Google removed the AnTuTu benchmark software from the Play Store earlier this year, but you’d be forgiven for not noticing. The Play Store is now riddled with fakes, clones and duplicates of the app.
A quick search for AnTuTu on the Play Store reveals several apps claiming to be the AnTuTu benchmark suite. Android Police notes many of the apps steal or use similar but slightly changed versions of the AnTuTu logo to appear more legitimate.
AnTuTu is arguably one of the better known benchmark tools for mobile phones and is right up there with Geekbench. It’s been around at least as long as I’ve been tinkering with phones. Android Police reports that Google removed several apps from the Play Store this year, including AnTuTu in March. The removal likely stems from AnTuTu’s ownership — a China-based company called Cheetah Mobile.
Google has pulled several Cheetah Mobile apps available on the Play Store after the company spent years repeatedly violating Play Store policies. In a statement, AnTuTu said its benchmark app was independent of Cheetah Mobile despite the company investing in AnTuTu and Cheetah Mobile’s chairman being on AnTuTu’s board of directors. AnTuTu said it hoped it could work out the misunderstanding with Google.
Android Police also points out that back in 2018 when Fortnite launched on Android — and before it came to the Play Store — several clones appeared on Google’s app market. The search giant worked to remove the clones from the Play Store at the time. However, it appears Google hasn’t taken similar action yet with the AnTuTu clones.
Ultimately, you should probably avoid the fake AnTuTu apps for now. If you really need or want to use the AnTuTu benchmark, you can download the APK from the company’s website. However, considering Google banned the app in the first place, you may not want to do that. Plus, most people don’t need a benchmark app on their phone, so you probably don’t need to install AnTuTu anyway.
Source: Android Police
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