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Alibaba’s UC Browser is dominating in Asian markets with lower-end smartphones
- aphextron 9y agoHardly “dethroning” Google. UC is for low end feature phones that cannot run any other browser.
- cdata 9y agoOnly speculating, but I would guess that "low end" describes a lot (perhaps even the large majority) of phones in active use in China, India and other Asian countries.
- melling 9y agoYes, the browser for the next 3 billion people.
- chiefalchemist 9y agoYes. Provided the websites/web-based applications aren't hogs. We're talking to you Slack ;)
- intopieces 9y agoAnd when those users upgrade to a mid-tier phone in the future, what browser do you suspect they will adopt? The thing they are used to, or the thing that is new?
- Techonomicon 9y agoThe thing that is installed by default.
- GuiA 9y agoThe one preinstalled on their phone, as long as it has a text field at the top where they can just type where they want to go. Most people don’t give any thought to these things.
- t3ra 9y agoNo they won't bcuz UC comes with features that people actually like -data compression (which also acts as a vpn to access blocked content) -content feeds
- kinkrtyavimoodh 9y agoMost click on "Internet" to go to their browser, so yeah I don't think there's much brand loyalty.
- snaky 9y agoUCBrowser will ship preinstalled as system browser on their mid-tier phone too (MTK, 6" 18:9, 3-4GB RAM, $100-$150)
- greenbush 9y agoI don't think you read the article. :) The article specifically talks about smartphones, not feature phones. It mentions how Chrome is an issue for cheaper smartphones with less storage: "The UC Browser app takes up 31 megabytes of space, compared with Chrome’s 125 megabytes". And aside from a smaller app size, UC also compresses data and blocks ads to reduce data requirements (data tends to be expensive in emerging countries). Let's face it, Chrome is designed by and for people living in the west, where people have smartphones with lots of storage and typically buy monthly plans with unlimited (or large allowance of) data.
- aceofspad3s 9y ago>The UC Browser app takes up 31 megabytes of space, compared with Chrome’s 125 megabytes Given that bundling Chrome is a requirement if you want to ship a mobile phone with the Play Store, this is a moot point
- Endy 9y agoSeveral devices I've bought in the last few years (mostly cheap ones of chinese manufacture), did not include Google Play; they mostly encouraged either Aptoide or 1Mobile Market. Heck, that's part of why I keep F-Droid on my phone now.
- cvsh 9y agoRight but this part... >giving owner Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. an advantage in the race among technology giants to capture the next generation of internet users ...seems suspect. Most western Chrome users started off with Netscape, Internet Explorer, Safari, etc., and then switched when they got better machines and got tech-savvier and realized it was a better browser. So just because a browser reaches a user first does not, I think, mean it has "capture"d that "generation".
- skellera 9y agoI think you overestimate most people. There’s a reason why IE is still supported on the web. People will continue to use what they know if it isn’t negatively impacting them. Most people don’t use all the extra features in the browser. They just want Facebook to work. That said, I don’t trust the security of this browser so I don’t think it’s a good thing people are using it.
- snaky 9y agoNope, look at some 'low-end phones' of 2017 Leagoo M9 - Android 7.0, 1280x640 IPS 5.5", 4-core MTK6580, 2GB RAM, 16GB ROM, 8MP, WiFi, BT, dual SIM (second slot is universal, SIM card or memory card) - $55 ZTE Axon 7 Mini 4G (Global Version) - Android 6.0, 1920x1080 5.2", octa-core Snapdragon 617, 3GB RAM, 32GB ROM, 8MP+16MP, WiFi, BT, dual SIM - $120 And with Android Go they will run even faster.
- LaurensBER 9y agoIt's amazing that we can get portable Linux devices with specs like that for so little money these days. It's a shame that Mediatek doesn't respect the GPL so hackability is low otherwise there would be so many prototype/IOT/research uses for a device like this!
- snaky 9y agoThe state of affairs of Linux and smartphones is pretty grim outside of MTK world too. https://fosdem.org/2018/schedule/event/hwenablement_mainline_linux_on_motorola_droid_4/ https://fosdem.org/2018/schedule/event/hwenablement_mainline...
- userbinator 9y agoThanks to MTK datasheet leaks (try finding the docs for Qualcomm or even Broadcom stuff...), and the easy rooting (no locked bootloaders), "hackability" is actually quite high. You can also find the source code pretty easily even if it's not officially released --- a lot of these Chinese smartphones are based on the same hardware with only cosmetic differences. The culture/ecosystem is very different: https://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?p=4297 https://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?p=4297
- kurthr 9y agoI don't know why you're getting downvoted. Although UC does make an Android version, they are much better known for supporting Java even if Android comprises more than half of their total users. Note that it's been banned from the PlayStore as well for inflating installs "with malicious redirect ads": http://indianexpress.com/article/technology/social/uc-browser-disappears-from-google-play-store-for-misleading-promotions-4938185/ http://indianexpress.com/article/technology/social/uc-browse...
