Telegram founder Paul Durov has criticized Apple and called iPhone users a “digital slave.” The founder of Telegram made these comments on Telegram’s public channel after The New York Times report highlighted Apple’s relationship with China.

He further added that every time he has to use an iPhone to test Telegram’s iOS app, he feels like he is “thrown back into the Middle Ages.” He blamed the 60Hz display of the iPhone for this, saying Android phones with 120Hz display support much smoother animations. Apple was rumored to use a 120Hz display on the iPhone 12 series last year, but that did not happen. Rumors strongly indicate that at least the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max will ship with a 120Hz ProMotion display this year.

Apple is very efficient at pursuing their business model, which is based on selling overpriced, obsolete hardware to customers locked in their ecosystem.

The worst part of Apple’s tech though is not clunkier devices or outdated hardware. Owning an iPhone makes you a digital slave of Apple – you are only allowed to use apps that Apple lets you install via their App Store, and you can only use Apple’s iCloud to natively back up your data.

Durov said that it is due to Apple’s “totalitarian approach” that the Communist Party of China has complete control over the apps and data of iPhone users in the country.

Telegram and Apple don’t really have a cordial relationship. Apple removed the Telegram app from the App Store back in 2018, citing “inappropriate content.” The Russian government also asked Apple to remove Telegram from the App Store in the same year. Like Spotify and other popular app developers, Telegram has also filed an antitrust complaint against Apple with the European Commission.