According to reports, Google silently removed 46 apps from its Play Store last week, all belonging to iHandy, and a Chinese mobile developer. The removed apps had been downloaded millions of times before removal, including selfie, security, antivirus, keyboard, horoscope, emoji, and health applications. But, oddly enough, eight of iHandy’s apps are still available. There was no reason for removing these apps and both Google and iHandy refused to comment. An iHandy executive called Google’s move surprising, according to Buzzfeed, and added that they were trying to find the reasons for the actions. This is not the first time that Google has removed apps belonging to Chinese developers, and this move could give rise to further concerns. iHandy is one of the world’s largest developers for mobile apps and was established in 2008, and it set up a team in Silicon Valley in 2016. These removals come in the wake of Google banning two other major developers of Chinese apps after BuzzFeed News found malicious activity in their apps. These developers ‘ apps, DO Global and CooTek, were more than 1 billion times downloaded. Simon Zhu, iHandy’s vice president, told BuzzFeed News that Google is in touch with the company and is working to restore its apps. He commented, “From our point of view, this is an unexpected action. We’re trying to find out why. Hope the apps will be back to Play Store as soon as possible. In the recent years, Google has been planning on new improved ecosystem for its users and developers around the globe. We are definitely looking forward to these improvements as a developer in a good standing”. Google has been vigilant in the past few years when it comes to violation of the strict policies designed to make improvements for the users.
