India’s government retreated less than a week after sending a private order to smartphone manufacturers instructing them to preload a state-backed app on all phones in the region. The reversal comes after industry sources told Reuters that Apple planned to refuse to comply with the order.

Sanchar Saathi is a security app operated by India’s Department of Telecommunications that includes features for tracking and blocking lost or stolen phones using their IMEI. Anyone can download it on the App Store or Google Play Store already, but India’s government order would have required phone manufacturers to preload it on all phones in the region and block users from disabling it.

India’s Ministry of Communications announced the reversal in a statement on Wednesday, but still asserted that “[Sanc

See Full Page