- goo432124 9y agoGoogle is so preoccupied with diversity, inclusion, and social justice (along with a generally overgrown sense of being "nice") that there's no energy left to actually compete. When you focus on making everyone feel safe, you just encourage mediocrity.
- AndrewWarner 9y agoIf you’re in iOS, UC is a great way to pop out videos so you can, for example, watch a YouTube video while reading Hacker News. It also enables you to listen to just about any video in the background, when you switch to other apps.
- thisacctforreal 9y agoSounds handy! Can anyone speak to how it treats privacy?
- gbuk2013 9y agoA quick search does not inspire optimism: https://citizenlab.ca/2015/05/a-chatty-squirrel-privacy-and-security-issues-with-uc-browser/ https://citizenlab.ca/2015/05/a-chatty-squirrel-privacy-and-...
- snaky 9y agoPrivacy? On low-end smartphones with some trojan factory preinstalled? https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/03/preinstalled-malware-targets-android-users-of-two-companies/ https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/03/prein...
- AndrewWarner 9y agoI don’t use it for anything that requires login
- jaxondu 9y agoYou can also enlarge the default font size similar to desktop browser. Can not do that on Chrome, Firefox and Safari. Reading this site on UC is much easier on my eyes.
- figure8 9y agoThis text reflow feature is key to my choosing a mobile browser. I use Opera mainly for this reason. Text reflow used to be standard. Does anyone know why Chrome and Firefox removed it?
- fny 9y agoUC Browser apparently has more mobile usage that Firefox in the US. In 2017, they've clocked in at 1.22% vs Firefox's 0.59%. Years ago, (~2004) I used to use a desktop version years to get around firewalls at my high school. Nowadays I wonder how the Chinese government uses the traffic data to take the temperature of the US. [0]: http://gs.statcounter.com/browser-market-share/mobile/united-states-of-america http://gs.statcounter.com/browser-market-share/mobile/united...
- fencepost 9y agoThat's really sad, because Firefox on Android is actually really great and the fact that you can run addons (e.g. uBlock Origin) makes it even better. In years past Firefox would occasionally crash on me, but I'm not sure it's ever even done that on my current phone, which is closing in on 9 months old. I'm not exactly treating it kindly either, I currently have 93 "tabs" open and though it doesn't keep those in memory it does recall page position even if it has to reload the original source when I go back (based on it putting me at the same point on the page for a week-old HN thread I was skimming through). There are some addons I'd recommend bypassing on mobile though just for UI reasons - uMatrix, any of the Vim keybinding options, stuff like that. Also, unfortunately the Invert Colors addon doesn't work on Android because of a missing API.
- metilda 9y agoDark background, light text for Firefox Android is pretty good, makes reading websites much easier for me!
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- mastazi 9y agoFirefox on Android is becoming ready for prime time just now, until recently it lacked basic functionality that most competitors have, e.g. unless you opted into beta, you still can't organise your bookmarks in folders [1]. So it is understandable that it still has a tiny user base, but at the same time now that critical features have been added I expect it to grow. We should also consider that soon, when version 58 will be out, there should be a significant performance improvement which will help adoption [2]. [1] https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1160470 https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1160470 [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16047689 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16047689
- Pharylon 9y agoNever heard of if you run an America-centric website. :) You have to support UC and Qihoo 360 if you have a significant amount of Asia traffic.
- kiwijamo 9y agoIs there a non-paywalled link?
- kurthr 9y agouse the Web link... it's WSJ so otherwise, No.
- applecrazy 9y agoIt's only a simple Google search away. But anyway, here you go: https://outline.com/Lx96qs https://outline.com/Lx96qs Alternatively: http://archive.is/jcmBJ http://archive.is/jcmBJ
- 0xmohit 9y agoThere have been reports talking about security issues in UC Browser [0] for a while [1] now [2]. It was also removed from Google Play Store [3] (although temporarily). Kinda surprises me to see it as the 'dominant' browser. Maybe people are indifferent. [0] https://citizenlab.ca/2015/05/a-chatty-squirrel-privacy-and-security-issues-with-uc-browser/ https://citizenlab.ca/2015/05/a-chatty-squirrel-privacy-and-... [1] https://citizenlab.ca/2016/08/a-tough-nut-to-crack-look-privacy-and-security-issues-with-uc-browser/ https://citizenlab.ca/2016/08/a-tough-nut-to-crack-look-priv... [2] https://tech.blorge.com/2017/11/27/uc-browser-believed-collect-private-information-users/164069 https://tech.blorge.com/2017/11/27/uc-browser-believed-colle... [3] http://www.hindustantimes.com/tech/uc-browser-app-vanishes-from-play-store-following-privacy-concerns/story-lEaTNqp9KMEEDlkqV34dnN.html http://www.hindustantimes.com/tech/uc-browser-app-vanishes-f...
