A little over a week ago, popular Android Web browser UC Browser[1] was removed from Google Play[2]. The removal was reportedly owing to an issue with Google Play policies, and a week later it was reinstated[3], with UCWeb saying that the setting in question on UC Browser had been fixed. UC Browser is the most popular Android browser in India according to Statcounter[4], accounting for 45.08 percent of the market, compared to 35.19 percent for Chrome. Opera comes in third place at 9.92 percent, while others are far lower. Globally across all platforms, Chrome accounts for nearly half of the market, although Safari leads the US market at 52.4 percent.
UC Browser is back on Google Play, but that got us thinking - what it if had been permanently removed for some reason? We wanted to know what the best options for Web browsers on Android[5] were, and although we had curated a list in 2015[6], a lot of time has passed and what's available has changed. So we checked for recommendations and downloaded a number of them. From that, we've filtered down the list to our five favourites, in no particular order.
1. Samsung Internet Browser
The Samsung Internet Browser[7] is a surprisingly good option if you're looking for a replacement browser. Despite the name, you can install it on any Android phone, and it comes with a number of extensions pre-installed like a CloseBy mode, with gets information about your surroundings from beacons; a QR code reader; and the Quick Menu, which places a button near the bottom of the screen, from which you can use features such as night mode, or open...