The demand was so high that the company's servers were unable to keep up with the sudden spike in traffic.
We have all heard of the phrase 'make hay while the sun shines'. Well, that is exactly what India-based app developers are doing at the moment.
With the Ministry of Information Technology on June 29 banning 59 Chinese apps, the focus has now shifted to Indian apps.
The move resulted in popular short video app TikTok being taken down from Google Play Store and Apple App Store. This has given a big boost to India’s home-bred apps like Chingari and Bolo Indya which were looking to make a mark of its own for a while now.
TikTok rival Chingari seems to be the one that has benefitted the most out of the situation. The company announced on Twitter that the app clocked about 100,000 downloads per hour.
100,000 downloads per hour, guys please be patient! we are working on the servers and getting things up and running asap! pic.twitter.com/h3lGCbe4yl
— Sumit Ghosh (@sumitgh85) June 29, 2020
Speaking to Business Insider, Ghosh welcomed the government’s move banning the Chinese apps.
“Chingari team wants to thank the government of India and PMO for this decision to ban Chinese apps This step will take India one step ahead to be an Atmanirbhar economy – free from the clutches of China," Ghosh said.
According to a recent report, the app - which is available in multiple languages, including regional Indian languages – has over 2.5 downloads already. The app has been increasingly becoming popular and its list of admirers, include Industrialist Anand Mahindra who recently tweeted on the app.
"I hadn’t ever downloaded TikTok but I have just downloaded Chingari... More power to you..." Mahindra said in his tweet.