Your post makes no sense. The very purpose of using a VPN is to make the location appear to be elsewhere. So if you use a VPN server based in the US whilst in China, the News App would be fooled into thinking the location of the user was in the US, and therefor allow access in China. You really need to understand how VPN works. The comments you made are completely inaccurate.
Well, it sure is one of purposes of a proxy to hide one’s geolocation. But note that it’s done by connecting to the server via a different network other than the real client’s. If nothing on the client side leak information to the server and the proxy is configured properly, it should be that case that the server would infer the whereabouts of the client from the IP address(or cookies, UA, headers, you name it), which is actually actually the proxy sever’s.
The tricky part here, is that any iOS “app” is empowered to check the iPhone’s network connection info as long as it’s granted the permission to access internet through cellular network (as far as I’m concerned, the permission is by default turned of in China only, ironically). BTW, that’s the very same reason why Tik Tok(international version)refuse to work in China even after you use a proxy. The case is different, however, in that you can just use the web version of it which works seamlessly. You can even add it to the homescreen. Can’t really tell it from the app.
Apple News of course, is able to check the internet status. (It’s kinda becoming a standard procedure here. It does the same thing when you first activate the ECG function for Apple Watch in the Health app. Anyway, always keep in mind as a “normal” user, by which I mean who is a “normal ” person, there’s no way Apple doesn’t know(ambiguity, huh?) where you are. Legally or illegally. Ethically or not. I don’t know. They can sure apply their knowledge here. But most of the cases, as I see it , they just choose not to. And I do think that is a good idea.
Hope I could clarify a few things for you. Sorry for my writing. As a non-native speaker, I might have not precisely or clearly interpreted my thoughts.
