“This can’t be real, can it?” For a moment there was some consternation on Weibo this week, when news made it rounds that a new browser app would allow Chinese web users to visit websites that are otherwise blocked in mainland China, from Google to Instagram.
The Android browser app, called ‘Tuber’, soon became a much-discussed topic, with Weibo users saying it was available from the Huawei app store. Users needed to do complete a real-name registration in order to use the app.
“You can use YouTube via this app,” one popular Weibo blogger wrote: “And the app has a built-in translation function which can automatically translate English interfaces and provides videos with Chinese subtitles (automated). Videos can also be downloaded.”
The Weibo blogger known as ‘Sudashui’ (over 1 million fans) also commented that Pinterest could be normally used from within the browser. “This is a major event for the Chinese Internet,” (“这都是中国互联网的一件大事”), Sudashui wrote, suggesting the app had been approved by the Chinese authorities.
TechCrunch reported that the app came with a veil of censorship, with YouTube queries for politically sensitive keywords such as “Tiananmen” or “Xi Jinping” returned no results on the app.
South China Morning Post also wrote that Tuber granted users some access to innocuous overseas content like entertainment news, while still blocking any politically sensitive content.
But on Saturday (10/10), a day after news about the app made its rounds, all content relating to the app was removed from social media site Weibo, including the post by blogger Sudashui. Searches for the app also showed no results in various Chinese app stores, including the Huawei app store.
“It’s already gone from the Huawei app store,” a disappointed Weibo user wrote, with another person commenting that it had also disappeared from the Xiaomi app store.
“Quite a few of these kinds of apps have come out. They are seemingly tacitly approved by the government,” another person wrote.
Some social media users also joke about the app going down so fast: “It really had a short life.”
For others, the app’s existence is already forgotten. One Weibo commenter writes: “What is this browser app that everyone keeps talking about?!”
By Manya Koetse , with contributions by Bobby Fung
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