In recent years, Chinese apps have taken over the app ecosystem in the international market. Currently, most of the applications graphics on the Play Store, have Chinese roots. Many experts claim that Chinese apps collect user data and even some personally identifiable information.
The recent case is My browser collecting search queries even in incognito mode and sending the data to China. In the same way, TikTok has been accused of sending draft videos to servers in China. There have been many such cases, and they all have a common thread: user data is sent to Chinese servers, without regard to user privacy.
As we know, the Chinese authorities have open access to all the data that is in China, and that is a big concern. So, to protect your data, here are the best Chinese app alternatives that you should use on your mobile phone.
Best Alternatives to Chinese Android Apps in 2020
1. Triller (Alternative to TikTok / Likee / Kwai)
Among the many issues with TikTok, privacy has been a major concern for many users. Recently, four US senators urged the FTC to investigate TikTok because it apparently failed to remove videos made by children under the age of 13, a violation of its 2019 agreement.
Additionally, the advocacy group alleged that TikTok failed to protect the privacy of minors. On top of that, many users are wary of apps outside of China for obvious privacy reasons. TikTok, owned by ByteDance, a Beijing-based company, has been accused of sharing user data with China.
Experts are particularly alarmed by China's National Intelligence Law (2017) which requires companies to comply with intelligence gathering operations, if requested to do so by the Chinese government.
Speaking of Likee and Kwai, both apps have Chinese roots and are known for hosting inappropriate content on their platform,
So if you want to stay on the safe side, you can move on to Triller, which is quite similar to TikTok. It is a social video platform and the company is based in California. Just like TikTok, you can create professional-looking videos and share them in seconds. You can lip sync, take on challenges, and create music videos.
https://youtu.be/TKJUwaB9ujI
The platform is quite popular with celebrities including Justin Bieber, Rita Ora, Kevin Hart, and more. Furthermore, Triller comes with over 100 filters and has an AI-based editing algorithm to create unique videos in seconds.
Plus, you get access to top trending tracks on Triller just like TikTok. And if you loved Duet on TikTok, then you have group videos on Triller where you can collaborate with anyone on the internet. I would say that Triller is a promising alternative to TikTok and you can give it a try. Note that despite the similarities, I haven't mentioned Dubsmash because it had a data breach in 2019 that compromised over 162 million accounts.
2. Google Chrome – UC Browser Alternative
UC Browser, owned by Alibaba Group of China, is the second most popular web browser in China, but has had many security and privacy controversies in recent years. In 2015, Citizen Lab published a detailed study highlighting glaring security vulnerabilities and privacy gaps within the app.
The report concluded that users' personally identifiable information was sent to Umeng, an Alibaba analytics tool without encryption. In addition, precise location data was also transmitted to AMAP, an Alibaba China mapping tool. UC Browser quickly released a new build to fix those issues, but after further evaluation, Citizen Lab stated that many of the issues were still not fixed.
Apart from that, UC Browser came under the scanner of other governments for alleged data theft in 2017 after the DNS retention issue was pointed out by the University of Toronto.
Not to mention, UC Browser was removed from the Play Store in 2017 for misleading promotions. Therefore, if you want to browse the Internet without anyone monitoring your Internet activity, you should switch to a secure web browser. In this regard, Google Chrome is one of the best web browsers for smartphones and desktops.
Google takes security and privacy seriously and continually updates Chrome to protect users from harmful websites and malware.
Other than that, you can also check out Firefox Focus or Brave Privacy Browser for better privacy controls.
3. Google Files (alternative to SHAREit, Xender)
ShareIt started out as a file transfer app but has now evolved into a content platform like Helo and ShareChat. As a result, the app has changed from its main focus and is now primarily targeting content creators. There is a lot of inappropriate content in your app and I really wouldn't recommend it for anything, let alone file transfer.
Similarly, Xender has been bloated with too many features like social media downloader and Game Center. Not to mention that the constant ads and pop-ups make the experience worse.
Other than that, ShareIt has been found with two security vulnerabilities in the past year that allowed attackers to download content from a user's device by bypassing the device's authentication mechanism. Along with that, data such as Facebook tokens and cookies were also transferred. So if you want an alternative to these Chinese apps like SHAREit, I have only one recommendation: Google Files.
It can also act as your file manager and you can send and receive files without any ads or content notifications. Google Files is also quite fast and can go up to 150Mbps while transferring files.
4. Adobe Scan – CamScanner Alternative
CamScanner is the most popular document scanner app and is run by INTSIG, a Chinese company based in Shanghai. Last year, it was removed from the Play Store after Kaspersky found a Trojan Horse module inside the CamScanner app.
The researchers said that "the Trojan downloader can download malicious modules depending on what its creators are doing at the moment." Later, the malicious code was removed and the app returned to the Play Store. However, we have seen this pattern in many Chinese apps, including ES File Explorer and shady editors like CM and DU.
If you want to stay away from such malicious codes that are produced behind the scenes, you can move on to a safer and better alternative. Our alternative is Adobe Scan:
Followed by Microsoft Office Lens:
You can choose any of them and I am sure you will not be disappointed. You get batch mode, sharp scan just like CamScanner, OCR, Edge detection and many more advanced features.
5. ProtonVPN – TurboVPN Alternative
TurboVPN is a free VPN app that has quickly gained popularity due to the fact that there are no speed restrictions and no data limits.
It is run by a company called Innovative Connecting, based in Singapore. However, if you look closely, the company has deep roots with China. On top of that, TurboVPN's privacy policy is sketchy at best and I really wouldn't trust it.
So for an alternative to this Chinese VPN app, I would recommend ProtonVPN. It is a free VPN with no data limits and offers a good selection of VPN servers around the world. While there is some restriction on data speed, it works quite well.
As the company is based in Switzerland, it is protected by strict EU privacy laws. Also, ProtonVPN has recently opened up its VPN tool which makes it one of the most reliable VPNs out there.
6. Norton App Lock – AppLock Alternative
AppLock is another popular Chinese app to lock apps behind a PIN, password, or fingerprint. It is run by DoMobile and registered in Hong Kong, outside mainland China. However, we can't rule out privacy implications, as their privacy policy states that "Depending on specific feature needs, we may read (probably not save) your photos, media, and files, use the device's camera and microphone mobile device".
Basically, you are allowing the app to read your internal storage and have access to your camera and microphone. It seems too invasive for an app locker.
Something more secure than AppLock, is Norton App Lock. It has been developed by the popular antivirus provider, Norton Labs which is managed by Symantec, based in Arizona, USA. Similar to AppLock, you can set PIN, password or fingerprint to lock your apps.
However, the best part about Norton App Lock is that unlike AppLock, it is ad-free and offers a clean experience.
Protect your privacy with the best Chinese app alternatives
Those are the alternatives we recommend instead of some popular Chinese apps. Reading through the article, we can notice that many Chinese apps have underlying security and privacy issues that are never resolved, intentionally or otherwise. Not to mention, many apps have been banned from the Play Store for such violations in the past.
So if you want to use your mobile phone safely, you can use the Chinese app alternatives that we have mentioned in this article. If you find the article informative, please comment below and let us know what you think, as well as which other Chinese Android apps are expendable for safer ones.