UC Browser (UC浏览器) : Mobile browser engineered for fast, low-data web and video on slower networks.

UC Browser launched in 2004 as Java software for low-end phones, then grew under Alibaba into a browser widely used across India and Southeast Asia.

Proxy-server compression cuts data use by roughly half, speeding pages and video on limited mobile plans; a download manager and reading mode round it out.

India counted 130 million monthly users by 2018, then banned UC Browser in June 2020 along with other Chinese apps on security grounds.

Does UC Browser respect privacy?

UC Browser (owned by Alibaba) has been criticized for aggressive data collection, including browsing history and device info sent to China servers. The international version may have different practices. Security researchers have identified data leaks in the past.

Why was UC Browser banned in India?

UC Browser was banned in India in 2020 along with other Chinese apps over national security concerns regarding data being sent to China servers. The ban highlighted privacy risks of Chinese mobile browsers for international users.

Is UC Browser available outside China?

UC Browser has an international version (ucweb.com) available globally with English support. The China version (uc.cn) is different with more features but Chinese-only. It was once very popular in India but was banned in 2020.