Newsletter - Definitive Edition App

Otohits Webmaster

This is a copy of an old Othits newsletter

Coin miners are spreading over a lot of websites. We consider them to be clearly not adapted to autosurfs as they are mostly misused (taking up all the CPU without user consent). It will likely result in a bad user experience and as such we do not approve them. Currently, if you add a link that contains a coin miner, it will probably be refused. However, this solution is a bit brutal and in some case, you are not even aware that a miner is present (PTP).

This situation pushed us to advance the release of a new version of the Windows Application we were working on: the Definitive Edition.

It is considered as a major update for the following reasons:

  • The UI has been reworked. It is now lighter and should match the theme of your Windows version.
  • We removed everything that was unnecessary leading to very tiny executables and very low memory consumption for the main App process. There is no external dependencies anymore.
  • The browser has been updated (chromium 61).
  • Also the browser is now fully sandboxed, reducing drastically any risk of malware or virus infection.
  • The login page is now a web page in itself, providing a nice UI. Options that previously need the manual edit of the configuration file are now directly available on the login page.
  • Our tests showed us that it is more stable than previous versions, having no issue after days of surf and thousands of links visited.
  • Number of hits and points earned during the current session of your App are now displayed when surfing.
  • The App is now delivered with an update engine. When a new version is available you will be noticed. If you use the AutoStart option, the App will update and restart itself.
  • As the App will stay up to date, we abandoned the version in the title of the App (which explain the "Definitive Edition" name).
  • You can choose to enable sounds (muted by default).

The following features have been added primarily to address the issue with coin miners:

  • A new option is available for decent machines (2 CPU cores or more): "CPU Protection". If a website is consuming too much CPU, it will be automatically stopped.
  • Coin miner's and identified threat's requests will be blocked automatically. If a website with a coin miner is loading, the App will block and skip the coin miner script execution.

We also bring one important feature on this version which can be a game changer for some of you:

  • The App embeds what we call the "Javascript Injection" feature. The idea is quite simple: to give you the possibility to inject any javascript code on your links. Although it is still experimental, if you are interested in it, just let us know and we'll provide you a way to test it without additional cost for the moment.

The only drawback of this new App is the drop of Windows XP and Vista support. This is due to the use of a newer version of the browser as the support of these operating systems is only available in version 50 and prior. Also, the minimum required memory on the system is now 1gb.

We encourage you to test it, as well as contacting us if you find any issue. Please note that a portable version is also available if you want to test the Definitive Edition without overriding your current App.

We are also happy to give you the results of the poll about pushing direct visit by default with no cost: 76% voted YES, 7% NO, 17% without clear opinion. As the vote is positive, I remind you that the change will be the following: Hide referer (direct visit) will be the default value when you add a link, it will be free and Otohits as the referer will still be available, but will require you to manually activate it. This change will be applied in few weeks.

With the new App, direct visits by default and the end of the browser surf, Otohits is ready to enter in a new era. Some important changes will follow before the end of the year, starting with:

  • A new poll to share with you an idea about advanced options.
  • As the App will be the only way to surf, the "App Only" option will progressively be removed. It will simplify a lot of pages on the website.

As usual, thank you all for your participation and hello to all the members who joined us recently.

Have a good surf.