Puffin Browser

Puffin Browser is a web browser developed by CloudMosa, an American mobile technology company founded by Shioupyn Shen.

Puffin Browser
Developer(s)CloudMosa, Inc.
Initial releaseNovember 23, 2010 (2010-11-23)
Stable release(s)
;Windows

8.2.1.666 (May 20, 2020 (2020-05-20)[1]) [±]

iOS

5.2.2 (May 27, 2017 (2017-05-27)[2]) [±]

Android

8.3.0.41446 (April 13, 2020 (2020-04-13)[3]) [±]

Android TV

8.3.1.41486 (April 7, 2020 (2020-04-07)[4]) [±]

MacOS

7.9.0.102 (January 1, 2020 (2020-01-01)[5]) [±]

EngineBlink
Operating systemAndroid, iOS, Windows, macOS, Android TV, Linux
LicenseProprietary
Websitewww.puffin.com

Puffin Browser was initially released in 2010. It uses encrypted cloud servers for content processing.[6][7][8][9] Because Puffin renders webpages in the cloud, it could, according to some benchmark tests, make page loading, content rendering, and JavaScript execution faster than local device processing.[10][11][12][13][14][15] However, as a result of the web pages being processed through cloud servers, the user's IP address when browsing the World Wide Web on the Puffin web browser reflects the cloud server's IP address. This causes some websites to detect the Puffin Browser as a proxy server.[16]

Puffin Browser comes with Adobe Flash Player to play Adobe Flash content, including on mobile devices, where Flash was discontinued due to security issues.[17] The features also include a virtual trackpad, gamepad, and on-screen keyboard functions.[18]

CloudMosa has a comprehensive product family of Puffin products that run on many different platforms (Puffin Browser on Android and formerly iOS, Puffin Secure Browser on Windows and on macOS, Puffin Internet Terminal[19] on Linux, Puffin TV Browser[20] on smart TV, and Puffin OS on mainstream smart phones. It is also known to run on resource-limited hardware like Raspberry Pi,[19] set-top box,[21] TV stick, etc.).

In May 2019, CloudMosa had announced that they would discontinue the Puffin Web Browser app on iOS devices due to Apple's App Store policies.[22] However, CloudMosa has released Puffin Web Browser Lite for iOS devices which does not have Adobe Flash Player Support.[23]

History

Puffin Browser released its paid version Puffin Web Browser Pro on Google Play in December 2010, and on Apple App Store in November 2010.

In 2013, CloudMosa introduced Puffin Academy, a free mobile browser with built-in Adobe Flash for K-12 students, teachers, and parents. However, the iOS version of Puffin Academy was discontinued on July 1, 2019.[24]

In 2015, CloudMosa released a new product, Puffin for Facebook.[25][26][27]

In 2017, the Puffin Browser was the top utility application in the App Store across 58 countries including France, the United Kingdom, Japan, Italy and South Korea.[28]

In May 2018, ad blocking features were added to the Pro version which do not exist in the free version. Before that, the only difference was a smaller limit on downloading.[29]

In June 2018, CloudMosa announced that because Puffin Web Browser updates were being rejected by Apple, they had therefore released a separate lightweight browser app for iOS devices, Puffin Browser Lite, which is based on iOS WebKit and does not support Adobe Flash Player.[23] They later announced that they would be discontinuing the original Puffin Web Browser apps on July 1, 2019 on all iOS devices because of the block on updates, citing Apple's app review guideline 2.5.6. The shutdown was later pushed back to October 1, 2019,[22] and the free version of the original browser app was finally discontinued on November 20, 2019. CloudMosa said on Facebook that the paid version on iOS, Puffin Browser Pro, would remain available but with no updates.[30]

Puffin TV is a special edition of Puffin Browser optimized for Android Google Play TV users. It is ranked the best browser for Android TV by MakeUseOf.[31] Thailand's largest GSM mobile phone operator, Advanced Info Service (AIS), ships a customized Puffin TV browser in their set-top box—AIS Playbox.[32]

Before 2018, the Puffin Browser product family was only available on mobile devices. Starting from 2018, Puffin Browser released a desktop version, Puffin Secure Browser for Windows. In May 2019, Puffin Secure Browser for Mac OS was released.

