The App ecosystem in India is taken by the Chinese apps. At present, most of the applications on the play store are having Chinese roots.
Many experts claim that these Chinese apps collect user data and some personal identifiable information. Tik tok is abused of sending draft videos to servers in china. In many more incidents, all of them have a common moto.
Collect user data and send to Chinese servers. Disregarding user privacy. As we know that the Chinese Government have total authority for the data held in china.
So, to protect your data, Here are some alternatives that you should use on your smartphone.
1. Google Chrome-UC Browser Alternative
UC browser, owned by Alibaba Group of china, is one of the most popular app browser across India and china, This app had many issues in the past
regarding privacy and security issues and found out that the app is sending information of users to Umeng, an Alibaba analytics tool that too, without encryption. Location data was also transmitted to AMAP, an Alibaba mapping tool in china.
Also, back in 2017 UC browser was removed from play store for misleading promotions. So, to browse the internet without any monitoring, you should use Google chrome (Play store, App Store), which is best in class for desktop and phones. Google takes its uses security and privacy seriously.
Other than that you can also check on Firefox focus (Play store, App Store) and Brave (Play store, Appstore)
2. Adobe scan-Cam scanner alternative
Cam scanner is a popular document scanner app and is run by INTSIG, a Chinese company based in Shanghai. Last year they also removed this application was also from the play store after Kaspersky labs found a major Trojan Horse module inside the app.
Later it was added back to play store after they removed the code.
We have also seen this pattern from many Chinese applications like Es File Explorer and publishers like CM and Du.
So, if you want to stay away from malicious incidents like these, try adobe scan. You will find all the major advanced features in the apps. Microsoft office lens is also another alternative.
You can download from the apps from here (Play Store, App Store)
3. Files by google (Alternative to SHAREit, Xender)
ShareIt started as a file transfer application, but now it became a content platform just like Helo and ShareChat. As a result, app moved from its primary goal and now mostly caters to content creators.I also found so much unnecessary and inappropriate content on the app and suggest not to use that. Similarly, Xender also has been bloated with too many features like social media downloaded and game center.The constant ads and pop-ups make your experience worse.
ShareIt was also found sending data like Facebook tokens and cookies. So, the best alternative to these Chinese apps is Files (Play Store) by google.
It also acts a file manager also and you can seamlessly transfer files between devices with no ads and unnecessary notifications.
4. Proton Vpn- Turbo Vpn alternative
Turbo Vpn is also a famous Vpn app because of no speed restriction and no data limit. It’s run by a company from Singapore but has its roots from china.
On top of that, the privacy is sketchy and best I would not really trust it.
So, the best alternative to the Chinese Vpn application is Proton Vpn (Play Store, App Store). it’s a free to use VPN with no data limit and offers a wonderful selection of
VPN servers around the world.There is some restriction in speed. But that will work. They base The company in Switzerland, it protects you by Eu’s strong privacy laws. It’s also an open sourced its Vpn, and it is one of the best. Out there.
5. Norton App-lock – App lock alternative
App lock is another popular Chinese app present for locking apps behind a PIN, pattern, password, Fingerprint.
It’s run by Do Mobile registered in Hong Kong. while using this app you are allowing the app to read your internal storage and have access to a microphone and cameras.Which are unnecessary for App lock.
So, for the alternative, there is NORTON app lock (Play Store). Developed by popular antivirus provider, Norton labs in USA.
Its ad free and clean UI experience.
Triller (Play Store, App Store) – Tik tok Alternative
Share chat (Play Store, App Store)-Helo Alternative
So, these are the alternatives that we would recommend you to use in place of popular Chinese applications.
You can also check out another post regarding what Chinese apps are present in your Phone.