"Today, he acknowledges that Apples about-face could be related to changes in the regulatory environment, but he thinks Apples new attitude comes down to one thing: Android."
I'd imagine nearly no one is buying Android phones because you can get a Bitcoin app for them. Chances are good Apple's lawyers said "shut it down, we need to figure this out first" and this is the end result. No conspiracy theories required.
This process is slow, and not very transparent. However as a person who has been on the receiving end many times I think it is a net positive for the end customer. Sure, I would prefer a system that is both transparent and safe, but it's not so bad really.