An android application that claims to identify and remove Chinese-made apps on phones has become hugely popular in India, clocking over 10 lakh downloads since its launch earlier this month. The development came amid escalating border tensions between New Delhi and Beijing that has resulted in the rise of anti-China sentiment amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The mobile platform, called Remove China Apps, claims to scan and list all Chinese-made apps on users’ phones so that they can remove them. The app is available to download for free. It has gathered positive reviews on Google Play Store and a 4.8 rating.

Remove China Apps is capable of only detecting applications installed by users from Google Play Store or other third-party app stores on their phones, and not the ones already installed on Chinese-made smartphones. The application has been created by a Jaipur-based company called OneTouch AppLabs.

Social media has been flooded with posts of users claiming to have used the new technology to weed out Chinese apps. The online campaign to boycott Chinese goods and technology began with a video posted by Sonam Wangchuk, the engineer who inspired the film 3 Idiots.

India-China tensions

Border tensions between the two nations have heightened over the last month. Chinese troops have clashed with the Indian Army at several points along the Line of Actual Control. India and China do not share a defined and demarcated border. Instead, there is the Line of Actual Control, which stretches thousands of kilometres from Ladakh all the way to Arunachal Pradesh.

China, the country where the coronavirus pandemic originated, is also facing international scrutiny over the escalating health crisis, especially from the United States.

Actor and model Milind Soman followed suit and said he was no longer using the Chinese-made TikTok app.

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Several social media users followed them in boycotting Chinese products.