Apple is working on a feature that blocks certain iPhone features based on your location to make it harder for iPhone users to circumvent the rules of the countries they visit.
For many years now, there are methods that allow you to hide the location on iPhone in order to bypass possible restrictions from different countries and use functions or characteristics that are banned in certain parts of the globe.
Apple has always had a feature to prevent this practice, but until now it was easy to get around these restrictions.
Now, as they point out from 9toMac, it will be much more complicated to do it, since Apple is working on a feature for the iOS 16.2 update that will prevent users from resorting to this trick.
Until now, Apple’s restriction for iPhones was tied to the region of the device and not where the user is currently located, so it was possible to bypass the restriction.
When the update goes live, it will do just the opposite and prioritize the user’s location instead of the region the device belongs to.
This new locking system responds to the name of countryd and, although the functionality is not active at the moment, it has been added to iOS 16.2 and it is already known how it works.
To find out where the iPhone is and correctly track the user’s location, will combine different key data such as real-time GPS location, country code on Wi-Fi signal, and SIM card information. In this way, Apple users will have a much more difficult time circumventing the regulations of the countries they visit.
For example, if a user visits the United Arab Emirates, they will not have access to FaceTime, as the app is not available. This will happen with specific functions or applications depending on where you are.
This change comes at a key moment, since Apple is working on releasing a number of key features restricted to users in the European Unionwhich will allow Spain and the rest of the European countries to download APKs from the browser or apps in third-party stores, thanks to the Digital Services Law.
As is logical, in the rest of the territories, they will continue to impose their restrictions and with this update it will be much more difficult to bypass the blockades by region.