What drives the browser UC Browser
The founder of UC Browser talks about the technology behind one of the most popular browsers in the world.
Perhaps you are already familiar with UC Browser, as well as 400 million users worldwide. Russia is one of the most interesting markets for us and we launched the Russian version of UC Browser for quite a long time. Ten years ago, when the mobile Internet was an unexplored territory, we founded the UC Browser. Since then, we have gone through dramatic growth and witnessed radical changes in the industry. Our company was not a mere observer, otherwise we would not have reached the position in which we are now. We invested in technology and set the standards that shaped our company, and still determine its future.
Technology above all
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One of the biggest advantages of UC Browser is its cloud computing technology, which is the basis for the browser's key capabilities, including data compression, cloud acceleration, the ability to pause downloads, and many others. Cloud computing technology is based on a client-server architecture (browser-server). UC Browser servers work as proxies that compress web page data before sending it to users. This process reduces the amount of traffic used up to 85%, and allows you to download content faster.
Cloud computing is the competitive advantage of UC Browser since its inception in 2004. A little later, the client-server architecture first used in UC Browser was used by most mobile browsers, and became the de facto standard for the mobile industry.
The early days of the mobile Internet.
At the beginning of the development of the mobile Internet, the data transfer rate was very low and the computing capabilities of mobile phones left much to be desired. At the same time, web sites were much simpler and not as loaded with media content as they are today. The main need of people was the graphics and text. UC Browser servers can remove the content that users do not want to see, compressing images to reduce the amount of traffic, speed up the loading and rendering of pages. UC Browser made an ideal solution for an undeveloped network and lack of applications due to the limited capabilities of the phones of that time.
In addition to cloud computing technology, which accelerates download speed, UC Browser has always offered a comfortable and easy-to-use design, such as “abbreviation management”. You can press # to bring up a menu, then press a number to call a function, such as “add to bookmarks”. It was really a very handy feature on phones that didn’t have touchscreens. Also, the browser was optimized so that the limited capabilities of the phones of that time were enough for comfortable web surfing. At that time, the UC Browser gained momentum and grew significantly.
The Internet has been an expensive technology for many people, but we have made it more accessible using a different approach. As a result, many users used to access the Internet through the UC Browser on the phone than on the computer.
New standards era of smartphones
The emergence of the iPhone and the commercialization of high-speed access caused a revolution in the mobile world. Web pages (including HTML5 pages) are also becoming more filled with media content, flash, video, large images, etc. which increased the load on the browser. Meanwhile, strong competitors appeared, and we were involved in tough rivalry. In addition, the increasing popularity of applications has slowed the growth of mobile traffic. In 2010, native applications, with the exception of browsers, accounted for 50% of the total mobile data, according to a company report specializing in mobile market analytics.
Despite all the challenges, we used this opportunity to expand, taking advantage of our platform in order to meet high requirements.
The core of the U3 as our new weapon
Over time, we realized that cloud computing technology was not enough to significantly differ from competitors. Mobile Internet is a multi-directional industry that interacts with all kinds of technologies, and browsers that rely on old technologies do not meet user requirements and technical capabilities of devices. Therefore, we invested a lot of resources and after three years of hard work, in 2011 we completed the development of the U3 core. The U3 core is based on the client-server architecture and WebKit, but the processing algorithm has been optimized to better support HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript. This not only improved the overall performance of the UC Browser, but also provided more options for expansion. In July 2013, together with UC Browser 9.0 for Android, we first introduced the add-on platform, which could not be created without a new kernel.
Algorithm of WebKit work (Source: Tali Garsiel)
Technology is very important, but they require local ingredients
Different markets have different preferences. The browser can be perceived by a large number of users only after it meets local needs. We try to use the “Global Strategy”, which is to globalize the product by adding local elements. Therefore, we pay great attention to the localization of our services (support for many languages, localized navigation, etc.), as well as launched an add-on platform, where, with the help of add-ons from third-party developers, users can further personalize web surfing.
Uploading files is another property of the browser that reflects our localization efforts. After some research, we noticed that users from developing countries often use the UC Browser for downloading. We decided to take advantage of cloud technologies to make UC Browser a powerful platform for downloading files. To achieve high download speeds, we used segmented file transfer and multi-threaded downloads. We split the file into several parts and download these parts simultaneously through several channels. Load algorithms have been optimized to improve the efficiency of reading data from the server. Also, we have increased the efficiency of writing files to the storage
The process of downloading files in the UC Browser
We conducted a series of tests with the participation of UC Browser and its competitors, and found out that we reached the highest speed of downloading files among mobile browsers. Thanks to cloud technologies, UC Browser is also able to download several files simultaneously in the background, automatically reconnecting each time when the connection is interrupted.
Balancing simplicity and functionality.
In an effort to meet the demands of Russian users, we are investing significant efforts in localization, trying to maintain a balance between the need to embed many functions and the concept of simplicity and ease of use.
We intend to continue the development of mobile Internet, which is progressing thanks to high expectations and new innovative technologies.
