Seven Months Later, Navalny App is Back in App Store in Russia

Image via Apple Site Russia

08 APRIL 2022 - The Navalny app is back in Russia’s App Store. Formally called “Smart Voting,” the app was pulled from both Apple’s App Store and the Google Play Store ahead of elections in Russia back in September. A piece from Cult of Mac says that removal came after Russia threatened to prosecute top Apple employees in the country if the app stayed up. 

Now, the Cult says, it’s back. To the site’s credit, they do not talk about a defiant Apple standing up to Russia, as a number of sites I saw indicated. While that would be an easy assumption, it would be a hard case to make. A piece from CNET last September said the app:

…was designed to “consolidate the opposition vote in each of Russia's 225 electoral districts," according to the [New York] Times. It reportedly let people enter their address and would then offer up candidates to vote for. The idea behind the protest vote was to get politicians not approved by the Kremlin into parliament, whether or not people agreed with an individual candidate's views…

The app was pulled from Apple’s store and Google’s store before that election. After the election, Google put the app back in its app store, so - please - let’s not clap Apple on the back for its bravery in this case. I’m not saying there’s anything Apple could have done differently last September. I’m saying let’s not put them on a pedestal for doing something seven-months after the election the app was made for and a few months after Google did.

Anyway, the app is back now. And - seriously - three cheers for that.