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Alibaba’s UC Browser is dominating in Asian markets with lower-end smartphones

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Re: Alibaba’s UC Browser is dominating in Asian markets with lower-end smartphones

#81
post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use Opera as my main browser on IOS desktop, along with Brave. Brave is my main android browser

What are the pros and cons of Brave compared to Opera on mobile?

I haven't tried opera on android so can't say. I do like the way Brave blocks ads, tracking and 3rd party cookies on a mobile device, something I'm pretty paranoid about

Re: Alibaba’s UC Browser is dominating in Asian markets with lower-end smartphones

#82
post #15

UC 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...

That'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 memo…

Firefox 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

[2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16047689

Re: Alibaba’s UC Browser is dominating in Asian markets with lower-end smartphones

#83

If 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.

how does it get around apple's policy of not allowing another browser engine in the OS?

It probably doesn't right? Also these devices are probably not iOS devices we are talking about but Android devices.

Re: Alibaba’s UC Browser is dominating in Asian markets with lower-end smartphones

#84

If 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.

how does it get around apple's policy of not allowing another browser engine in the OS?

iOS definitely allows you to implement your own browser engine. The only caveat is that Apple doesn’t let third-party apps to mmap executable memory, so you won’t be able to create a JITting JS engine.

Re: Alibaba’s UC Browser is dominating in Asian markets with lower-end smartphones

#85
post #50

UC 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.

Sounds more to me like other mobile browsers are holding the web back by not paying more attention to the needs of the many. Users don't care about standards, just that things work.

Re: Alibaba’s UC Browser is dominating in Asian markets with lower-end smartphones

#86
post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

how does it get around apple's policy of not allowing another browser engine in the OS?

iOS definitely allows you to implement your own browser engine. The only caveat is that Apple doesn’t let third-party apps to mmap executable memory, so you won’t be able to create a JITting JS engine.

Apps that browse the web must use the iOS WebKit framework and WebKit Javascript.

Section 2.5.6 from https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/

Re: Alibaba’s UC Browser is dominating in Asian markets with lower-end smartphones

#87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do these markets use these browsers and not chrome or firefox, or even the built in browsers on their phones?

The question is like why those users do not use iPhone or Samsung Galaxy 7

You’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.

Re: Alibaba’s UC Browser is dominating in Asian markets with lower-end smartphones

#88
post #50

UC 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.

Why do these markets use these browsers and not chrome or firefox, or even the built in browsers on their phones?

[deleted]

Re: Alibaba’s UC Browser is dominating in Asian markets with lower-end smartphones

#89
post #44

After 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?

No problem with Chrome here, but I've heard Samsung's browser runs a lot smoother.

It does and also has adblock. Its also super easy to use for safari users since it nearly replicates its layout.

Re: Alibaba’s UC Browser is dominating in Asian markets with lower-end smartphones

#90
post #26

There 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-... [1] https://citizenlab.ca/2016/08/a-tough-nut-to-crack-look-priv... [2] https://tech.blorge.com/20…

Very true. Amongst many other security flaws, UC Browser also does not support HSTS (headers or preload list) at all . That means that a connection made by UC Browser to any site can be man-in-the-middled and inspected or modified. As far as the Chinese government is concerned, however, this may be a feature rather than a bug. No one should be using UC Browser, full stop. It's pathologically insecure.

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