Google suspends Remove Chinese Apps from Play Store

Google has removed a popular Indian-developed app called Remove Chinese Apps from its Play Store that promised to find and remove Chinese apps from smartphones.

WHY DID GOOGLE REMOVE THE APP?

Google confirmed that the app which was called Remove Chinese Apps, was removed for violating its Deceptive Behaviour Policy which prohibits software from encouraging or misleading users into removing or disabling third-party apps. Google gave no further details.

The removal comes at a time when a Himalayan border dispute is driving anti-Chinese sentiment in India. The situation has led to some Indian celebrities calling for their fans to delete Chinese-developed apps like TikTok from their phones.

THE APP WAS POPULAR IN INDIA

Before its ejection from the store, the app had grown popular in India. It had amassed over five million downloads since late May, and was the top trending free app in the country.

HOW DID THE APP WORK?

It worked by scanning phones for Chinese apps like ByteDance’s TikTok and Alibaba’s UC Browser, before giving the option to keep or remove. If no Chinese-made apps were found on a phone, a pop-up message read: “You are awesome, no China app found.”

MITRON AN INDIAN ALTERNATIVE WAS ALSO REMOVED FROM THE PLAY STORE

In light of the Indian-Chinese tensions, Indian users have directed their anger at the ByteDance app TikTok, leading to the release of an Indian-developed alternative called Mitron. However, Mitron has also been removed from the Play Store for violating Google’s policies.

The developer of Remove Chinese Apps OneTouch AppLabs confirmed the removal on its website, but claimed that the app is meant only for educational purposes and does not “promote or force people to uninstall any of the application(s).”

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