Google suspends top Chinese shopping app Pinduoduo

Google has suspended Chinese shopping app Pinduoduo from its Play store because versions of the software found elsewhere have included malware. Pinduoduo rose to prominence by offering Chinese consumers the chance to buy fresh produce from farmers. Chinese consumers are often very conscious of food quality and the app became a …

[Anonymous Coward]

Chess Alliance

Not the first time Google blocked a popular Chinese app. In 2021 I was using Chess Alliance (Guo Xiang Lian Meng), which was available only as an APK from the club's official website, and after a few months of normal use, Android suddenly told me it's going to uninstall the app because it's identified it as a threat. I never got an explanation from either Google or Chess Alliance. I would at least have been interested to find out what exactly they caught it doing!

[Forex]

Doesn't make sense ...

So because there is other malware versions of the app out there, Google bans the only safe source of the app....it's app store version.

[Robert Carnegie]

Re: Doesn't make sense ...

Possibly Pinduoduo did create the malware versions (government spying versions?) seen elsewhere and also tried to submit a malware version into Google Play. Let's suppose that Google blocked that - however, it would be reasonable to expect Pinduoduo to try again and again to release another malware version into Google Play, and they could eventually succeed. So instead, uninvite them, first. This is only my speculative hypothesis, and not knowledge.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Doesn't make sense ...

It's also possible that the App is clean until it is installed, geo location identified, updated with a version that has malware.

Wouldn't be the first time.