Why Google removed Mitron, Remove China App

Google recently suspended Indian apps Mitron and Remove China App on the Play Store. The apps became huge overnight successes and clocked several million downloads before being removed by the search giant. In a recent blog post, the company has provided some clarity on the decision to suspend the two apps.

The blog also stated that one of the two apps could be making a comeback. Without naming the Mitron app, Sameer Samat, Vice President, Android and Google Play wrote, “Earlier this week, we removed a video app for a number of technical policy violations. We have an established process of working with developers to help them fix issues and resubmit their apps.  We’ve given this developer some guidance and once they’ve addressed the issue the app can go back up on Play.”

The post also mentioned that it suspended a number of apps for violating its policy that does not allow an app to “encourages or incentivizes users into removing or disabling third-party apps,” which is clearly in reference to the Remove China App, which identifies apps on a smartphone that are developed in China.

Google has also claimed that this policy has been enforced in many countries consistently in the past. Both these two apps gained popularity as anti-China sentiment has become widespread in India. Mitron, on the other hand, is being touted as an Indian-made alternative to TikTok. However, reports have suggested that the app's source code was reportedly purchased from a Qboxus, a Pakistani software company.