous instances — where apps were removed in China, for example – Apple CEO Tim Cook has stated that Apple complies with all local laws.
SEE ALSO:
watchOS 5 adds powerful activity and communications features to Apple Watch – June 4, 2018
