The beginning of the year 2021 brought with it many ups and downs. While some received the good, some did not have a very good start. Whatsapp, for instance, was at the receiving end of a lot of criticism across the globe for its updated privacy policy.

Where Whatsapp received a lot of backlashes, its rivals were the true gainers. Telegram was one of Whatsapp’s rivals that gained a lot of popularity during that time. People started uninstalling Whatsapp and moving towards other apps like Telegram & Signal.

Since then, Telegram has been in the news more frequent. However, a recent statement by the company’s CEO has brought it back into the limelight.

Recently, Pavel Durov, the founder of the Telegram app has slammed Apple‘s relationship with China. Durov accused Apple of providing complete control to the Chinese Communist Party (CPC) over the data of its citizens who use iPhone handsets.

Further, Durov stated that Android phones are way superior to the iPhones as it is still stuck in the “middle ages”. He even criticized the people who use them as well and called them a “digital slave of apple” because the company allowed users to download apps only from its App Store.

Durov shared the link on Telegram about the New York Times article that uncovers Apple’s relationship with China and its involvement in “large-scale surveillance and censorship at the behest of China”.

The founder even commented on iPhone’s hardware and called it ‘Clunkier & Outdated’. He said that whenever he had to use an iPhone to test the Telegram app on iOS, “I feel like I’m thrown back into the Middle Ages.” The iPhone’s 60Hz displays can’t compete with the 120Hz displays of modern Android phones, he added.

Apple and Telegram have had their share of controversy over the years. And it seems that Pavel Durov’s recent comments are only going to deepen the tension between the two companies.