Mitron, touted as TikTok's Indian rival, originated in Pakistan

In an appalling revelation, Mitron, the app widely known as the desi rival to TikTok, was created by a Pakistani software developer company, Qboxus. According to Irfan Sheikh, founder and chief executive of Qboxus, his company sold the source code of their app to Mitron’s promoter for $34 (approximately Rs 2,600) on CodeCanyon. 

Currently, at least 277 people already own the source code of Mitron. Reportedly, one of the buyers of TicTac rebranded the TikTok's clone app into Mitron. The findings came to light after the Qboxus team contacted Indian media houses as Mitron was being touted as a Made in India rival of TikTok. 

“We expect our customers to use our code and build something on their own. But Mitron’s developer has taken our exact product, changed the logo and uploaded it on their store,” Sheikh told News18.

However, Sheikh affirms that the problem is not this. “There is no problem with what the developer has done. He paid for the script and used it, which is okay. But, the problem is with people referring to it as an Indian-made app, which is not true especially because they have not made any changes.”

What is more worrisome is that ShopKiller e-Commerce, the promoters of Mitron app, failed to provide an adequate response regarding Mitron’s privacy policy, or any info regarding the scarcity of details about the app. Over 50 lakh people have downloaded Mitron. The app found more Indian takers after TikTok was being derated by Indians on the PlayStore. Mitron's unique selling points appear to be its branding and the fact that it is Indian. Also, the unique name that rings a bell with most of the Indians cannot be missed too.  

Meanwhile, Sheikh pointed out to News18 that while Qboxus does offer the option to host user data on their server, Mitron did not opt for that, and has instead chosen to host their user data on their own server. However, there has been no clarity on Mitron’s treatment of user data so far.

The identity of the creator of Mitron has still not been confirmed, however reports state that it was made by a student of IIT Roorkee.