India bans PUBG, Baidu and more than 100 apps linked to China • Hacker News Board

Re: India bans PUBG, Baidu and more than 100 apps linked to China

#21

Post by searchableguy » Wed, Sep 02, 2020, 3:55 PM UTC

I appreciate the sentiment of having more domestic alternatives and competition but there's an insignificant amount of work here. Indie developers and studios won't start making apps and games for India unless they can sustain themselves. That is hard. I expect bigger companies such as jio to take lion's share and have a default monopoly at this point.

> India has emerged as the fastest growing app market in the world with 19 billion apps downloaded in 2019, up from 6.55 billion in 2016, according to data from analytics and market intelligence firm App Annie’s State of Mobile 2020 report published last week.

> Indians have spent only $120 million on mobile apps whereas China dominates mobile spending with $48 billion, which is 40% of total revenue generated through mobile apps.

> In-app subscriptions contributed to 96% of spend in top non-gaming apps.

https://entrackr.com/2020/01/india-is-fastest-growing-market...

Some background:

> PM Narendra Modi on Sunday urged startups and entrepreneurs to develop innovative “toys and games, for India and of India” to meet domestic demand and increase its share in the global toy business, estimated at Rs 7 lakh crore. He also called upon people to support indigenously developed apps which could replace the ones currently in vogue and are controlled by foreign companies.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/...

Re: India bans PUBG, Baidu and more than 100 apps linked to China

#22

Post by seshagiric » Wed, Sep 02, 2020, 3:56 PM UTC

throwaway4good wrote: post #14

Where is the Indian opposition on this? Are they fully behind Modi's nationalism? There is a raging pandemic. Massive recession. Potential war with China. Internet bans. Crackdown in Kashmir. There has to be some questions?

Modi has nationalist agenda but I doubt this one falls under it. Given the consistent Chinese aggression, I guess any other political party would have done the same.

Re: India bans PUBG, Baidu and more than 100 apps linked to China

#23

Post by magicsmoke » Wed, Sep 02, 2020, 3:56 PM UTC

threatofrain wrote: post #8

maerF0x0 wrote: post #3

> India's IT Ministry said it had "credible information" the latest batch were acting against India's interests. I'd venture to say many apps are against _everyone's_ interest due to the caustic effects on society they have.

Sort of calls into question the quality of the citizen in a modern democracy if they are asked to make judgments on war and industry and yet they cannot be trusted with online video games.

The founders of modern democracy already questioned the quality of the average citizen and whether they could be trusted with policy making. Hence the US was founded as a representative democracy. Citizens didn't make judgements on war and industry, they made judgements on politicians that would do so on their behalf.

Re: India bans PUBG, Baidu and more than 100 apps linked to China

#24

Post by OzzyB » Wed, Sep 02, 2020, 3:56 PM UTC

green-bottle wrote: post #5

Like all other internet bans in India I doubt this one will have any teeth. Everyone has a "Free" VPN app that they use to bypass these restrictions. Most people own Android phones where they can sideload apps downloaded from some third party APK website (of questionable trustworthiness) iPhones have negligible penetration in India so are not even a part of the equation.

Always wondered about these Free VPNs, how are they free? Are they actually free? Is that why you used "Free" in quotes? Must be a valid model behind it since the bandwith must be insane.

Re: India bans PUBG, Baidu and more than 100 apps linked to China

#25

Post by peacefulhat » Wed, Sep 02, 2020, 3:56 PM UTC

green-bottle wrote: post #5

Like all other internet bans in India I doubt this one will have any teeth. Everyone has a "Free" VPN app that they use to bypass these restrictions. Most people own Android phones where they can sideload apps downloaded from some third party APK website (of questionable trustworthiness) iPhones have negligible penetration in India so are not even a part of the equation.

You don’t want to be on a vpn for a competitive game if they’re blocking the fortnite server

Re: India bans PUBG, Baidu and more than 100 apps linked to China

#26

Post by higerordermap » Wed, Sep 02, 2020, 3:57 PM UTC

searchableguy wrote: post #21

I appreciate the sentiment of having more domestic alternatives and competition but there's an insignificant amount of work here. Indie developers and studios won't start making apps and games for India unless they can sustain themselves. That is hard. I expect bigger companies such as jio to take lion's share and have a default monopoly at this point. > India has emerged as the fastest growing app market in the worl…

Chinese apps have always been a security risk. Mostly youth will be annoyed by lack of their favourite time-waster apps, but there are alternatives.

Re: India bans PUBG, Baidu and more than 100 apps linked to China

#27

Post by m-p-3 » Wed, Sep 02, 2020, 3:58 PM UTC

OzzyB wrote: post #24

green-bottle wrote: post #5

Like all other internet bans in India I doubt this one will have any teeth. Everyone has a "Free" VPN app that they use to bypass these restrictions. Most people own Android phones where they can sideload apps downloaded from some third party APK website (of questionable trustworthiness) iPhones have negligible penetration in India so are not even a part of the equation.

Always wondered about these Free VPNs, how are they free? Are they actually free? Is that why you used "Free" in quotes? Must be a valid model behind it since the bandwith must be insane.

They're free in term of money, but the cost is that the provider can sell your privacy to the highest bidder.

Re: India bans PUBG, Baidu and more than 100 apps linked to China

#28

Post by ffpip » Wed, Sep 02, 2020, 3:58 PM UTC

searchableguy wrote: post #21

I appreciate the sentiment of having more domestic alternatives and competition but there's an insignificant amount of work here. Indie developers and studios won't start making apps and games for India unless they can sustain themselves. That is hard. I expect bigger companies such as jio to take lion's share and have a default monopoly at this point. > India has emerged as the fastest growing app market in the worl…

Jio unfortunately blatantly copies western apps and adds a 'Made in India' tag. Therefore people think it is patriotic to use it.

They copied Whatsapp but removed the end to end encryption. They copied Zoom and removed the decent security. They copied amazon and started JioMart, whose apps look exactly the same.

Am waiting for them to start Jioogle, as an alternative search engine.

Re: India bans PUBG, Baidu and more than 100 apps linked to China

#29

Post by ffpip » Wed, Sep 02, 2020, 3:59 PM UTC

green-bottle wrote: post #5

Like all other internet bans in India I doubt this one will have any teeth. Everyone has a "Free" VPN app that they use to bypass these restrictions. Most people own Android phones where they can sideload apps downloaded from some third party APK website (of questionable trustworthiness) iPhones have negligible penetration in India so are not even a part of the equation.

TikTok doesnt work at all now. The company accepted the ban so they themselves are stopping the app from working.

Re: India bans PUBG, Baidu and more than 100 apps linked to China

#30

Post by shklnrj » Wed, Sep 02, 2020, 4:00 PM UTC

throwaway4good wrote: post #14

Where is the Indian opposition on this? Are they fully behind Modi's nationalism? There is a raging pandemic. Massive recession. Potential war with China. Internet bans. Crackdown in Kashmir. There has to be some questions?

This is not related to any nationalism. Its the response of a sovereign nation in order to secure the data of its citizens which might face 'potential war with China'.

Its logical. If you apply logic.