As many know, Amazon — instead of using Android for its line of mobile devices — developed its own operating system called Fire OS, which was based on Android. Still, the company has developed an array of Android apps — including the Silk web browser — and now they have created one for lightweight web browsing that is called Internet.
Currently, the app is only available in India. It requires Android 5.0 or later, and it has a very small footprint. The download is less than 2 MB. This makes it considerable smaller than other common web browsers for Android, such as Edge (which is 54.5 MB), Chrome (which is 21 MB), and Firefox (which is 19.8 MB). It is even smaller than the notoriously small Opera, which is still more than 14 MB.
But its size is not the browser’s only notable feature. It excels in the area of privacy. First of all, the app requires no special permission in order to use it. Also, it collects no data whatsoever from users, and it further allows users to open private tabs, so that websites cannot track them.
Some see the app as Amazon’s way of getting users hooked into the company who are from parts of the world that do not have the best of Internet connections on their mobile devices, and those who do not have devices with high specifications. Many other large tech companies have released apps intended for these types of users, including Facebook with its Lite app, and Google with its YouTube Go and Gmail Go apps.
The app, which Amazon has yet to formally announce or comment on, also comes with its very own home page, which provides basic news from India, including the latest cricket scores. It was first discovered by the website TechCrunch, and prior to this it had less 1,000 downloads, in spite of the fact that it has been available for around a month.
