NEW DELHI: The 59 Chinese apps banned by the government on Monday will be blocked by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in India, and users who have downloaded them will not receive updates, a senior government official said. While that sounds a lot like the government’s ban on porn websites, which also happens through ISPs, it's unclear what “not getting updates" mean.
It's likely that Apple and Google won't be allowed to list the apps on their app stores in the country. Banning through ISPs though means that using virtual private networks (VPNs) may still let users access these apps and services.
Mint has written to both Apple and Google for confirmation on this. This story will be updated to reflect the same when they respond.
The ban includes big names like social media apps TikTok, Vigo Video and Helo, both of which are owned by Chinese Bytedance. Singapore-based Bigo Technologies’ Likee app is also going to be banned. Between TikTok, Vigo Video and Helo, Bytedance commands a user base of over 300 million Indians.
TikTok of course takes the lion’s share of this, having over 200 million users in India. Helo reported 50 million monthly active users in June last year and has been growing ever since. Vigo Video, on the other hand, was headed for a shutdown. On June 15, Bytedance had said it would shut down Vigo Video and Vigo Lite and would be transitioning its users to TikTok.
The government’s ban also includes apps like UC Browser and UC News, which are owned by the Alibaba Group. The web browser had over 130 million users in the country back in 2018 while the news aggregation apps is also quite common amongst users here.
Other popular apps include CamScanner, which many use for scanning documents and Tencent owned WeChat. Top smartphone seller Xiaomi’s Mi Community app have also been banned. The entire list includes:
1.TikTok
2.Shareit
3.Kwai
4.UC Browser
5.Baidu map
6.Shein
7.Clash of Kings
8.DU battery saver
9.Helo
10.Likee
11.YouCam makeup
12.Mi Community
13.CM Browers
14.Virus Cleaner
15.APUS Browser
16.ROMWE
17.Club Factory
18.Newsdog
19.Beutry Plus
20.WeChat
21.UC News
22.QQ Mail
23.Weibo
24.Xender
25.QQ Music
26.QQ Newsfeed
27.Bigo Live
28.SelfieCity
29.Mail Master
30.Parallel Space
31.Mi Video Call – Xiaomi
32.WeSync
33.ES File Explorer
34.Viva Video – QU Video Inc
35.Meitu
36.Vigo Video
37.New Video Status
38.DU Recorder
39.Vault- Hide
40.Cache Cleaner DU App studio
41.DU Cleaner
42.DU Browser
43.Hago Play With New Friends
44.Cam Scanner
45.Clean Master – Cheetah Mobile
46.Wonder Camera
47.Photo Wonder
48.QQ Player
49.We Meet
50.Sweet Selfie
51.Baidu Translate
52.Vmate
53.QQ International
54.QQ Security Center
55.QQ Launcher
56.U Video
57.V fly Status Video
58.Mobile Legends
59.DU Privacy
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