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Comment by kb120 | Hacker News Reader

Very few people explore other browsers? Alt browsers are often the first app that people download. Chrome is included in gapps.

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Alt browsers are often the first app the people download.

Which people? I'll grant that Chrome is an exception, given that it's bundled, but I've never seen usage number of other alternative Android browsers hit any meaningful numbers.

Who, engineers? Certainly not my wife or anyone else I have ever met who isn't technical.

Haha, I'm sure we've all had tunnel vision moments at one point or another.

My grandmother managed to switch entirely to Chrome on her PC without the help of anyone in our family. Anecdotal evidence works both ways. It isn't 1998. Most people know what a browser is and which one they are using on their desktop. Making the leap to a second browser on a phone (where they can easily get it from Google Play) isn't that ridiculous.

Who's talking about PC? We're talking about phones here, and it is different. Also, it's not anecdotal; we have data. The only reason that IE still has such a large share of the browser market is because people are unaware of and/or don't care about other (better) options.

Not sure what fantasy land you're living in. But most people are not downloading alternate browsers en masse for their phone. Especially not when there isn't a compelling reason to do so.

Chrome on Desktop has adapted several malware techniques to get installed without the user noticing. Bundled by default in many installers, including Flash, installs with user permissions only.

Example? I worked quite hard to get my grandma to install Chrome.

>Bundled by default in many installers, including Flash, installs with user permissions only

Not saying I agree with the Malware comment, though the bundling is annoying.

Isn't that what you are for, if you're computer-literate?

The first thing I install on my gf's computer or phone is Firefox and configure it to sensible settings (turn off third-party cookies, install ABP and Ghostery and stuff like that).

I've played tech support to many people in my circle of friends and family who have no idea that alternate browsers even exist. The vast majority of users use what comes on the phone by default.

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