Molfar OSINT community conducted an investigation and found out which applications in Ukrainian smartphones are potentially dangerous and unethical because they are created or owned by companies from the Russian Federation. By dangerous, we mean the transfer of private user data to the government forces of the Russian Federation. By unethical, we mean viewing ads (for free applications) or direct payment for services while using the applications.
In general, we can say that there is more Ukrainian content on the Android platform compared to iOS applications and games 🤖 > 🍎
👉 The reason for the inspection: the companies-owners pay taxes to the terrorist regime of the Russian Federation from the money received. These taxes are used to produce shells and missiles for the war against Ukraine.
Technical justification
- In all cases, we determined the country to which the application belonged by the location of the majority (>50%) of the company's employees. For example, if a company is registered in Cyprus, but the majority of developers in Russia – this is a Russian company. Another example: a company established in Russia, but all its members left the terrorist country and moved to Poland – such a company in our research received the status of Polish. The reason is the same – taxes. Paying taxes in Poland is normal, paying taxes in the Russian Federation means financing terrorists.
- It is also worth noting that we studied the top 45 games/apps in a particular category by Ukrainian region of downloads. That is, the "best" applications were automatically generated by the Google Play platform when analyzing Android applications and the App Store platform when analyzing iOS applications automatically as of December 1, 2022, for the region of Ukraine.
- Due to the participation of the Republic of Belarus in the aggression against Ukraine, we marked Belarusian applications as potentially dangerous.
❗️ You can read additional materials of the research at this link.
iOS and Android apps and games: a general overview
iOS games and applications, paid and free
Most Russian applications are in the category of paid applications, eight Russian’s apps against five Ukrainian ones. It is nice that on the second place of the top we have a Ukrainian application – Топик by Yaroslav Sherstyuk. Another application of this developer takes the seventh place in the top – MyGun. On the 11th place is the Ukrainian Тест на загальні здібності by Igor Dyrda, 28th place is METEO by the same Mr. Yaroslav and 33rd place is the Ukrainian application TouchRetouch by ADVA Soft GmbH – this company is registered in Germany, but its employees are based in Ukraine. So, there are more Russian applications, but the position of Ukrainian ones is better – just like on the battlefield. The enemy has more meat, the Ukrainians have more strength and cunning.
In the category of free games, there are five Russian applications, and only two Ukrainian ones. Erudite: Trivia Quiz Mind Game by Mioris LTD is on the fifth place, and Tap Tap Dash by JOX Development is on the 42nd place.
There are two Russian applications in paid games, and one Ukrainian – Z.O.N.A Project X by Igor Migun.
There is one Russian application in the top of free applications, while there are twelve Ukrainian applications in the ranking 😁 The first place is Світло, the fifth is My Kyivstar, the eighth is Нова пошта, the eleventh is Prom Покупки: скидки и акции, the 12th and 13th are Privat24 – open to everyone and Дія, the 19th is monobank — mobile bank online, the 21st is My Vodafone, the 29th is Повітряна тривога, the 32nd is My lifecel, the 38th is Uklon: More Than a Taxi and on 44th place, but still in the top – Parimatch | Sports betting.
❗️👉 Russian iOS applications that need to be removed from the smartphone:
- paid apps: Электроник, Полиглот - Английские слова, Strelok Pro, GPS Tracker, Offline Maps, My Dictionary Pro, Полиглот 32 - Английский язык, Money Pro: Personal Finance AR, Handwritten Text;
- free games: Fun Offline Games - No WiFi, Durak, Brain Games: Puzzle for adults, Gun Crusher: Smashing games, Jelly Run 2048;
- paid games: Doodle God, Peace, Death!;
- free apps: Lensa AI: Avatar, Photo Editor.
American iOS-applications are the most downloaded in Ukrainian smartphones, Ukrainian – in the second place. And Russian ones are in the third place. We hope that the process of technological embargo of Russia will continue, and in particular after our investigation – Russian applications will take the first place from the end of the top, or even disappear from Ukrainian smartphones.
Android games and applications, paid and free
Most Russian applications in the category of free games – five Russian plus five Belarusian against one Ukrainian. Let us note the achievement of the domestic developer: the twelfth place of the top – GTA Ukraine : Car Simulator by SnZGames.
In the category of paid games, there are already four Russian applications and three Ukrainian ones:
- in 21st place, The Sun: Origin by AGaming+;
- 25th place Pocket Rogues: Ultimate by EtherGaming;
- and 29th place Reporter - Scary Horror Game again from AGaming+.
In paid applications, we have 4 Russian positions against 7 Ukrainian ones. TOPO by UkropSoft is on the second place, inCarDoc Pro | ELM327 OBD2 by inCarDoc is on the fourth place and Ukrop by UkropSoft is on the fifth place, it is a military application by the way. The following applications are in the top:
- 17th place of ЗНО 2023. Англійська мова from Hardworking Devs' Studio;
- 24th place tvQuickActions Pro from tvDev;
- 33rd place Поправки produced by UkropSoft;
- 42nd place, OsmAnd+ — Maps & GPS Offline from OsmAnd.