- seanmcdirmid 9y agoConsider that Qihoo 360 used to do a lot of "security" work for IE. Given how shady Qihoo 360 was, Alibaba is definitely an improvement!
- yegle 9y agoQihoo 360 actually does have a lot of contribution to security, for one: they upstreamed a lot of patches to AOSP: https://source.android.com/s/results/?q=%22Qihoo+360%22 https://source.android.com/s/results/?q=%22Qihoo+360%22
- jnordwick 9y agoWhy is this being voted down? Is there something I'm not aware of?
- seanmcdirmid 9y agoI don't know (nor did I downvote). Qihoo 360 has a bad reputation, Zhong Hongyi is a Trump-like character. But if you aren't into the China tech scene, you've probably never heard of them before.
- neonate 9y agohttp://archive.is/jcmBJ http://archive.is/jcmBJ
- dangrover 9y agoThe QQ Browser (QQ浏览器) is also pretty solid. I like its night mode better than UC's, and you can archive pages for offline use. Tencent doesn't seem to be trying to internationalize it as UC is, though.
- puranjay 9y agoAfter a recent update, Chrome is nearly unusable on my spare 1 year old Moto G4 phone. There is a massive lag when I try to type in text on any website. Chrome's RAM hogging tendencies on desktop have also made me search for an alternative for my PC. Sadly, Firefox is long way from its former glory. Any suggestions?
- nine_k 9y agoHave you tried Firefox Quantum? While not featherweight, it's less of a resource hog than it used to be, while being commendably fast.
- buovjaga 9y agoMinor note: the under-the-hood improvements of Quantum will be coming to the Firefox Android version 58. The current stable version only has the UI tweaks. For the release schedule, see https://wiki.mozilla.org/RapidRelease/Calendar https://wiki.mozilla.org/RapidRelease/Calendar
- lmns 9y agoNo problem with Chrome here, but I've heard Samsung's browser runs a lot smoother.
- DennisAleynikov 9y agoIt does and also has adblock. Its also super easy to use for safari users since it nearly replicates its layout.
- Sylos 9y agoHave you actually tried Firefox? They've had a pretty big update recently, which also broke many extensions and ways of making advanced extensions, so some people do take that as reason to say that it's now "long way from its former glory", but if you've been a Chrome user up until now, it'd strike me as odd for you to think that, since it's still much more extensible than Chrome. Well, unless you haven't seen the new update yet and are talking of the performance problems that it had prior to this update. In that case, you should try the new version.
- gketuma 9y agoUC Browser is now holding the web back by not adopting new standards like css-grid and flexbox. No version of UC supports these standards and with the rise of UC globally, developers are hesitant to use these standards as millions of users especially in India and China are left out. I know there are ways to configure fallback, but still.
- aceofspad3s 9y agoGood thing about this is that those users are poor so most developers are free to ignore them.
- Feniks 9y agoFunny how people said that about China in the 70s. Those who are last will later be first.
- EKLM-ZK88 9y agoWhy do these markets use these browsers and not chrome or firefox, or even the built in browsers on their phones?
- taobility 9y agoThe question is like why those users do not use iPhone or Samsung Galaxy 7
- saagarjha 9y agoYou’re being disingenuous: people don’t use iPhones or Galaxies because they’re expensive. Browsers are free and it doesn’t cost money to change them.
- cwyers 9y agoAnd the people who author mobile Chrome all use iPhones or Galaxies or Pixels. It's about the dogfooding -- the people who write UC Browser use it on the same phones, mobile networks and websites that the users of UC Browser use, so it's written with their needs in mind.
- fencepost 9y agoNot necessarily worth much these days, but in the early days of Windows 10 on phones when Edge had... issues, UC Browser was one of the only other options available. While MS has technically (mostly?) abandoned Windows Phone, it does still get updates including regular Insider builds and Edge is much better these days. I'm a little disappointed but perhaps not surprised to see Dolphin Browser missing - before Firefox and Chrome really got there on Android it was a great option including tabbed browsing, plugins including adblocking, and even "Dolphin Jetpack" which was their own updated Webkit engine that Dolphin could use instead of the built in and rarely-updated browser engine on 2.x and 4.x phones.
