Camscanner, a popular Android app used to transform images into PDFs, and WPS office, a popular office suite app, are among the list of apps that will be banned from the Google Play Store.
The ban is scheduled to kick into effect on February 19th and is as a result of a recently issued US executive order. The ban forbids any US person/company from transacting with these apps.
Certified Android Smartphones install their apps through the Google Play Store. Therefore, the move will be a blow to the apps as it will cut access to the 1 Billion+ users of the Google Play Store.
Users can, however, choose the sideload the APK files of these apps, but that is often a messy and fragmented process especially for non-technical users.
The list also includes other apps such as Shareit, Tencent QQ, Alipay, and WeChat Pay. The main reason for the ban, other than it being an obvious geopolitical move, is that the apps are suspected to gather sensitive information from US citizens “which could include federal employees and contractors”.
The move is part of President’s Trump campaign to minimise the influence of Chinese companies and products in the global scene.
This is part of the same campaign that saw Huawei banned from transacting with any US company. The move has seen Huawei become a pale ghost of its former self.
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Kevin is a tech enthusiast and the lead writer at MobiTrends.co.ke. He has been writing about smartphones and tech related topics since October 2012. About Us | Contact Us
