By Herman Lai, posted Mar 15, 2012 at 5:11 PM, 864 views,

Did China Unicom Intend to Backstab The iPhone and iPad Users?

For those who are using Apple devices, do you download app while using your 3G network? Well, I assume most of you guys won’t, because all of us must know that will bust your data plan well before the end of the month. To ensure this is less likely to happen on us, Apple has a policy which disable iPhone and iPad to download apps larger that 50MB while on the 3G network. However, China Unicom has recently negotiated with Apple to lift its 3G app download limit from 20MB to unlimited.

So here is the announcement from China Unicom’s official Weibo (translated by TechInAsia):

After getting feedback from Apple, this [50MB limit for 3G] issue is resolved, and our Chinese account holders can now download apps [over 3G] with no file size limit. If you still have a problem, please restart your iPhone and try it again.

Sina Tech tested this and was indeed able to install a 103MB game – MetalStorm: Wingman – over China Unicom’s 3G network with no warning pop-up or restriction met.

After the New iPad launched, Apple has also lifted its 3G app download limit from 20MB to the current 50, as the high-res screen could means even some very basic apps would have larger file size that is at least 20MB.

Some users were feeling unhappy with China Unicom, they think it’ll get them easily exceed the limit on their data plan, and that seems to be a trap rather than a benefit. So the question is, why does China Unicom make the decision to widen its 3G app download limit? Complaints from its customers perhaps? Well, that seems very unlikely. Sina Tech also posted a survey poll on Weibo:

How do you download iOS app?

It found most Chinese are more likely to download app through WiFi and iTune, but considering there’re only 260 votes in total and not all of them are from China Unicom’s subscribers. So, what do you think?

Source: Sina Tech

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  • turkeyvulture

    Heres what I think, Chinese use shouji zhushou 911 on jailbroken iphones or download pirated apps.  Imposing a size limit on appstore downloads solves two problems.  First dumb people who dont understand how to jailbreak or the concept of big file sizes and monthly data plan limits.  Second is auto updating or syncing of apps or iOS would be stopped if there were a limit stopping the automatic process. Unicom hasnt back stabbed anybody.  Peoples’ stupidity is usually the backstabber.

    • kl19929472

      I agree of what you said, but I don’t consider those who got back-stabbed are stupid. China Unicom and Apple China are the one responsible to make sure the group of “stupid” customers understand clearly with the amendment and the policy. With just an announcement published on the local media isn’t good enough. What I think is, they should have more advertisement (or any other mediums) to spread this msg to their customers.  

      • turkeyvulture

        you could tattoo that information on the forehead of a stupid person and they would still forget it and still be pissed off when they find that they have no data left for month because of something that is their fault.  if its the word stupid you dont like, there are several replacements.  do unicom and apple really need to look after these idiots?  Its actually quit a common trend in china to just use gprs, it solves all problems, is cheaper, and still gets the job done when wifi isnt near.