Russia launches its own version of the Play Store
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues to generate diplomatic and economic fallout. One casualty of the conflict has been the average Russian’s access to digital resources, and in the wake of the invasion, bothApple and Googlecut off the use of their respective app stores — a blow to businesses and customers alike. Businesses struggle to distribute apps to the Russian audience, and consumers lose out on access to the latest app trends and risk being left behind in the ever-changing world of technology. But Russia may have a fix for that, with plans for its own app store.
AsReuters reports, Russian developers are building an alternative to the Google Play Store, called NashStore (“Our Store” in English). The service was set to launch on May 9, Russia’s national holiday celebrating victory in World War II, but was pushed back a week later (viaInterfax). The store reportedly has more than a thousand apps on offer.
Vladimir Zykov, the director of projects at Digital Platforms, says the store is a direct result of Russian developers losing income streams from the lack of access to the Play Store.
The Kremlin’s attempt at a substitute for app stores is likely part of a broader (and now necessary) effort to wean Russians off of foreign technology and services. May 9 has historically been, as Reuters notes, a very important holiday in Russia with major military parades. The intended launch of NashStore on Victory Day could also have been part of a nationalist impulse that dovetails with the Russian government’s efforts to control information, including its crackdown on freedoms online. However, like many other plans its frontline generals have made throughout the “special military opeation” in Ukraine, this project’s fruition may have come a bit too late for its own good.
Unfortunately, limiting Russian access to appsvetted outside the countrymight lead to a perfect opportunity for Vladimir Putin, a former KGB agent, to set up an app store full of spyware, eventually creating a true surveillance state.
UPDATE: 2022/05/18 12:50 EST BY JULES WANG
This post has been updated to reflect NashStore’s launch on May 16.
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