Apple allows Blockchain wallet on App Store — Again

Yesterday, Apple approved the Blockchain wallet app on the App Store, for the second time, Blockchain.info CEO Nicolas Cary told CoinReport in an email.

The app was taken down in February, enforcing a general anti-Bitcoin policy on the App Store, and following the removal of similar apps, Coinbase and Coinjar. The Blockchain wallet app allows users to manage their Bitcoin wallets, see their balances, and make transactions (including the ability to scan a QR code and send Bitcoins to the specified address).

This reversal on Apple’s part reflects a recent change made to their app developer guidelines. The paragraph inserted in early June states:

Apps may facilitate transmission of approved virtual currencies provided that they do so in compliance with all state and federal laws for the territories in which the app functions.

Prior to this, Apple rejected or pulled any app that supported cryptocurrency transactions of any kind, though no official policy was declared. Android, during the same period, had no such restrictions, reflecting the more open nature of that platform. In the interim, many services still offered web wallets accessible through the mobile safari browser, but this was a less-than-ideal work-around for most purposes.

Setting up Blockchain app in action

Wallet apps began to re-appear on the iOS App Store later in June, and the arrival of the Blockchain wallet, the most used piece of Bitcoin wallet software, is a major step forward for iOS’ viability as a Bitcoin payment platform (likely to be a major, if not mandatory, feature of smartphones in the coming years).

The wallet software that will premiering on the App Store is the same, revamped app that we reported on earlier this month, and which, Blockchain says, offers a number of improvements over the version that was removed, including an increased focus on ease of use and security.