Apple restores Russia’s top social network VKontakte, Mail.ru, and other VK apps, weeks after removing them over UK sanctions; it is unclear why they are back (Alex Hern/The Guardian)

Mitchell Clark / The Verge:
VK, which owns Mail.ru and Russia’s largest social network VKontakte, says Apple has removed its apps from the App Store  —  The translated statement says “some VK applications are blocked by Apple” but that it will “continue to develop and support iOS applications.”

Bill Toulas / BleepingComputer:
Researchers find 75 apps on Google Play and 10 on Apple’s App Store that engaged in ad fraud, collectively had 13M installs, and have since been removed  —  Security researchers have discovered 75 applications on Google Play and another ten on Apple’s App Store engaged in ad fraud.

Filipe Espósito / 9to5Mac:
Updated App Store guidelines say that apps may sell NFTs via IAP and display NFTs, provided that NFT ownership does not unlock in-app features  —  Following the release of iOS 16.1 and other software updates on Monday, Apple has updated the App Store guidelines to revise some existing rules and add new ones.

Filipe Espósito / 9to5Mac:
Apple to increase prices of apps and IAP on the App Store in all territories that use the euro and some Asian countries like Japan, starting October 5  —  Apple announced on Monday that it will soon raise App Store prices in multiple countries, including Japan, South Korea, and many others in Europe.

Alex Heath / The Verge:
An interview with Tim Sweeney about his crusade to break Apple’s power over the App Store, and how it is increasingly a problem for speech and not just business  —  Sweeney says he’s willing to go to the Supreme Court to fight Apple’s control of the App Store.  But first, he’s hoping Congress will act before it’s too late.

Alex Hern / The Guardian:
UK government says its Online Safety Bill will return to the parliament in December and will be expanded to criminalize nonconsensual “deepfake” pornography  —  Nonconsensual explicit images to be tackled in bill returning to parliament next month