I have a slightly more cynical take on this than it seems most of Hacker News does.
Facebook had found a way to monetize it's iOS app without Apple getting a 30% cut.
Apple decided to cut that off to prevent Facebook from making money without Apple taking their cut. The fact that Apple can sell this to users as "privacy" is all the better for Apple.
At the end of the day Apple is still a corporation. They are beholden to shareholders, not privacy advocates. Apple will maximize profits and has found a way to cut off revenue to competitor and breed goodwill at the same time.
Judging by this comments thread, it is working very well.
Facebook had found a way to monetize it's iOS app without Apple getting a 30% cut.
Apple decided to cut that off to prevent Facebook from making money without Apple taking their cut. The fact that Apple can sell this to users as "privacy" is all the better for Apple.
At the end of the day Apple is still a corporation. They are beholden to shareholders, not privacy advocates. Apple will maximize profits and has found a way to cut off revenue to competitor and breed goodwill at the same time.
Judging by this comments thread, it is working very well.