Apple has confirmed that it has removed two of China’s most popular gay dating apps – Blued and Finka – from its app store in the country following an order from authorities.

“We follow the laws of the countries where we operate. Based on an order from the Cyberspace Administration of China, we have removed these two apps from the China storefront only,” an Apple spokesperson said.

The move has raised concerns amongst the LGBT community in the country.

The BBC has contacted the Chinese embassy in Washington and the companies behind both apps for comment.

A “lite” version of the Blued app remains available on Chinese app stores, according to checks by the BBC. Some other gay and bisexual dating apps are also still available in the country, like Jicco and Jack’d.

Blued is one of the most widely-used gay dating apps in China, with tens of millions of downloads.

Apple runs a separate app store in China, in accordance with the country’s strict internet laws. Popular apps like Instagram and WhatsApp are not available in China.

Android device users there use locally adapted versions of the operating system as the Google Play Store is also blocked in China.

Members of the LGBT community expressed concerns about the removal of Blued and Finka, with one saying, “I hope those heterosexual policymakers can understand that love is rare – it’s not something shameful or unspeakable.”

In 2022, popular US-based gay dating app Grindr was removed from Apple’s App Store in China shortly after the Cyberspace Administration of China began a crackdown on content it viewed as illegal and inappropriate.

The following year, the Chinese government announced new rules requiring all apps serving domestic users to register for licenses, resulting in a slew of foreign apps being removed online.

The online regulator said the rules were designed to “promote the standardised and healthy development of the internet industry.”

Homosexuality was decriminalised in China in 1997, though same-sex marriages remain unrecognised.

Advocacy groups, including the Beijing LGBT Center and the ShanghaiPride, have ceased operations in China in recent years.