An Indian application called Hike was shut down in the first week of January 2021. To those who are not aware of this news; here’s a brief overview of why Hike is removed from Play Store?
- Is Signal App Safe To Use?
- WhatsApp Clarification On New Privacy Policy Update
- Signal Tops App Store And Google Play Charts In India & US
Hike Sticker Chat was launched in India on 12 December 2012. The application has different features. It has a wide range of stickers, various themes, hidden chat systems, free chatting options, and more. An extra feature called the Hike Wallet makes money transfer easy.
The Hike was the first application to have brought this concept into the market for its users. Hike Messenger also had a distinct feature of Blue Packets. These small envelopes of money given to one another; that expire within 24 hours. Users could customize their Blue Packets from over ten envelopes, and add a message in it.
Why Hike Removed From Play Store?
On January 6, 2021, Kavin Bharti Mittal; the Chief Executive Officer announced that they will be closing down the application. On Twitter, he announced the application’s shutdown and thanked their users for their constant support. The CEO informed the users to shift their personal data to a different application. He recommended that they complete the shift before midnight on 14th January.
Days later, the CEO, once again tweeted about data related queries. The application’s email will be kept open till 15th February; for any queries or difficulties that users may have. A major drawback that caused the application to wrap up its business was the debate on the ban of western messaging companies.
There is a mindset that Western products have a better scope over Indian innovations. The government did not agree to ban western messaging applications. This questioned Hike Stickerchat’s survival. Indian messaging applications cannot thrive if the government does not ban western messaging companies. This assumed to be the reason behind the application’s shutdown.
Users preferred WhatsApp, Signal, and Telegram as their source of communication. This answers why Hike removed from Play Store. The news of Hike’s removal from the Play Store comes just as WhatApp updated its privacy policy. The privacy policy has raised a lot of concerns, causing users to shift to Signal and Telegram.
Conclusion
With the invasion of western messaging companies, we have seen a major change in our governance of products and technology. Indian products and technology always placed in the second position while compared to western products. Many products face such a dilemma, in current times.
If you think we missed something out, feel free to let us know in the comment section below. Alternatively, you can connect with us through our social media handles. On that note, stay tuned to Fixing Port, your one-stop destination for all the latest news and tech updates.