UC Browser Back on Play Store, UCWeb Says Updated Settings in Line With Google Policy

After being removed from Google Play for a week, Alibaba-owned UCWeb said on Wednesday that a new version of UC Browser is now available on Google Play.

The app was removed from Google Play last week, and UCWeb claims it was due to a certain setting not being in line with Google's policy. This has been rectified in the latest build uploaded to Google Play. The company in a statement said the new version is available for users with updated technical settings strictly in line with Google Play's policy.

"During the brief absence of UC Browser on Play Store, we continued to meticulously check our technical settings while also witnessing an uninterrupted passion of our users for the product, who looked upon the alternative version, UC Browser Mini, and made it to the top of [the] Free Apps category on the Play Store," said Young Li, Head-International Business Department at Alibaba Mobile Business Group.

With a user base share of 45 percent, UC Browser has become the most popular mobile browser in India in terms of Internet usage, followed by Google Chrome, the company claimed.

UC Browser has crossed 500 million downloads on Google Play in October.

Last week, UCWeb dismissed reports that Google removed its app from its Play Store over data security concerns.

"The exact reason for UC Browser's unavailability on Google Play is because of a certain setting of UC Browser that was not in line with Google's policy. The reason for the removal has nothing to do with alleged data security breach or malicious promotion," a UCWeb spokesperson had told IANS.

"We would like to state that we have no records of anyone named 'Mike Ross' claiming to be working for UC Browser, as mentioned in some reports. The person claiming to be working for UC Browser is in no way associated with the firm nor represents the views of the company," the spokesperson added.

"The allegations of misleading and malicious promotions by the said person are completely false and baseless," the company said.

When contacted, Google said in a statement: "Our policies are designed to provide a safe and positive experience for users. That's why we remove apps from Google Play that violate those policies."

In January this year, Alibaba announced a Rs. 2 billion investment to build UCWeb in India and Indonesia over the next two years.

Written with inputs from IANS