As a free "rubbing network artifact", WiFi master key has swept the country, at its peak, the number of users can even be compared to the "national social software" WeChat.
However, this artifact APP has long fallen off the altar and has become the youth memory of countless machine friends.
If it weren't for the recent report of Sesame Girl seeing the revision of the WiFi Master Key, Sesame Girl would have almost forgotten that there is still this software.
According to media reports, Shangwang Network announced that its WiFi master key version ushered in an upgrade, and there are two main changes in the new version, one is to reduce the advertising space by 70%, and the other is to join the Wifi 7 protocol support.
Although the new version of the WiFi master key is better to use, it is rarely used due to the large loss of users.
2012 – 2015 Path to the Gods
Founded in 2012, WiFi Master Key provides shared WiFi hotspot connection services based on the demand for "free Internet access".
In just two years, the number of users exceeded 500 million, and the average number of daily hotspot connections exceeded 1.7 billion (fission is amazing), making it the third largest mobile application in China after QQ and WeChat.
In 2015, WiFi Master Key was no longer satisfied with the domestic market and began to expand overseas, and soon covered more than 200 countries and regions around the world, and by its peak in 2016, its global monthly active users reached 900 million.
During this period, the number of users of WiFi Master Key grew rapidly and became one of the most widely used applications worldwide.
The fission growth is mainly due to the following factors:
1. The rise of the mobile Internet:
With the popularization of smartphones, the use of mobile Internet has risen sharply, and the demand for mobile Internet access has also increased.
2. The traffic cost is relatively high:
Data charges were relatively high during this period, and many users preferred to use WiFi to save data.
3. Insufficient WiFi hotspots: Public WiFi hotspots are insufficient, and many places such as restaurants, cafes and other places adopt password protection, which restricts the user's Internet experience.
4. The network infrastructure is not perfect
In some areas, especially in developing countries and rural areas, where 3G/4G network coverage is insufficient, WiFi has become a convenient way to connect.
In the past, as long as it was a smartphone, it was basically installed with a WiFi master key, and the reason is not complicated, in that era of expensive traffic tariffs and slow network speeds, free WiFi has a super appeal.
However, the WiFi master key has always been very controversial, and its initial working principle is not to crack other people's WiFi passwords, but to directly upload the WiFi information stored in the user's mobile phone, including the password, and "share" it with other users (stealing the password openly).
The key is that this thing is still unguardable, I don't use the master key, but there are relatives and friends at home, always connect to the WiFi bar, in case the guest downloads the master key in the mobile phone, the WiFi password will still be shared. Therefore, this tool is very cool for people who use the Internet for free, but for broadband owners, it is a nightmare, because when there are many people who use the Internet, the Internet speed at home will become very slow, or even unable to access the Internet.
Due to controversy, privacy and security, the decline in user experience, and more importantly, the traffic is getting cheaper and cheaper, and the WiFi master key has quickly fallen off the altar since then.
2016 – Falling off the altar to date
Since 2016, the development of WiFi Master Key has entered a stage of stability or even decline, mainly due to the following reasons:
1. Network speed increase and fee reduction:
Many countries around the world have begun to promote network speed and fee reduction policies, especially in China, where operator competition has intensified, which has greatly reduced traffic fees.
2. Impact of regulatory policies:
Some countries and regions have strengthened laws and regulations on cybersecurity and personal privacy protection, restricting WiFi password sharing.
In 2018, CCTV exposed the security risks of WiFi master key, and then the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) demanded that it rectify the problem and remind users to be cautious about using such software.
In 2022, the WiFi Master Key was removed from the shelves by Huawei, Xiaomi, and other stores due to violations, and it is recommended to uninstall it immediately.
3. The user experience has dropped significantly
With the supervision and rectification, superimposed mobile phone manufacturers have been removed from the shelves, WiFi Master Key has to carry out compliance rectification, such as canceling the default sharing of user WiFi data, but this has also led to a great decline in its connection capacity, and many WiFi cannot be connected.
In addition, there are more and more advertisements in the WiFi Master Key APP, and the experience has dropped sharply, and users have uninstalled a large number of them.
4. Public WiFi improvement:
Public places such as shopping malls, restaurants, and transportation have begun to popularize free WiFi services, reducing people's dependence on WiFi master keys.
Under the influence of these factors, the growth rate of WiFi master key users has slowed down, and even negative growth, and now this kind of software is basically not popular, and most of them have been forgotten.
In general, the WiFi master key exploded and rose due to the high cost of traffic, and also fell off the altar due to the decrease in traffic.