The lockdown has been a fruitful period for popular mobile applications as people depended more on apps to carry out daily activities as apps are safe and easy to use. The usage of grocery apps and edtech apps are examples. But, they are not devoid of shortcomings. Google Playstore’s recent move substantiates it. It deleted apps like ‘Mitron and Remove China Apps’ for violating policy.
‘Remove China’ apps became popular when ‘anti-China’ sentiment gained momentum in India and the world. The app which helps to clear Chinese apps installed in a smartphone was downloaded 5 Million times before the removal. Similar is the case of Mitron App, a rival of TikTok. As per online reports, the app had a number of security issues. Mitron got over 5 Million downloads. MobiKwik, a digital payment app launched in 2009 also was also removed from the Playstore.
Sameer Samat, Vice President, Android and Google Play, said that those apps were deleted as they ‘don’t allow an app that encourages or incentivizes users into removing or disabling third-party apps or modifying device settings or features unless it is part of a verifiable security service’.
