iOS is stuck in the Middle Ages

Pavel Durov, who is often described as the Russian Mark Zuckerberg, launched an attack on Apple, saying that every time he uses an iPhone, he feels as though he is in the Middle Ages. The billionaire tech visionary, who created his own secure messaging app, «Telegram», has strongly criticised the company, saying that it «keeps users tied» to its products and turns them into digital slaves.

His strong reaction followed the publication of an investigation by the New York Times, which exposed the relationship between Apple and China and, specifically, how instrumental Apple's involvement was in the large-scale surveillance and censorship of citizens at China's request. Durov published the outburst on his personal Telegram profile, where he has around 600.000 followers.

In his outburst, he argued that the company's business practices are unethical, accusing it of selling exorbitantly priced, outdated products that lock customers into its ecosystem.

In his attack on Apple, he said that the company's worst practice is preventing users from installing apps from sources other than the App Store and not giving them the option of using a service other than iCloud to back up their devices.

As well as being a tech entrepreneur, Durov is an activist against authoritarian, centralised regimes, largely because he himself has been a victim of the government's abuse of power.

Durov founded the Russian social network «VK» in 2000, which, like Facebook, attracted millions of users (VK currently has over 100 million users, despite its declining popularity). However, in 2014, after years of takeover attempts by billionaires close to Putin, Durov was forced to sell his stake in VK and flee Russia, surrendering the independence and control of the social network he had created to the Russian government.