As of October 24, 2018, the Puffin Browser has reached over 50 million users on Android.[33] As of November 2018, Puffin browser has reached 100 million accumulated users worldwide (iOS+Android).[34][35]

Right before the opening of CES 2019, CloudMosa announced a new Puffin Browser product family member—Puffin Internet Terminal. It's a desktop virtualization app running on Raspbian for Internet surfing designed for Raspberry Pi. Puffin Internet Terminal was selected as a CES 2019 Innovation Awards Honoree in the Computer Hardware and Components product category.[36]

In May 2019, CloudMosa introduced a new family member—Puffin OS, a cloud-based operating system that would make low-cost mobile phones work as fast as high-end hardware. A Kickstarter project met its modest target. However, independent review website GSM Arena expressed skepticism.[37][38][39]

Products

Puffin Web Browser

Puffin Web Browser is the standard Puffin Browser application for Android and formerly iOS. The Puffin web browser on Android includes support for Adobe Flash content and features such as mouse cursor emulation and a virtual gamepad.[40] Users are able to choose where to save a downloaded file, either to users' devices or directly to their storage drive. The web browser also allows users to reduce the amount of data being used, from sources such as Flash games that often consume a lot of data.[41]

Puffin Web Browser Lite

Puffin Browser Lite is the standard Puffin application for iOS devices.[23] It is similar to the Puffin Web Browser for Android devices; however, does not support Adobe Flash Player. It comes with workspaces and password protection.

Concerns

Unlike most web browsers which render web pages internally, Puffin Browser uses external cloud servers to do the rendering, in a way similar to Opera Mini and the data saver mode in Google Chrome.

Because of that, all the unencrypted traffic of the user passes through the Puffin servers. This means that potentially sensitive information such as passwords passes in cleartext through the Puffin servers and may be logged by them. Note that the Puffin privacy policy promises that no web pages content is logged by them and that they do not have access to the user passwords.[42]

