Here's why UC Browser disappeared from Google Play Store

UC Browser can no longer be found on Google Play Store. Yes, the famous Alibaba-owned mobile browser has been removed from the Play Store. However other UCWeb Applications like UC Browser Mini and UC News can still be found on the store. These developments occurred in spite of the browser garnering 500 million downloads last month and boasting a huge base of 100 million users in India alone. However, now it appears that the browser has been misusing its popularity for misleading/malicious advertising.

The removal of UC Browser from Google Play Store was spotted by users late on Tuesday. The first impression was that Government Of India has blocked it in the country. This was natural as the Chinese app had been recently accused of sending the user data from India to a server in China.

A report from Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), an R&D organization for the Department of Electronics and Information Technology, under the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology had also suggested that the browser is at fault. In the report, C-DAC had also pointed out that the browser presents a significant privacy risk for users because it allows anyone with access to the data traffic to identify users and their devices and collect their private search data.

However, it is now clear that Government of India didn't block the app but Google Play Store did. Google is believed to have conflicts with UCWeb regarding the ways employed by later for the advertising to procure new users. It became clear by the tweet of Mike Ross, who claims to work for UC Browser. He tweeted that the browser is "temporarily removed" from the Play Store for 30 days due to adopting "misleading" and "unhealthy" methods of increasing installs.

Currently, users can only install UC Browser Mini and UC News from the Google Play Store and UC Browser is not returned by the search. However, the official website of UCWeb is offering a link to download and install the APK file for the browser.

It is also worth noting that UC Browser has 50 percent of market share in India, which at its peak was about 60 percent. It is closely followed by Google Chrome. As a result of UC's removal from the play store, Chrome is expected to gain more market share in the coming months.

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Source: Twitter, Gadgets360