Intense border tensions between India and Nepal have skyrocketed in the past couple of months. This has triggered the already present “Anti-China” sentiment in India, which seems to have gained a new height recently.
‘Remove China Apps’, a simple mobile application that scans the user’s phone for any Chinese-made apps, has a staggering 1Million+ downloads as of right now. Anyone familiar with the app economy knows that this is a staggering amount of downloads for any app. But what makes this more interesting is that it has reached this number within just two weeks of its launch.
What exactly is “Remove China Apps”?
As the name so assertively suggests, this is a simple smartphone app that allows the user to identify if any of the apps on the user’s phone is of Chinese origin. This app, developed by OneTouch AppLabs, comes in at a lightweight 3.5 MB. It seems to crosscheck the app’s name and developer/ developer studio’s info with its geological origin, thus identifying if it is based on a Chinese company. The user can then decide to uninstall the app through the Remove China Apps itself or to do it manually.
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The developers of the app claim it to only be for “educational purposes”, and the purpose of the app is to only pinpoint the country of origin of apps. However, it’s obvious that the developers have capitalized on the growing Anti-China sentiments. It has provided a new way for the Indian Population to add fuel to the fire and showcase their pent-up frustrations.
Since the viral outbreak of Remove China Apps, numerous sources have tried to release their versions of this app, hoping to piggyback off its success. However, none have had as much of a viral reach as Remove China Apps. With a 4.8-star rating by over 146k reviews, the support from its audience seems pretty positive, to say the least.
The app is currently not available for download in Nepal.
What this means for India, China… and Nepal:
While these two massive powerhouses have certainly had their share of negative relations, showering it on the App economy has its own set of repercussions. While big Chinese companies like ByteDance(TikTok), Tencent(PUBG, Wechat), UCWeb(UC Browser, UC News), etc might have lost a minor share of their userbase, indie(independent) app developers and small studios have had their businesses devastated. With India’s userbase being one of the largest in platforms like the Google Play Store, many indie developers and small to mid-scale app studios have reported a drastic decrease in their total number of users since apps like Remove China Apps have become viral.
The recent interchange of cyber-attacks, never-ending social media wars, etc has driven the point home that this feud between countries has infested the cyber-space. With border disputes further deepening and misinformation in the general public spreading like wildfire, there is no end in sight for this feud, nor for the misguided hatred growing between the Nepalese and Indian population.
