Cloud Browse May Bring Flash, But I’d Stay Far Away

Are you just that desperate to get Flash on your iPhone? You may have stumbled across Cloud Browse, a utility that allows you to access the Internet through a remote computer. To me, that raises lots of red flags. Basically Cloud Browse creates a connection between you and a Firefox browser sitting on some computer in the middle of wonder-land. I don’t know about you, but I’m not going to login into my accounts on somebody else’s computers. Plus, it doesn’t even work that great. Talk about something that shouldn’t be allowed in the App Store.

I don’t care what the developers say - rerouting information like this is simply dangerous. Sure your information might be more private since it isn’t stored locally, but how secure is their end? And how do I know their not perusing through my data I leave behind? I might be more security pretentious that most people (after all, I still do occasionally run AV software on my Mac), but I don’t trust other people with my data unless they have a solid reputation. Offering users a janky program like this is simply shady behavior.

Cloud Browse

The app semi-works alright. You have to manually enable the keyboard to type anything, though touch-navigation sort of worked. If I’m impressed with anything, I suppose it’s how the developers have made this intermediate layer that talks to the remote computer somewhat work (though it needs vast improvement). Basically the computer has access to Adobe’s Flash Player and tools, but when I visited a site like Hulu, I was warned that my machine wasn’t compatible anyways. While sites like Adobe.com worked, the connection was horrid and spotty (sometimes it’d be fast, other times it’d get real laggy), and in my eyes, a solution like this just isn’t necessary. The touch-to-mouse-click interface doesn’t translate well enough to play any games or watch video well enough to make it suitable, so I’d stay far away. Sure it’s available for free (iTunes Link), but sometimes freedom comes at a price: your privacy.