Ramdev's app 'Kimbho' disappears from playstore, expert calls it 'a joke'

Yoga guru Ramdev's so-called "swadeshi" messaging app "Kimbho" that aimed to take on the giant WhatsApp abruptly disappeared on Thursday from Google Play Store amid security and "heavy traffic" concerns.

Several Android users took to Twitter and Facebook, displaying their frustration in downloading the app from Play Store. Some fake iterations of "Kimbho" app and even a "Kimbho" messenger too appeared on Play Store, leading to more confusion.

"We are facing extremely high traffic on Kimbho. We are in process of upgrading our servers and will be back shortly. Sorry for the inconvenience. Please stay tuned," tweeted the "Kimbho" app team.

Kimbho is a Sanskrit word and according to Patanjali's spokesperson SK Tijarawala, it means "How are you? or What's new?"

"Now WhatsApp will be given a competition. Our own #SwadeshiMessagingplatform. Download it directly from Google Play store," tweeted Tijarawala on Wednesday.

But the day one experience raised several concerns, including security.

Famous French security researcher who goes by the name of Elliot Alderson called "Kimbho" a security disaster on Twitter.

"Ok, I will stop here. The #Kimbho #android #app is a security disaster. I can access the messages of all the users," he tweeted.

"The @KimbhoApp is a copy paste of another #application. The description and the screenshots in the app stores are the same. Moreover, the #Kimbho app is making request to bolomessenger[.]com," the security researcher added, advising people not to install the app.

"This @KimbhoApp is a joke, next time before making press statements, hire competent developers... If it is not clear, for the moment don't install this app," Anderson further tweeted.

The Patanjali app guide available on Play Store also failed to get users to download the app. While clicking on how to download Kimbho app inside the guide, the message poped up: "We are sorry, the requested URL was not found on this server.

Most of those who succeeded in downloading the app thrashed the experience.

"first make it robust and fix all bugs then launch," tweeted one user.

"Even a 12th grade kid can build a better app than this," said another.

A mail sent to Google for the sudden disapperance of the app went unanswered.

However, the app was still seen on iOS App Store.

According to Faisal Kawoosa, Head New Initiatives, CyberMedia Research (CMR), it will not be easy for "Kimbho" to create a space dominated by WhatsApp by just on being "Swadeshi."

"So far, just around 5k installations and reviews are full of issues and concerns. Nevertheless, seems Patanjali is getting serious about communications," Kawoosa tweeted.

--IANS

na/hs