Apple is taking a stance against cryptocurrency mining. The company has updated its developer guidelines to explicitly ban cryptocurrency mining apps on iOS devices. Why? It’s part of wider restrictions against apps that drain battery, generate excessive heat, or strain a device’s resources — all of which take place during cryptocurrency mining.
Here’s a full list of the new guidelines.
Of course, developers running ads that exploit device resources tomine cryptocurrencieshas been an issue for a while now, and not just on mobile devices. EvenYouTubewas briefly serving up ads like this for a while, until Google noticed what was happening and banned the ads. Apple’s policy goes a step further, however — it bans mining of any kind, even if the user explicitly wants to use their device for mining.
It’s unlikely that the new policy will frustrate miners. iPhones and iPads don’t really possess the processing power to make them good mining devices. That said, it’s possible future devices could possess such power.
Thankfully Apple isn’t banning any app related to cryptocurrency mining. As long as the mini process happens off the devices, apps related to the process will still be allowed. On top of that, crypto wallets can still be used on iOS devices.
Cryptocurrency mining itself basically involves setting a computer the task of solving equations. To trade bitcoin, transactions are verified through these complex equations, then added to a distributed ledger. In return for solving the equations, miners get bitcoin. Of course, there is a cost associated with mining — electricity costs money, so mining isn’t worth it on many lower-powered computers and devices.
