Best Alternatives for Popular Chinese Apps Banned in India
The Government of India banned 59 mobile apps including TikTok and UC Browser on Monday, 29 June.
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The Government of India has banned 59 mobile apps including TikTok and UC Browser on Monday, 29 June, calling them "prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, the security of the state and public order."
This is the complete list of Chinese apps banned in India:
So what can users of these apps do now? Here are some alternatives:
Alternative Apps to Tiktok, Kwai, Helo, Likee & Bigo Live
Short-video making app TikTok has a huge following in India. In 2019, TikTok had a monthly active user base of 120 million in India which is one of the app’s largest in the world.
Alternative: ShareChat. The platform is a Twitter-backed company and has over 60 million monthly active users.
Alternative to Xender and ShareIT
Both apps have been used heavily by Indian consumers to share heavy files, photos, games and movies for free. These apps also do not require the use of mobile data.
Alternatives: Dropbox or Google Drive. While both options have caps on the free storage, users can pay a monthly or annual fee to expand the storage. For iOS users, the build-in AirDrop feature is also an easy alternative.
Alternatives to CamScanner
CamScanner has been the go-to app used to take digital photocopies of physical documents. The app has evolved over the years and users can also now back up the digital photocopies on the app.
Alternatives: Microsoft Lens and Adobe Scanner are two great options with similar user interface and offer the same services as well. Both apps are available for free on the iOS and Android platforms.
Alternatives to UC Browser
UC Browser is a popular web browser developed by China-based company UCWeb, backed by the Alibaba Group. Though the app is popular, its user base is still less compared to default browsing apps on Android phones such as Google Chrome.
Alternatives: Google Chrome, Safari, Firefox.
Alternatives to Mi Video Call, WeChat
Mi Video Call is Xiaomi's own video calling and messaging platform. Though the app is popular, almost every mobile user in India is on WhatsApp, which has the same features. WeChat also provides the same basic services as WhatsApp.
Alternatives: WhatsApp, Signal
Alternatives for Shein and ClubFactory
Both Shein and ClubFactory are popular e-commerce platforms for fashion and shopping. Both offer a large variety of options when it comes to clothing and tech. Fortunately, there are great Indian alternatives to the site which offer the same services and range of products.
Alternatives: Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra
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