The Cosmos Browser application, which allows the user to browse the Internet without a connection, is now available in beta on the Play Store. Although the promise is tempting, the app still offers a number of bugs and does not work properly. However, according to the developers, this is the reason why the app is being offered for download.
Cosmos Browser application is now available on the Play Store! / © Cosmos Browser
This morning, I checked the following message from the Cosmos Browser team in my inbox:
And we are available!
Cosmos Browser allows you to access the internet without a wifi connection or data plan. As long as you can exchange text messages, you can browse the internet. Please keep in mind that the app is in alpha phase (in the app the version is identified as beta), there will be bugs. Force as many errors as possible and send us a complete report.
As soon as I realized it was the Cosmos Browser app, I clicked without thinking twice to download the app from the Play Store. For those who have never heard of Cosmos, keep in mind that it will be possible to obtain information from your favorite sites, even when you are not connected to the internet. The operation of the app is very simple: after downloading the app, you just need to enter the URL of the website you want to visit. The application will then automatically send a request to the Cosmos server, which, after having deleted the photos and compressed the pages, will send the content back to the user in the form of SMS. Then, the application will decompress the received SMS and display it as an almost normal website.
However, truth be told, the app is still not working even for a beta version!
Cosmos Browser allows you to access the internet without a wifi connection or data plan. / © ANDROIDPIT
As we can see in the image below, although the sending of the URLs to the Cosmos server is working, the service is not responding with the content back to the user in the form of SMS, which seems to be a consequence of errors in the elimination of images and in the ability to compress the pages. I have been waiting for the return of content via SMS for over an hour and a half.
If I still receive the content via text message, I promise to update this article.
When entering the URL of the website you want to visit, Cosmos will send the content back to the user in the form of SMS! / © ANDROIDPIT
So, if you want to download the beta version of the app and send reports to developers, visit the Play Store and download Cosmos Browser. However, keep in mind that the application is far from functional and requires the use of your SMS plan, that is, it generates costs.
So, are you going to give Cosmos Browser a try or wait until the app is working properly? In your opinion, will it be worth using the SMS plan over the data plan?
Article updated on 30/10/2014, at 15h35min (Brasília time) – The Cosmos Browser team sent an email to registered users informing that the application was removed from the Play Store due to problems with the server. These problems, it seems, are financial. The developers promise to deliver a better experience with the app, after a future update.
