Google explains why it removed Mitron and 'anti-China' app

In the space of a few days Google removed two ‘popular’ apps from the Play Store. The two apps in question — Mitron (a desi TikTok rival) and Remove China apps — from the Play Store for violating certain guidelines. Now, Google has given an official explanation in a blog, where it doesn’t name the two apps but it’s quite clear that the company is referencing to the two recent apps. Here’s what you should know about why Google removed the two apps and what the apps were all about:

Mitron reportedly had a ‘Pakistan’ connection and was pitched as a desi TikTok rival. It was reported that the source code of the app was bought from a Pakistan-based developer company.

In the blog post, Google said that it has given the developer some guidance and “once they’ve addressed the issue the app can go back up on Play.”

The app became popular because of anti-China sentiment but was removed by Google.

In the blog post, Google said it doesn’t allow any app that “encourages or incentivizes users into removing or disabling third-party apps or modifying device settings or features unless it is part of a verifiable security service”.