Perhaps you are already familiar with UC Browser, as well as 400 million users worldwide. Russia is one of the most interesting markets for us and we launched the Russian version of UC Browser for quite a long time. Ten years ago, when the mobile Internet was an unexplored territory, we founded the UC Browser. Since then, we have gone through dramatic growth and witnessed radical changes in the industry. Our company was not a mere observer, otherwise we would not have reached the position in which we are now. We invested in technology and set the standards that shaped our company, and still determine its future.
Technology above all
')
One of the biggest advantages of UC Browser is its cloud computing technology, which is the basis for the browser's key capabilities, including data compression, cloud acceleration, the ability to pause downloads, and many others. Cloud computing technology is based on a client-server architecture (browser-server). UC Browser servers work as proxies that compress web page data before sending it to users. This process reduces the amount of traffic used up to 85%, and allows you to download content faster.
Cloud computing is the competitive advantage of UC Browser since its inception in 2004. A little later, the client-server architecture first used in UC Browser was used by most mobile browsers, and became the de facto standard for the mobile industry.
The early days of the mobile Internet.
At the beginning of the development of the mobile Internet, the data transfer rate was very low and the computing capabilities of mobile phones left much to be desired. At the same time, web sites were much simpler and not as loaded with media content as they are today. The main need of people was the graphics and text. UC Browser servers can remove the content that users do not want to see, compressing images to reduce the amount of traffic, speed up the loading and rendering of pages. UC Browser made an ideal solution for an undeveloped network and lack of applications due to the limited capabilities of the phones of that time.
In addition to cloud computing technology, which accelerates download speed, UC Browser has always offered a comfortable and easy-to-use design, such as “abbreviation management”. You can press # to bring up a menu, then press a number to call a function, such as “add to bookmarks”. It was really a very handy feature on phones that didn’t have touchscreens. Also, the browser was optimized so that the limited capabilities of the phones of that time were enough for comfortable web surfing. At that time, the UC Browser gained momentum and grew significantly.
The Internet has been an expensive technology for many people, but we have made it more accessible using a different approach. As a result, many users used to access the Internet through the UC Browser on the phone than on the computer.
New standards era of smartphones
The emergence of the iPhone and the commercialization of high-speed access caused a revolution in the mobile world. Web pages (including HTML5 pages) are also becoming more filled with media content, flash, video, large images, etc. which increased the load on the browser. Meanwhile, strong competitors appeared, and we were involved in tough rivalry. In addition, the increasing popularity of applications has slowed the growth of mobile traffic. In 2010, native applications, with the exception of browsers, accounted for 50% of the total mobile data, according to a company report specializing in mobile market analytics.
Despite all the challenges, we used this opportunity to expand, taking advantage of our platform in order to meet high requirements.
The core of the U3 as our new weapon
Over time, we realized that cloud computing technology was not enough to significantly differ from competitors. Mobile Internet is a multi-directional industry that interacts with all kinds of technologies, and browsers that rely on old technologies do not meet user requirements and technical capabilities of devices. Therefore, we invested a lot of resources and after three years of hard work, in 2011 we completed the development of the U3 core. The U3 core is based on the client-server architecture and WebKit, but the processing algorithm has been optimized to better support HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript. This not only improved the overall performance of the UC Browser, but also provided more options for expansion. In July 2013, together with UC Browser 9.0 for Android, we first introduced the add-on platform, which could not be created without a new kernel.
Algorithm of WebKit work (Source: Tali Garsiel)
Technology is very important, but they require local ingredients
Different markets have different preferences. The browser can be perceived by a large number of users only after it meets local needs. We try to use the “Global Strategy”, which is to globalize the product by adding local elements. Therefore, we pay great attention to the localization of our services (support for many languages, localized navigation, etc.), as well as launched an add-on platform, where, with the help of add-ons from third-party developers, users can further personalize web surfing.
Uploading files is another property of the browser that reflects our localization efforts. After some research, we noticed that users from developing countries often use the UC Browser for downloading. We decided to take advantage of cloud technologies to make UC Browser a powerful platform for downloading files. To achieve high download speeds, we used segmented file transfer and multi-threaded downloads. We split the file into several parts and download these parts simultaneously through several channels. Load algorithms have been optimized to improve the efficiency of reading data from the server. Also, we have increased the efficiency of writing files to the storage
The process of downloading files in the UC Browser
We conducted a series of tests with the participation of UC Browser and its competitors, and found out that we reached the highest speed of downloading files among mobile browsers. Thanks to cloud technologies, UC Browser is also able to download several files simultaneously in the background, automatically reconnecting each time when the connection is interrupted.
Balancing simplicity and functionality.
In an effort to meet the demands of Russian users, we are investing significant efforts in localization, trying to maintain a balance between the need to embed many functions and the concept of simplicity and ease of use.
We intend to continue the development of mobile Internet, which is progressing thanks to high expectations and new innovative technologies.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/213663/
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