UC Browser is a brilliant Android browser – and here’s why

UC Browser isn’t exactly unknown. Since it was spawned over a decade ago, it’s been moving up in the world to the point that it’s now become one of the most popular browsers in use worldwide. It comes from China, where it holds two thirds of the total market share. It’s recently topped 100 million active daily users and its localization policy has catapulted it beyond its borders with spectacular growth, topping direct competitors like Opera Mini and becoming the most downloaded mobile browser in certain countries like Mexico. But what makes UC Browser special? Here are some of its most attractive features.

It’s really, really fast

There’s no need to turn to benchmarking tools to see if it shaves off a few microseconds over the competition, since as soon as you start using it you’ll instantly notice how fast the pages load – this thanks to its caching and preloading system stored on the UC Browser servers to speed up the download of recurring or half-downloaded items. In addition, it greatly speeds up transitions between pages by incorporating a default back option that works with simple horizontal swipe on the screen.

It’s fully customizable

The browser’s homepage can be made into the nerve center of your web experience thanks to the option to add shortcuts with the URLs you visit most. It also integrates several themed sections with some of the most popular web services used in your country. At the aesthetic level you can add all kinds of themes and mods to the interface (including a useful nocturnal mode), and most surprisingly, these themes can be extended to the actual pages you visit, making them look completely different from their original versions. Check out the screen shots to see how unrecognizable Uptodown came out!

It includes super-useful features

Useful thing, practical things. The download manager/extension organizer is a real marvel, allowing you to monitor multiple downloads and manage your destination folders. In fact, in the downloads section items are automatically organized by their extension, putting your APKs, videos, documents, and music into separate menus regardless of where they’re found on your device. There’s obviously also your inevitable bookmarks, history, and add-ons that can be installed from the developer’s website, where you can expand UC Browser’s features with things like a QR code reader, a tool to customize screenshots, and an ad blocker.

It has a version for low-range smartphones

UC Browser can already run on any device with Android 2.2 or higher, but for humble or old devices there’s UC Browser Mini, which once installed and with a bit of downloaded data won’t top 10MB (compared to the 80+ that the normal version might use). In addition, the loading of webpages takes into account 2G data connections, meaning the pages’ multimedia content is compressed and delivered in a smaller size than the original.