Recently, many budget smartphone companies like Xiaomi and Realme have been under the radar for pre-installing apps in their smartphones. These not only included the banned apps themselves, but also a Cleaner app using the notorious Clean Master definitions. Realme and Poco have already made a public clarification regarding the same, and Xiaomi finally follows suit. Xiaomi India head Manu Kumar Jain took to Twitter to release a statement about the clarification regarding this situation.
Clarification Given by Xiaomi
Manu Kumar Jain in his tweet that Xiaomi will bring a new version of MIUI free from banned Chinese apps. The clarification statement also says that none of the Xiaomi smartphones can access these banned apps in India for now, and it is working on a newer version of MIUI that won’t include these apps alongside. There will be a gradual rollout of the new software over the next few weeks. You can view the tweet down below:
Addressing the issue about Clean Master on its Cleaner app, Xiaomi debunks misinformation claims. The ‘Clean Master’ branding in its Cleaner app used “industry definitions that are vital to the functioning” of the app. Xiaomi claims the term to be a commonly used industry term, not being related to the banned Clean Master app. Further, it has updated the app to remove the mention of these definitions nevertheless to avoid confusion.
Lastly, the post stated how the data of Indian users have only been stored on Indian servers, none of which is shared with anyone. Xiaomi even says that it has noticed the spread of misinformation regarding this issue, and reserves the right to take legal action against any such untrue accusations.
We are not fully convinced by this statement even after Xiaomi’s clarification. Xiaomi’s Cleaner app clearly specifies Cheetah Mobile’s Clean Master to power its features. Moreover, the term ‘Clean Master’ by no means seems like a commonly used industrial term. Lastly, Xiaomi claims all the data of Indian users to have been stored on servers within India “since 2018 and not shared with anyone outside the country”.
