Why Google removed Mitron and Remove China Apps from Play Store?

by Mohan Ram
June 5, 202011 minutes

The recent tension between China and India had made the majority of Indians to boycott Chinese apps. Tik Tok is one of the popular Chinese video-sharing platforms, and due to the recent tension between the two countries, many people were looking for an indigenous replacement for the Tik Tok. Mitron is an Indian video sharing app launched in April by the IIT Roorkee student claiming to be a potential replacement for Tik Tok. The app enjoyed huge success and popularity in the domestic market, and within 2 months from launching, the app raced to the 5 million download mark in the Play Store.

Mitron is a video sharing app similar to Tik Tok, where users can create and post videos. Several tech enthusiasts were concerned about security concerns and the privacy policy (Ok, Mitron app doesn't even have a privacy policy) of the Mitron app. Moreover, the Mitron app was just a blunt rip off of the Tik Tok, and the app interface was exactly similar to that of the Tik Tok.

Recently, Google removed the Mitron from the Play Store for violating its privacy policies. Sameer Samat, Vice president of Google Play Store, had announced that the Mitron app was removed because it was violating several policies of Google. He also said that if the developers could address all the issues, they can submit an application to list the app back in the Play Store. Mitron app was also similar to a Pakistani app Tic Tic, and according to some sources, the developers of the Mitron app had bought the source code of the TicTic app and published it in India just by changing the name. Incidentally, the TicTic app was also removed from the Play Store for Google's policy violations.

Similarly, Remove China Apps also saw a humongous growth in recent times due to the boycott China apps trend, and the app amassed more than 5 Million downloads in the Play store. As the name suggests, the app helped users to find the Chinese apps installed on the user's smartphone. Along with the Mitron app, Google also removed Remove China Apps for policy violations. As per Google's statement, third-party apps cannot influence people to uninstall any apps installed on their device. There is only a very slim chance for Remove China Apps to make a return, and the app ban from the Play store seems to be permanent as of now.

Update (06/06/2020): Mitron app is back on Google Play Store with some updated cosmetic changes to the user interface. Still, we do not recommend anyone to install this app due to the security issue.

Note: If you have already installed the Mitron app on your smartphone, we suggest uninstalling the app due to the security issues and privacy concerns.