Amazon’s new ‘ lite’ Web browser for Android

Amazon has quietly launched its own Android browser in India named — Internet, which has been in the Google Play Store since March this year. The browser is ‘ lite’, that is, designed to accommodate lesser data consumption.

First spotted by TechCrunch, this browser has been in the Play Store with a 1000 downloads and is only available in India for Android devices which run Android 5.0 or above versions. Internet app size is almost less than 2MB, which is similar to Google Go Edition apps or the ‘ lite’ version of other third- party apps that possess lesser file sizes.

In terms of features, the Internet supports private tabs, to save data consumption from history and cookies. The app’s description in Play Store also mentions this app as ‘ private’, which means it doesn’t ask permission like most other popular browsers do. The app also features tab previews, an automatic full- screen mode and an integrated news reader as well. The browser’s home page and the app’s description also indicates the browser is focused only on India, as cricket and sites like BookMyShow are on top with other popular news sites as well.

Lastly, there’s a feedback section for users to give their opinion on the browser experience and to report bugs. However, Amazon India hasn’t officially announced the Internet ‘ lite’ browser yet. After Facebook and Google, Amazon is willing to compete in the field of ‘ lite’ version applications since the company already offers Amazon Kindle ‘ lite’ in addition to the Internet ‘ lite’ browser.