Detailed Explanation of SendingMe: A decentralized instant messaging platform that enhances the transfer capabilities of tokens and NFTs in social interactions
Original Title: “Delisted by Google Play at 200 Million Users, Dolphin Browser Co-Founders Discovered Decentralization”
Author: Amanda Smith, Decential
Compiled by: Elvin, ChainCatcher
College friends Joey Yu and Mason Yang are a success story in Silicon Valley. They left Microsoft, then the largest tech company, to create the Dolphin Browser—one of the first alternative browsers for Android, which boasted over 200 million users at its peak. Then, without any warning, it was delisted from the Google Play Store.
“One morning I woke up to thousands of complaint emails and comments saying the Dolphin Browser had disappeared,” Yu said in a recent interview. “We had no idea what was happening. A few weeks later, Google Chrome was introduced to Android. Before that, Android only had the native browser. They delisted all third-party browsers that had a lot of innovations. Google and Apple have stifled many innovative startups. For example, iCloud is a copy of Dropbox.”
As users, bloggers, influencers, journalists, and editors rallied behind the Dolphin Browser, Google’s former motto of “Don’t be evil” hit them back in the face. The most memorable article was published by CNET, mocking Google for being evil for taking down their favorite browser.
“Eventually, Google contacted us and said we could resubmit a new application, but the old application was gone. Users needed to uninstall the old app and reinstall the new one, so all bookmarks and information would be lost,” Yu said. But the Dolphin Browser was not sent to the startup graveyard by the tech giants. It found its super fans, and the community helped the app make a comeback. They were able to regain their user base within a year.
Although Dolphin Browser technology was innovative at the time—it was the first Android browser optimized for mobile screen sizes and offered multi-touch zoom—it was the community that made it stand out. They even hinted at decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) before they became a thing, including feature requests, community voting, and reward mechanisms.
Yu still notices that big tech companies are swallowing startups and ultimately decided to sell the Dolphin Browser. “Every year, we see the top three or four popular apps disappear, so Google or Android can become the default operating system. The tech giants control everything. Unbeknownst to them, the tech giants seize your good idea and profit from all user data,” he said.
This was precisely when Ethereum was invented. After the Google crash, Yu personally experienced the power of community and eventually became open to the potential of decentralization.
Early Interactions with Vitalik Buterin
In 2015, Yu was introduced to Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, when Ethereum was referred to as “a new Bitcoin.” Buterin gave Yu a few ideas—one was to build a decentralized web browser, similar to today’s Brave, and another was a decentralized naming service, like ENS Domains. Although Yu did not accept Buterin’s ideas, it further connected the opportunities of blockchain technology with the background.
He spent some time building and investing in various projects. During this period, the web3 world matured. “From 2015 to 2017, it was all about air coins. From 2017 to 2019, it was about infrastructure, layer two, and zero knowledge. 2019 was the summer of DeFi, NFTs, and GameFi. In 2020, we had a feeling that this was similar to the evolution of mobile phones, from Nokia to iPhone,” he said.
Yu noticed the pain points regarding user experience or the lack thereof. As a tech geek, even Yu found it difficult to use MetaMask. His first idea was a universal chat experience—a wallet address could communicate anywhere, from any terminal with anyone, whether it was a webpage, wallet, or game.
“Web3 is like a virtual society,” Yu said. “Previous blockchains were more like a banking system. You had money, but no operators. We want to connect your mouse to your pocket. If I want to send you 1 ETH, you can send me your wallet address in Telegram, and then I’ll open MetaMask to send you 0.1 ETH and check if you received it before sending the rest. If you miss a letter, the money is gone. The user experience is very fragmented.”
SendingMe is Yu’s web3 startup, a decentralized real-time encrypted instant messaging platform that integrates chat, social, and trade. It facilitates the transfer of tokens and NFTs directly within chats.
Many of SendingMe’s experiences come from the Dolphin Browser, such as the power of community, building an open ecosystem, and embedding third-party applications. He said it is also a ready-made communication tool for web3 teams that are usually smaller and lack resources to invest in user experience.
Yu describes SendingMe and SendingNetwork as “carriers of the people.”
“Think of it as a network carrier, similar to how Starlink operates with physical satellites, but in our case, we are creating virtual satellites,” he said. “Imagine if anyone could install an app by simply turning their server or laptop into a signal station. This would turn every device into a node, similar to a communication tower.”
He continued, “The beauty of this system lies in its resilience and decentralization. With numerous nodes distributed in different locations, it is nearly impossible for anyone to shut down the entire network, censor specific messages, ban user accounts, or exclude entire communities. Essentially, every user contributes to a powerful, unbreakable communication network.”
No censorship, no account bans, and no exclusion of communities.
As more and more builders in Silicon Valley turn to decentralized environments, tired of commodified creators and users are uniting to support builders and brands, leading the digital rights of the new internet.