Google Removes Remove China Apps From The Play Store

Google, Alphabet Inc has removed an Indian mobile app from its app store that allowed users to remove other Chinese apps from their phones as it violated certain company policies, a gatekeeper said Wednesday – word.

The “Remove China Apps” app has become the most popular free app on Google’s mobile app store in India with more than five million downloads since late May. Its popularity increased amid calls for a boycott of Chinese mobile apps in India during a Himalayan border dispute between the two nations.

A Google spokesperson confirmed to Reuters that the app had been removed due to a violation of App Store policies, but gave no further details. A person familiar with the matter said that the software violated Google policies prohibiting applications from misleading users by removing or disabling third-party applications or by changing the settings or functionality of the device.

Remove China Apps scanned users’ phones for apps like TikTok by ByteDance and UC Browser by Alibaba. Once deleted, a message appeared saying “You are awesome, no Chinese apps found.”

OneTouch AppLabs, which developed the application, did not respond to a request for comment. On his website, he confirmed that the app had been removed and thanked the users for their support. Many Indians and a spokesperson for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling party used the hashtag #BoycottChineseProducts on social media, calling for the removal of popular Chinese apps.