Google takes down viral Indian app that deleted Chinese ones

'Remove China Apps' became top trending free app in India with more than five million downloads

NEW DELHI: Alphabet’s Google has taken down an Indian mobile application from its app store that allowed users to remove other Chinese apps from their phones as it violated certain company policies, a spokesman said on Wednesday.

The app, “Remove China Apps”, had become a top trending free app on Google’s mobile app store in India with more than five million downloads since late May.

Its popularity rose amid calls for a boycott of Chinese mobile apps in India during a Himalayan border dispute between the two nations.

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A Google spokesman confirmed to Reuters the app had been removed due to violation of app store policies but gave no further details.

A person familiar with the matter said the software violated Google’s policies prohibiting apps that mislead users into removing or disabling third-party apps or modifying device settings or features.

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Remove China Apps scanned users’ phones for apps such as ByteDance’s TikTok and Alibaba’s UC Browser. Once deleted, a message popped up saying “You are awesome, no China app found.”

OneTouch AppLabs, which developed the app, did not respond to a request for comment.

On its website, it confirmed the app had been removed and thanked users for their support.

Many Indians and a spokeswoman for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling party have used the hashtag #BoycottChineseProducts on social media, calling for the deletion of popular Chinese apps.