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Google removes popular benchmark app AnTuTu from the Play Store

By Cosmin Vasile

Published: Mar 09, 2020, 10:30 AM

Android Apps

Google removes popular benchmark app AnTuTu from the Play Store

Google is cracking down hard on companies who violate Play Store's policies, so in the last couple of weeks, hundreds of apps have been removed from the Android digital platform. While many of these apps may be guilty as charged, some may have been collateral victims.

AnTuTu, the popular benchmarking app for Android devices, seems to be one of the collateral victims in the war between Google and apps that aren't fair with its users. While we don't know when exactly AnTuTu has been removed from the Google Play Store, anyone trying to access the store link will be met with an error message.

AndroidPolice reports that the reason behind Google's decision to remove AnTuTu from the Play Store is related to Cheetah Mobile, a company that had all its apps removed from the Android digital platform last month after repeatedly violating its policy.

Although AnTuTu is not entirely owned by Cheetah Mobile, the former's chairman and manager, Fu Sheng, serves as the CEO of the latter at the same time. However, AnTuTu claims that it operates independently, even if Cheetah Mobile did invest in the company and became one of its shareholders several years ago.

We received a notification email from Google on March 7th informing us that AnTuTu was one of the related publisher accounts of Cheetah Mobile, all AnTuTu apps were removed from the Play Store. But in fact, We think there is some misunderstanding about it. Antutu is NOT the related account of Cheetah Mobile!! AnTuTu was founded in 2011, even before Cheetah Mobile, and is one of the earliest Google Play developers. Cheetah Mobile invested in us in around 2014 and became one of our shareholders since then. However, we still retain a considerable account of shares and Independent operation of the company as well as our own independent Google Play account. Cheetah Mobile has never touched our Google Play account, and AnTuTu has NOT done any promotion of Cheetah Mobile's software.

AnTuTu believes that the reason its benchmarking apps have been removed from the Play Store may have something to do with the fact that its privacy policy link used the address of Cheetah Mobile. If Google reexamines the issue and finds that it was a mistake to remove the benchmark app, then AnTuTu might return to Play Store in the not-so-distant future.

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Cosmin, a tech journalist with a career spanning over a decade, brought a wealth of experience to PhoneArena. His expertise lies in brands like Samsung and Nokia, and he has a keen interest in innovative technologies. After a brief stint in PR, Cosmin returned to tech journalism in 2016, committed to delivering clear and objective news. When he's not writing or appearing as a guest on TV and radio shows, Cosmin enjoys playing RPGs, watching Netflix, and nurturing his passion for history and travel.