In free applications, Russian positions are again four, but Ukrainian – eighteen. It's nice to state the facts 😁 Let's note the Ukrainian leaders of free Android applications. For the most part, these are of course applications for ordering paid services and specialized applications of marketplaces:
- 2nd place My Kyivstar: mobile services;
- 3rd place Prom.ua — інтернет-покупки;
- 6th place Nova poshta;
- 7th place, My Vodafone;
- 8th place Повітряна тривога;
- 9th place, SWEET.TV — live TV and movies;
- 11th place Ощад;
- 13th place Kyivstar TV: HD movies, TV;
- 17th place Дія;
- 18th place Privat24;
- 22nd place My lifecell;
- 24th place ROZETKA — Online marketplace;
- 27th place monobank — банк у телефоні;
- 28th place MEGOGO - TV, Movies,Audiobooks;
- 34th place Uklon - More Than a Taxi;
- 36th place Tabletki.ua: пошук ліків;
- 40th place Kharenergo all energy service;
- 41st place Helsi.
In general, we can say that there is more Ukrainian content on the Android platform compared to iOS applications and games.
❗️👉 Russian Android applications that need to be removed from the smartphone:
- free games: Fun Offline Games - No WiFi, Durak, Brain Games: Puzzle for adults, Gun Crusher: Smashing games, Jelly Run 2048;
- paid games: True Fishing (key), Vector Full, Angry Neighbor, Live or Die: Survival Pro;
- paid apps: IPTV Pro, ReadEra Premium – ebook reader, Filmix, CVTz50;
- free apps: Mods for Melon Playground, Lensa: Pictures & Photo Editor, Joom. Shopping for every day, 3D Earth & Real Moon.
Android applications in Ukrainian smartphones are most often Ukrainian, in second place are applications of companies from the USA, and in third place are again Russian products. There is something to strive for, there are still too many products of the enemy country.
Android and iOS applications: indirect connections with Russia
Free applications
In the top 45 of both platforms, there are programs not in the Russian location, but related to Russia.
Android, RU:
- 12th place. Mods for Melon Playground – “Yandex metric” was found on its site;
- 28th place. Lensa: Pictures & Photo Editor – there is a new app from russian company Prisma Labs - Lensa among free programs on both platforms;
- 31st place. Joom. Shopping for every day – the major market is the russian federation, and the founders are from russia;
- 38th place. 3D Earth & Real Moon – the HQ of the developer is in russia.
iOS, RU:
- 2nd place Lensa AI: Avatar, Photo Editor.
Paid applications
The top 45 apps include russian ones as well.
Android, RU:
- 13th place. ReadEra Premium – ebook reader – a developer from russia;
- 10th place. IPTV Pro – a developer from russia;
- 16th place. Filmix – a developer from russia;
- 33rd place. CVTz50 – the site was made in russian first. Also, screens in the English version of the app were with the russian interface.
iOS, RU:
- 4th place. “Электроник” – russian directory program for the amateur in the field of radio;
- 16th place. “Полиглот” and 32nd place “Полиглот 32 - Английские слова” – programs for learning languages with a russian developer;
- 22nd place. Strelok Pro – an app for ballistic calculations;
- 25th place. GPS Tracker, Offline Maps – offline maps;
- 29th place. My Dictionary Pro – a dictionary;
- 38th place. Money Pro: Personal Finance AR – a personal finance program;
- 39th place. Handwritten Text – a legal entity is in the USA, but the company is registered in russia.
Free games
There are russian games in the top 45 as well.
Android, RU:
- 2nd place. Fun Offline Games - No WiFi – two employees are from russia;
- 17th place. Durak – a developer of this app moved to Hungary in 2022, but he had been living and working in russia before;
- 21st place. Brain Games: Puzzle for adults –HQ of the company is in russia;
- 22nd place. Gun Crusher: Smashing games – a legal entity is registered abroad, but the mail is “mail.ru”;
- 23rd place. Jelly Run 2048 – the company is registered in Cyprus, while the team is mainly from russia.
iOS, RU:
- 15th place. Durak - Card Game and 21st place. Durak Online card game – a developer moved to Hungary in 2022, but he had been living and working in russia before;
- 22nd place. Shadow Fight 2 and 35th place Standoff 2 – the company is registered in Cyprus, and the team is mainly from russia;
- 39th place. Homescapes – a game from Playrix, is owned by russians, probably with russian nationality in Israel (brothers Buhman). The company has had offices in russia and Ukraine.
Paid games
The top 45 games include russian ones as well:
Android, RU:
- 14th place. True Fishing (key) – a developer from russia;
- 39th place. Vector Full – the company is registered in Cyprus, but the team is mainly from russia;
- 40th place. Angry Neighbor – a developer from russia;
- 44th place. Live or Die: Survival Pro – the company is registered in Estonia, and the headquarters is probably in russia.
iOS, RU:
- 28th place. Doodle God – the company is registered in Great Britain, but the team is from russia;
- 31st place. Peace, Death! – a developer from russia.
The best iOS mobile apps by category
The best Android mobile apps by category
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