Here is the list of 53 Chinese Android Smartphone/iPhone apps red-flagged by Intel agencies that you should remove/uninstall immediately
Indian intelligence agencies have asked the government to block or advise people to stop the use of 53 mobile applications linked to China over concerns that these weren’t safe and ended up extracting a large amount of data outside India.
As you know the border tension raising in the country has led the people to boycott Chinese products and make in India slogans to be splashed on every social media. One such #BoycottChineseProducts call came from a social and education reformer, Sonam Wangchuk. Wangchuk encouraged Indians to drop the use of Chinese software “within a week.” He inspired many like Milind Soman, Bhavna Arora, etc. to uninstall Apps like TikTok from their Android smartphones.
Boycotting Chinese Smartphones? here is a list of Non-Chinese smartphones that you can buy
Wangchuk said Indians have the freedom to choose what they spend on with their wallet and if a country doesn’t treat India fairly then they should use boycotts as “personal economic sanctions”. He also suggested that Indians need not depend on cheap Chinese products and look for domestic alternatives.
According to the National Security Council with further plans to assess the risk associated with each app. A potential concern is that the apps not just leak data, but might also be used to degrade network conditions in case of conflict. Intelligence agencies have advised the government to block or ban the apps but there has been no official announcement yet.
Below is the list of all apps that Indian agencies have reported and red-flagged, we have also provided the alternatives of the apps that are not made in China or developed by Chinese developers:
- TikTok – alternative: Dubsmash, Mitron (though this is claimed to be Pakistani TikTik clone it is now owned by an Indian developer)
- Mi Store – alternative: You don’t need an alternative for Mi store as it is only for Mi users
- Mi Community – alternative: You don’t need an alternative for Mi community as it is only for Mi users
- Weibo – alternative: Twitter
- WeChat – alternative: WhatsApp, Facebook messenger
- SHAREit – alternative: JioSwitch (Special feature No ads)
- Clash of Kings – alternative: Clash of Clans, Clash Royale (Both are made by Supercell(Finland))
- DU recorder – alternative: Lollipop screen recorder
- YouCam Makeup – alternative: Adobe Capture
- 360 Security – alternative: Malwarebytes Security, AVG Antivirus
- DU Battery Saver – alternative: GSam Battery Monitor
- DU Browser – alternative: Google Chrome
- DU Cleaner – alternative: Files by Google
- DU Privacy – alternative: Files by Google
- Clean Master – Cheetah – alternative: Files by Google
- CacheClear – alternative: Files by Google
- DU apps studio – alternative: Files by Google
- Baidu Translate – alternative: Google Translate
- Baidu Map – alternative: Google Maps
- QQ Launcher – alternative: Microsoft launcher, NOVA launcher
- QQ Security Centre – alternative: Malwarebytes Security, AVG Antivirus
- QQ Player – alternative: MX player
- QQ Music – alternative: Google Play Music, Spotify
- QQ Mail – alternative: Gmail, Email
- QQ NewsFeed – alternative: Google News
- WeSync – alternative: Sync
- QQ International – alternative: No alternative needed
- ES File Explorer – alternative: Files by Google
- Mi Video call-Xiaomi – alternative: Google Duo, Google Meet, ZOOM, Microsoft Teams
- Parallel Space – alternative: Dr. Clone
- SelfieCity – alternative: Google camera
- Mail Master – alternative: Gmail, Email
- Vault-Hide – alternative: Files by Google
- Vigo Video – alternative: Dubsmash, Mitron
- Bigo Live – alternative: Instagram, Facebook
- UC News – alternative: Google News
- UC Browser – alternative: Google Chrome
- BeautyPlus – alternative: Photoshop
- Xender – alternative: JioSwitch (Special feature No ads)
- ClubFactory – alternative: Flipkart, Amazon
- Helo – alternative: Instagram, Facebook
- LIKE – alternative: Instagram, Facebook
- Kwai – alternative: Google camera
- ROMWE – alternative: Flipkart, Amazon
- SHEIN – alternative: Flipkart, Amazon
- NewsDog – alternative: Google News
- Wonder Camera – alternative: Google Camera
- Photo Wonder – alternative: Photoshop
- APUS Browser – alternative: Google Chrome
- VivaVideo- QU Video Inc – alternative: Abobe Premier
- Perfect Corp – alternative: Adobe Photoshop Express
- CM Browser – alternative: Google Chrome
- Virus Cleaner (Hi Security Lab) – alternative: Malwarebytes Security, AVG Antivirus
All the above Chinese apps are linked with the Google play store so you can easily uninstall them, the alternatives have been linked as well so that you don’t need to find them. We have listed the most used alternatives so if we miss out on anything please mention them in the comment section below. For more news on tech and cybersecurity stay tuned at Android Rookies by subscribing to our newsletter from here