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Chrome adds new security features to stop mobile subscription scams
Google today announced that Chrome will soon get a new feature that aims to stop mobile subscription scams. Those are the kind of sites that ask you for your phone number and that then, unbeknownst to you, sign you up for a mobile subscription that’s billed through your carrier. Starting with the launch of Chrome 71 in December, Google will pop up a prominent warning when a site doesn’t make it clear that users are signing up for a mobile subscription.
To make sure that developers who are legitimately using this flow to offer users a subscription don’t get caught up in this new system, Google also published a set of best practices for mobile billing today. Generally, developers are expected to make their billing information visible and obvious to users, display the actual cost and have a simple and straightforward fee structure.
If that information is not available, Google will throw up a prominent full-page warning, but users can always opt to proceed. Before throwing up the warning page, Google will notify webmasters in the Search Console when it detects a potential scam (there’s always a chance for false positives, after all).
This new feature will be available on both mobile and desktop, as well as in Android’s WebView.
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Amazon launches a ‘lite’ Android web browser app in India
Amazon has quietly launched an Android web browser app for emerging markets, where access to mobile data and high-speed connectivity is more limited. The browser has the rather generic name of: “Internet: fast, lite and private” on Google Play, and promises to be “lighter than the competition.”
The app first appeared on the Play Store in March, and has fewer than 1,000 downloads, according to data from app store intelligence firm Sensor Tower.
It’s only available to users in India for the time being, and is supported on devices running Android 5.0 or higher.
Like most “lite” apps, the new browser is a small download — it’s less than 2 MB in size. That’s much smaller than other browsers, including Chrome (21MB), Edge (54.5MB), Firefox (19.9MB) and Opera (14.7MB), according to an analysis by appFigures.
The browser’s Google Play description also notes that it’s “private,” as it doesn’t ask for extra permissions or collect private data like other browsers do. This seems to indicate that it’s meant to be something of a competitor to other private mobile browsers, like Firefox, which blocks website trackers.
The browser additionally supports Private tabs, so you can browse without saving visits to your history, plus other features like tab previews, an automatic full-screen mode and integrated news reader of sorts.
In fact, the news reading experience is another telling indication that the browser is only meant for Indian users. The app’s description notes the browser homepage is designed to keep you up-to-date with news, cricket and entertainment from top sources. Yep, cricket — the most popular sport in India.
And finally, the “feedback” email on Google Play points to Amazon India, which indicates it was built by that team.
In addition to the new browser, Amazon also offers a Kindle Lite app in India.
The company is not alone in building lightweight mobile apps for emerging markets.
Facebook also offers “lite” versions of its apps, like Facebook Lite and Messenger Lite, to reach users with limited connectivity and access to data. Google has also rolled out a suite of lightweight mobile apps under the “Go” branding. Some of these, like Gmail Go, only come pre-installed on select devices. Others, meanwhile, are available through Google Play for anyone to download, like YouTube Go, Files Go, Google Go, Google Maps and Google Assistant Go.
It is interesting, however, that Amazon didn’t adopt a similar strategy by offering a “lite” version of its existing Silk browser, but has instead built something new.
And if its goal is to offer an alternative to Silk on the Fire tablets it sells in India, it’s odd that the browser isn’t yet available in the Amazon Appstore in India.
Amazon has not yet returned a request for comment about the new app.
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Microsoft is bringing its Edge browser to Android and iOS
While Microsoft is still officially working on the mobile version of Windows 10, it’s no secret that the company has all but given up on building its own mobile ecosystem. That only leaves Microsoft with one option: concede defeat and bring its applications to the likes of Android and iOS. That’s exactly what the company has been doing for the last few years and today the… Read More
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Brave, the browser with built-in ad blocking, tries again on Android
Brave, the new web browser company co-founded by former Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich, has launched a do-over on Android. The earlier version of the ad-blocking browser utilized an odd user interface involving floating link bubbles, which didn’t sit well with all users. The design made the experience more cumbersome and confusing, when what people really wanted was an alternative browser… Read More
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Samsung Launches Web Browser For Gear VR
You’re strapped into a virtual reality delight and you want to Google something. What do you do? Now you can use a web browser built and optimized specifically for the Samsung Gear VR.
The company announced the web browser today, and it’s called simply “Samsung Internet for Gear VR.” Read More
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Firefox For iOS Begins Its Beta Testing Program
Mozilla’s Firefox browser for iOS is nearing public release, as the organization is now actively recruiting beta testers willing to try the app ahead of its App Store debut. A recent survey sent to potential testers is asking for details about which devices they own, and instructs them that the beta will require a version of iOS 8 or higher in order to work. It also reminds… Read More
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500 Startups-backed AstroPrint has made a combination of cloud platform, local software and hardware to enable the management of 3D printing from any device that can connect to the web with a modern browser.