First Impression Series, Part 5: Pi Network Browser

Good Day Friends!

This is your friendly crypto reviewer giving you my first impression about latest project in crypto space.

It seems like there's a brewing Browser War 2.0. Previously, I discussed Presearch's Secret Browser Project. Here now comes, Pi Network coming up with its own browser. This is exciting times indeed.

Let's test if this Pi browser is any good. If you are not very familiar what is Pi Network, you can read about them here.

The Pi Network Browser

This update is a follow up to the launching of the Pi Network Desktop Wallet. This new Pi Network Browser has an integrated mobile wallet which allows the user to store, receive and send Pi coins.

This browser can be downloaded from the IOS App Store or Google Play Store.

Account Creation

You do not need to create a Pi account in order to use the basic features of this browser.

But to access the Pi Apps, you need to have an existing account. If you do not have one, you can create an account from this browser.

Features

Currently, the browser is only good for browsing. It does not have, tab, bookmark, private browsing, and quick search features found in many browsers. But you can search in the Omnibox which uses Google Search as the default search engine. However, you cannot change this default settings.

Nevertheless, according to the Pi Network, this browser is unique because it allows Pi utilities and apps to be developed, tested and deployed on top of it. The current features include: chat.pi, wallet.pi, brainstorm.pi and miner.pi.

chat.pi - this allows you to chat with community members and developers.

wallet.pi - still at the experimental phase where you can send and receive test pi coins.

brainstorm.pi - this is where project proposals for improvement of the Pi Network are submitted.

miner.pi - where you can mine Pi coins.

Note that these features are already existing in the Pi Mining App.

The Pi browser and wallet have been integrated to "allow future Pi Apps and traditional businesses to easily integrate PI payments and interact with the Pi blockchain".

Browser Capability

To ensure fairness of my browser review with what I did with Presearch's Browser, I decided to test this with the same criteria that I used for Presearch. I tested this browser to check if it can handle the typical needs of internet users such as:

Browser Games - I can play chess but other type of browser games built on HTML 5 does not work.  If you click games built on HTML 5, the Pi browser opens other browser instead. I tested it at chessfaucet.com, chess.com and https://html5games.com/.

Video and Video Streaming - Watching videos and streaming work fine.  I tested it at Youtube.com and Theta.tv.

Podcast - You can also listen to your favorite podcast using this browser.  I tested it at www.iheart.com.

Social Media - Instant Messaging also works in Facebook.com and Twitter.com

Trading and Interactive Charts - You cannot trade yet with this app but viewing interactive charts using this browser is possible. I tested it at Stormgain.com and Rpubs.com/mscryptoph/forecastbch.

Online Banking - It works fine with my BDO.com online banking account.  I was able to log-in and check my balance.  

My Honest Verdict

Well, it is still in beta phase so A LOT of features still are missing. In fact, the only browsing capability, at the moment, is the ability to view websites but even this has limitation. To be fair, it is better to view this effort of Pi Network as demonstration of the future capabilities of this browser rather than a finished and polished product.

For me, the product is like the Pi App only with a browser.

Does this have a future?

To be brutally frank, I do not think this browser experiment has a future. The use case they are trying to solve is being addressed already by its competitor, BRAVE, at a very fast paced.

If they are to be a serious player in Blockchain and Browser Space, they have to demonstrate superiority of their products and how they differ with their peers. All I hear from Pi users, at the moment, are statements about future use not current use. While the Pi Network Core Team are still at the process of improving their products, their competitors are already gobbling up and saturating the market. I am afraid they are running out of time.

Disclaimer:

I have no connection with the companies featured in this blog. I write crypto related stuff to spread awareness to other readers and users about various platforms using crypto currency and blockchain technology.

If you like my content, please hit like and subscribe. Any amount of tip would be appreciated as I spend also countless hours to test and experiment these services so that I could write about them and in the process, get you informed.

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