Mitron app, marketed as an “Indian alternative” to TikTok has crossed the one crore mark in app downloads on the Google Play Store.
The app has crossed the one crore mark in just over two months after its launch, gaining massive popularity amid the rising anti-China sentiments in the country.
The TikTok rival has also faced major issues and has been under the scanner after reports questioning its “Make in India” label.
The TikTok lookalike app published by Mitron TV had not been developed by an IIT student as advertised earlier as per reports.
The app’s source code had been purchased from a Pakistani software developer company, Qboxus, News 18 had reported.
Irfan Sheikh, founder and chief executive of Qboxus, had said the app was not a “Made in India” app as promoted. It was his company that had sold the source code of their app to Mitron’s promoter for $34.
The company’s co-founders Shivank Agarwal and Anish Khandelwal in a press note announcing the 1 crore downloads milestone had emphasized on the Indian connection of the app touting it as an “India centric” app while highlighting the importance of “Vocal for Local,” Gadgets360 reported.
Apart from controversies regarding its origin, the app had also been criticised for its privacy and security issues. In another instance, Google had removed the app from its Play Store on June 2 for violating its spam and minimum functionality policy.
The app had later been returned to the platform under new guidelines with a few changes, the report said.