References
  1. "Windows Desktop". web site. 2020-05-20. Retrieved 2020-05-28.
  2. "Puffin Web Browser". iTunes Store. 2019-02-20. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
  3. "Puffin Web Browser". Google Play Store. 2020-04-13. Retrieved 2020-04-20.
  4. "Puffin TV - Fast Web Browser". Google Play Store. 2020-04-07. Retrieved 2020-04-20.
  5. "Puffin Secure Browser". iTunes Store. 2020-01-01. Retrieved 2002-04-20.
  6. Inc, CloudMosa (2017-10-16). "Puffin Browser is Faster than Other Browsers — Here's Why". Medium. Retrieved 2019-05-17.
  7. Chi (tigercosmos), Liu An (2018-09-08). "How the Puffin Browser Works". Medium. Retrieved 2019-05-17.
  8. Raspberry Pi Taiwan台灣樹莓派 (2018-12-03), Puffin Internet Terminal和Chromium在Raspberry Pi上的展示與比較, retrieved 2019-05-17
  9. "Supercharge Your Web Browsing on a Raspberry Pi!". www.instructables.com. Retrieved 2019-05-17.
  10. "Need for speed - What's the fastest Android browser?". Android Authority. 2018-05-01. Retrieved 2019-05-17.
  11. "Download Puffin browser to speed up slow, old Windows PCs". Windows Report - Windows 10 and Microsoft News, How-to Tips. 2019-05-01. Retrieved 2019-05-17.
  12. Play4Tech (2018-06-15), Chrome Vs Firefox Vs Edge Vs Puffin Speed Test, retrieved 2019-05-17
  13. "r/firefox - Tell me this is a joke, new Puffin Browser Beta 2x faster than FF 57". reddit. Retrieved 2019-05-17.
  14. "When It Comes to Mobile Browser Speed, This Puffin Can Soar | Reviews | TechNewsWorld". www.technewsworld.com. Retrieved 2019-05-17.
  15. Inc, CloudMosa (2019-05-16). "Puffin Secure Browser vs WebGap: 5 times the speed at 1/5 the cost". Medium. Retrieved 2019-05-17.
  16. Sayer, Peter (2017-10-20). "10 Chrome browser alternatives for Android". Computerworld. Retrieved 2019-07-25.
  17. Puffin Web Browser Brings Flash to Mobile Phones, Lifehacker
  18. "5 awesome web browsers for Android". Digital Trends. August 6, 2016. Retrieved February 8, 2017.
  19. "Puffin Internet Terminal - Turning a tiny Raspberry Pi into a high-end PC". www.puffin.com. Retrieved 2019-05-17.
  20. "Puffin TV Browser - Born for Excellence". www.puffin.com. Retrieved 2019-05-17.
  21. Inc, CloudMosa (2019-05-16). "Puffin TV Browser is ranked the best browser for Android TV". Medium. Retrieved 2019-05-17.
  22. Inc, CloudMosa (2019-05-16). "Puffin Web Browser and Puffin Academy will be discontinued on the iOS platform on July 1, 2019". Medium. Retrieved 2019-07-25.
  23. Inc, CloudMosa (2018-06-08). "Introducing Puffin Browser Lite, CloudMosa's Newest Browser". Medium. Retrieved 2019-11-23.
  24. Inc, CloudMosa (2019-05-16). "Puffin Web Browser and Puffin Academy will be discontinued on the iOS platform on July 1, 2019". Medium. Retrieved 2019-05-21.
  25. Torres, Ida (2016-01-18). "Puffin for Facebook is faster, consumes less data, battery". Android Community. Retrieved 2019-05-21.
  26. "瀏覽神器！Puffin for Facebook 幫你省下 80% 手機流量". INSIDE (in Chinese). Retrieved 2019-05-21.
  27. "Puffin for Facebook 最佳化臉書使用體驗！更省電省錢的選擇". 免費資源網路社群 (in Chinese). 2015-11-26. Retrieved 2019-05-21.
  28. Costea Lestoc, Windows Report. "Puffin browser enhances the performance of slower Windows PCs." December 24, 2017. Retrieved January 9, 2017.
  29. "Puffin Browser Pro for Android gets Adblock". The Jucktion. May 23, 2018. Retrieved October 28, 2018.
  30. Puffin Browser, Facebook, September 2019.
  31. "What's the Best Browser for Android TV? 5 Top Apps, Ranked". MakeUseOf. Retrieved 2019-05-21.
  32. Inc, CloudMosa (2019-05-16). "Puffin TV Browser is ranked the best browser for Android TV". Medium. Retrieved 2019-05-21.
  33. Staff, VMBlog. "CloudMosa Celebrates 50 Million Global Users on Android Devices." October 24, 2018. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
  34. "Puffin Browser Reaches 100 Million Users Worldwide". www.businesswire.com. 2018-11-07. Retrieved 2019-05-17.
  35. Inc, CloudMosa (2018-11-07). "Another Milestone Achieved: CloudMosa Reaches 100 Million Users Worldwide". Medium. Retrieved 2019-05-17.
  36. Inc, CloudMosa (2018-12-05). "Introducing the Puffin Internet Terminal; Turn a Raspberry Pi Into a high-end PC". Medium. Retrieved 2019-05-21.
  37. https://medium.com/@CloudMosa/puffin-os-for-smartphone-2-0-72fe409894e1
  38. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cloudmosa/puffin-os-phone-for-the-next-billion-users
  39. "Puffin OS promises to make sub-$100 phones as fast as flagships with the cloud". GSM Arena. July 4, 2019. Retrieved November 24, 2019.
  40. Andy, The Tech Bulletin. "Use the Puffin Browser to Play Flash Games on Android". August 20, 2017. Retrieved January 9, 2019.
  41. Mark Jansen, Digital Trends. "Keep on clicking with the 10 best browsers for Android." November 10, 2018. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
  42. "Puffin privacy policy". Retrieved 19 April 2020.
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