- pferde 9y agoDolphin is still going strong. I've been happily using its "lite" version on my old Android 2.2 phone until it (the phone, not the browser) completely broke.
- fencepost 9y agoYeah, I have it installed but haven't actually used it for much of anything in years. I suspect that part of the reason for its continued existence is the hope that one or more carriers in China, India or elsewhere will pick it up for an Android-based phone that doesn't include the Play store. When there was a possibility that Microsoft was actually going to pull off "Project Astoria" to let Android apps run in some way on Windows Phone, I was actually hoping that Dolphin (with very limited dependency on the Play ecosystem) would be one of the options and would become the de facto alternative to Edge on WP. Google certainly wasn't going to go there and I believe Mozilla had already expressed that they weren't planning on investing much if anything in WP, so Dolphin would potentially have been the one solid Webkit-based browser in the ecosystem.
- gator-io 9y agoNetmarketshare.com has actual usage of UCBrowser (on mobile) last month at: India: 4.54% China: 7.72% Indonesia: 6.76% Not exactly domination.
- enitihas 9y agoA very large reason for the huge user base of UC browser is that it used to work on very low end phones, like Nokia S40 editions, similar to Opera Mini, and many people who migrated from those kept using UC. Also, these browsers operated with very less data using server side comprssion. Not good for privacy maybe, but good for slow connections. Another thing I hear from people using UC is that it has really good download capabilities. Such functionality might be common in today's mobile browsers, but 4 years ago, it was difficult to find another browser which could pause and resume downloads, which is essential if you have a slow internet connection. A lot of people using UC were using Opera Mini. However, UC has a much larger bigger marketing budget and that I think made the difference.
- est 9y agoFrom a native speaker's perspective, yes UCWeb browser is a piece of technological crap. It broke so many things, violates so many standards, MITM traffic and unsafe. But for some group of people, it does one thing the only thing right: text reflow https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11079345 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11079345 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9461597 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9461597 You guys can imaging how crappy Chinese websites are, full of unrelated ads and mis-information. UCWeb has some kind of manual defined rules as well as automatic converter (IIRC, based on LXML and Squid) to strip html content and leave only minimal style and mostly text content. It was vast popular during 2G GPRS WAP era, and just as popular in 3G/4G era. E.g. something similar to youtube-dl+basic player for well known video sites. UCWeb has this server-side as well as client-side page clean process that allows you to view content in some kind of Reader mode. People don't use UCWeb for your fancy HTML5 "full" experience but rather for a "casual online reading", e.g. for fake & hype news sites, Internet fan novels, online shitposting boards, etc. For serious matters like social networking (very serious!), ppl use apps, for business/work related, or personal banking, people just switch to iOS/Android default browser for security. For everything else, well it's a totally different landscape in Asia, there's Wechat, one mega app for everything. I have never seen anyone use UCWeb exclusively, often the have a standby fallback option. UCWeb is growing out of a niche market and is growing well. If you think UCWeb is the same kind of browser like Chrome or Safari you are thinking it wrong.
- pmontra 9y agoThe first comment you linked is mine. I only read some western languages, no Chinese. I'm both happy somebody else (you) cares about the issue and sad that not enough people do. I'm using Firefox on my phone now because of the addons: uBlock origin (especially to hide fixed top and bottom bars, I also use Blokada to block ads even in app, no root required), Nocoin, Disable WebRTC, BarbBlock. Some sites are really a pain to read because of horizontal scrolling. Reader mode helps sometimes but it doesn't when the site or the css are really broken. An example: reader mode doesn't work on Mozilla's own bug tracker. Kind of meta bug. Example at https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=784653 https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=784653
- mbchandar 9y agoThose who worry that UC browser is not sticking to standards... not thinking about end users. End users or layman are using it because it is easy and lite.
- known 9y agoI prefer Firefox@Home Chrome@Office and Opera@Mobile
- cpcallen 9y agoI've been using UC Browser on my Nexus One for about a year. It has two killer features: - It can be installed (unlike Chrome, which never ran on Gingerbread, and Firefox, which I tried before but can now no longer reinstall). - It renders most pages correctly, unlike the AOSP browser. It unfortunately does not solve the other major problem with the Gingerbread ASOP browser: that I cannot connect to many modern SSL sites, so I keep Opera Mini around for those. (Opera Mini is otherwise terrible.)