The founder of Telegram, Pavel Durov, said in a blog post that as a result, some features of his app such as stickers would not work as they should under iOS 11.4, even though a fix had been issued.

Durov said that Apple had blocked Telegram from updating its iOS apps globally after Russian authorities ordered the iPhone maker to remove the app from its App Store.

Russia's telecom regulator Roskomnadzor began blocking the app on 16 April after a Moscow court ordered ISPs to shutter the service following the refusal of its founder to provide authorities with keys to decrypt private conversations.

Durov said Russia had banned Telegram on its territory "because we refused to provide decryption keys for all our users’ communications to Russia’s security agencies".

Apple stopped approving Telegram for iOS updates globally 1,5 months ago after Russia ordered a block on Telegram. More here – https://t.co/yarcIrV2Bh

— Pavel Durov (@durov) May 31, 2018

"We believe we did the only possible thing, preserving the right of our users to privacy in a troubled country."

He said: "Unfortunately, Apple didn’t side with us. While Russia makes up only 7% of Telegram’s userbase, Apple is restricting updates for all Telegram users around the world since mid-April.

"As a result, we’ve also been unable to fully comply with GDPR for our EU users by the deadline of 25 May. We are continuing our efforts to resolve the situation and will keep you updated."