Five most controversial apps and games from 2020

All Pictures Credited: Android Authority

The world of apps is a big venue. Millions of Google Play and Apple App Store applications and games exist. No wonder some of them get into trouble from time to time. This year was quite a major one for conflicts. Some of them covered nearly the whole of 2020, while others proceed at the time of publishing. Certainly, the pandemic did not help and even the FTC got a little into the mix. Consider the most contentious software and games in 2020.

1. ToTok is allegedly spying on people

In January of a New York Times report with clear evidence to prove that this was the United Arab Emirates government spy application, a popular chat app (not to be confused with TikTok) was removed from the Google Play Store. Most of the popularity of the app was from the UAB government banning other applications with similar features. Huawei has also been marketing the software. At the beginning of January, it finally returned to the Play Store and was withdrawn in February. At the time of writing, it is left out of the app stores of Google and Apple.

2. Google Photos eliminates unlimited backups

Google Images has been the strongest cell phone deal for years. It helps you to freely upload and store images and videos on your phone. Full quality images and videos could also be freely posted as a free pixel device for Google's own use.

However, in 2020 Google ceased free uploads. It is currently still available, but the support ceases on 1 June 2021. Yes, Pixel phones are also included. Then images will be saved to Google Drive. You can still acquire and retain some of Google Drive's storage, but it was awesome. People have been intelligently angry. Alternatives are possible, but none is as convenient or open as Google Images.

3. Google bans 600 apps, goodbye Cheetah Mobile

Games and apps are still banned. Google Play Protect alone stops more than a billion malware installations annually. However, this batch contained something unusual. The 600 programs are forbidden from giving end-users practically no advantages and only as many advertisements as possible are available. In essence, every Cheetah Smartphone app in the Play Store was among those 600. The fact that applications from Cheetah Mobile are mostly snake oil is an open secret. The banhammer of Google eventually proved this to everyone. Ok, Cheetah Mobile, good riddance.

4. India bans a bunch of Chinese apps, including TikTok and PUBG Mobile

PUBG MobileThere is political differences between India and China at the moment. A mass ban on several Chinese applications from the India Google Play Store was one of the consequences. There were a range of heavy hitter smartphones such as most UC applications, WeChat, TikTok, ES File Explorer, most DU software, and Clean Master from Cheetah Mobile until they were all deleted. Even an app (no longer available now) advised you which applications were Chinese to get rid of. India will add 117 new applications to the list, including PUBG Mobile. A new version of PUBG is being built for the Indian market but without a final release date. This is underway, but in our contentious app list of 2021, you will see more about it.

5. FTC wants to know how apps use your data

The FTC recently directed a series of web platforms to report how customer data was used. These services include YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, Reddit, etc. It is a real engineering giant that is. The FTC also needs to know how each organization implements this knowledge to display ads, how they research the involvement of consumers, and the working of their algorithms. The survey may be a fantastic deal when both of these firms are competing. These days, though, privacy is a major issue for people so we'll see what happens. In December 2020, this happened and it's still in development as it was published.