Apps from China are playing an increasingly important role on our smartphones, from cheap stores to social media. But is that really a bad thing?
China on your smartphone: spin the wheel
We all grew up with products that say “made in China” on the bottom. I only have to look around my desk to see things that were made in the country. Even the coffee cup I just finished drinking turned out to have made the long journey from Asia.
So it is the most normal thing in the world to use stuff from China and it also says nothing about the quality. A lot is simply produced in the country, because the production costs are a lot lower. This is partly due to the lower wages, and because the raw materials can be found locally.
But when it comes to smartphones and other devices, people suddenly become a lot more nervous. For example, Huawei is banned from the United States, import duties for electric cars from China that come to Europe have been increased and people are worried that the Chinese government is influencing people via TikTok.
More and more Chinese apps
Meanwhile, the popularity of Chinese apps in the Netherlands is increasing rapidly. We all know TikTok as an unprecedentedly popular video app where people spend hours a day, or CapCut for editing videos. Shopping apps such as Temu and Shein are also not to be beaten from the top lists of most popular apps in the Netherlands.
And then we haven’t even mentioned extremely popular games from China like Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail, which are very well put together, offer endless content and are therefore installed on countless smartphones.
Civil servants are prohibited from having many of these Chinese apps on their work phones, due to privacy concerns. These apps are said to collect a lot of data and do not always comply with European laws. The Consumers’ Association recently called for Temu to be “tamed”, although this is mainly due to the poor quality of the products supplied.
Issues
The fears are not unfounded. A year ago, Pinduoduo was removed from the Play Store because malware was found in the store app that could steal all kinds of smartphone data. The malware gave access to notifications and files of users, among other things. The Temu app comes from the same makers.
Another problem with these apps from China is that the terms and conditions state that your personal data can be shared with Chinese authorities. This seems harmless, because it probably doesn’t cause any problems for you as a user. However, experts are concerned about the bigger picture. All this data together potentially gives China a lot of power.
On the other hand, apps from Meta or Google, for example, collect more data about users than an app like TikTok. China then feels a lot further away and a lot less worrying.
Addictive
Another element that stands out with popular apps from China is how many tricks they use to make users come back. You can see that with TikTok of course with the rock-solid algorithm and the infinite swiping. In the Netherlands, you only see videos with some commercials in between, but the Chinese version of TikTok is much more about shopping.
That China is also strong in that area is evident from how Temu is designed. The store has all sorts of ways to keep you coming back, such as the wheel that you can spin for discounts or other bonuses. You can also save credits and earn free products if you convince other people to create an account.
To delete apps or not
There is no need to immediately remove all your smartphone apps from China. Especially since most concerns are based on ‘what if’ and not on concrete evidence about what happens to your data.
It is important to be aware of these things as a smartphone user. Not only the privacy concerns, but also the means these apps use to steal more and more of your time and money. This awareness can help you when more tricks are used, or when the next addictive app from China is ready.
Also read: How safe is shopping via Temu?
Source: www.androidplanet.nl
