How can people love you if Xunlei is so suicidal? Xunlei's road to decline

[PConline Miscellaneous] Xunlei is a download tool that everyone is quite familiar with. From the perspective of popularity, it can be called the king of downloaders in China. However, the experience of Xunlei has been declining in recent years, and more and more promotional content has been inserted into the software. Among the recently launched versions, the U-share version has a better reputation. A few days ago, everyone and the editor experienced the Xunlei U-share version (the latest Xunlei VIP exclusive version). For this simplified version of Xunlei without ads, the experience was not bad at the time. However, as the time of use increases, the editor has discovered a problem that I have to post a complaint about. I have to sigh that Xunlei is on the road to degeneration. Let's take a look at whether you have encountered this problem.

Figure 1 Thunder U Enjoy Edition

Related articles: It's so refreshing that there's not even a single ad! Thunder U Enjoy Edition Full Experience

The full upload speed in the background is too exaggerated. What are you going to do with the Thunder U-share version?

The more serious problem found here is the automatic upload problem of Thunder U Enjoy Edition. In fact, this problem also existed in previous versions, but it was not so serious. However, the automatic upload of Thunder U Enjoy Edition has reached the point of full speed upload. For details, let's see the editor's test. The Thunder used in the test is Thunder U Enjoy Edition 3.0.1.96 beta version.

This is a newly installed version of Xunlei U-Share downloaded from the official website. There are no tasks (including completed and unfinished tasks) in it. In order to ensure that the environment is not disturbed, the author restarted the computer, then ran Xunlei U-Share, and used the "Traffic Monitoring" tool of Kingsoft Security to monitor the traffic of Xunlei U-Share.

Figure 2 Screenshot of initial state test

In the initial status screenshot, we can see that the upload speed of the "DownloadSDKSever.exe" process of Thunder U Enjoy Edition has reached 555.3KB/s when Thunder U Enjoy Edition does not have any tasks, which is almost the full upload speed of the editor's broadband, and the uploaded traffic is 54MB.

Figure 3 Test screenshot after 5 minutes

After 5 minutes, the "DownloadSDKSever.exe" process of Xunlei U-Share Edition has an upload speed of 667.02KB/s, with an uploaded traffic of 247.9MB, and 193MB of data uploaded in 5 minutes, even though Xunlei U-Share Edition has no tasks. After testing, as long as Xunlei U-Share Edition is running, "DownloadSDKSever.exe" will continue to upload data.

As we all know, two very important keywords in P2P networks are "upload and download". There is no download without uploading, and your downloading process is enjoying the uploaded data contributed by other users. For example, when people use BT software to download resources, on the one hand, they download resources from multiple user terminals, and on the other hand, they also contribute their own strength to upload resources for others to download. However, the premise of this uploading and downloading is that the uploaded content must be the resources downloaded by the user, not other resource content. So, what does the Thunder U-Share version upload without any tasks?

If you want to see what Xunlei U-Xiang version has uploaded, let's see what Xunlei U-Xiang version is reading. Let's use Process Monitor to see what Xunlei U-Xiang version is reading. The result is that Xunlei U-Xiang version is constantly reading the series "My Date with a Vampire" and "Zombie Taoist Priest" that the editor has kept in the hard disk for a long time. The editor has forgotten the existence of these two series, but Xunlei U-Xiang version has found them. Awesome! Although the content read is not confidential, do you think this operation without user permission is good for Xunlei U-Xiang version? As for whether the uploaded resources are the resources read by Xunlei? You have to ask Xunlei. I hope this phenomenon only exists in this version. Xunlei Speed ​​​​Version does not have this phenomenon.

Figure 4 Process Monitor monitoring screenshot

Although the interface of Xunlei U-Share is simple, its functions are also simple. There is no quick speed limit button, no Xunlei download treasure function, no scheduled tasks, no manual download option when creating a new task, nothing. I hope these can be added in subsequent versions. It is said that the public beta version is coming, but the Xunlei U-Share version 3.1.0.136 downloaded by the editor encountered an installation error prompt, so it is impossible to test the new version.

Figure 5 Installation error message

Update test: Just when I was preparing to publish the article, I saw that Thunder really released the public beta version of Thunder U Enjoy Edition. Update information: it is planned to launch the download function, optimize the P2P upload mechanism, cancel the player association logic, and fix some known bugs.

The rest is not important. What is important is that the P2P upload mechanism has been updated and optimized. Let's test the new version to see if it still uploads crazily. Test environment: new system, new Xunlei U-share version 3.1.0.154, no tasks.

Figure 6 Screenshot of initial state test

In the initial status screenshot, we can see that the upload speed of the "DownloadSDKSever.exe" process of Thunder U Enjoy Edition has reached 533.9KB/s even when Thunder U Enjoy Edition has no tasks. It is still uploading at full speed, and the uploaded traffic is 29.2MB.

Figure 7 Test screenshot after 5 minutes

After 5 minutes, the "DownloadSDKSever.exe" process of Xunlei U-Share Edition has an upload speed of 587.5KB/s, with an uploaded traffic of 213.4MB, and 184MB of data uploaded in 5 minutes, even though Xunlei U-Share Edition has no tasks. The upload problem has not been improved in the new version. The biggest improvement of the public beta version is the addition of scheduled tasks.

2. When will the continuous decline in user experience end?

Xunlei has done many things that offend users. Can it pay more attention to the user experience?

I am a loyal fan of Xunlei. I have used Xunlei since its initial version and now Xunlei 9. I have used Xunlei from an ordinary user to VIP7. I feel that Xunlei is constantly consuming its own reputation and constantly offending VIP users who are afraid of dropping other software. Is this really good? Here are some anti-user behaviors of Xunlei that I have encountered.

What is the reason why the VIP level keeps changing?

Ever since Xunlei had VIP, the VIP categories have been constantly changing, from the VIP without level at the beginning, to VIP grading, then the Platinum membership, and then the highest level VIP7 at that time who could enjoy all services. Many VIP users finally upgraded to VIP7 thinking they could enjoy the highest level of treatment, but Xunlei ended up having a super membership and did not forget to remind VIP7 users to upgrade to a super membership.

Figure 8 VIP classification

Figure 9: Great reminder

Why are VIP privileges being reduced and services being reduced?

The privileges of Thunder VIP users were very good in the beginning, including exclusive offline downloads, high-speed download channels, ad-free interface, sub-accounts, etc. Later, the VIP service was suspended for some reasons. However, with the update of the version, many exclusive services have disappeared.

For example, when Xunlei 9 was first released, whether you were a regular user or a VIP user, you had to experience the huge browser window and automatically played videos. Even if you updated to the new version of Xunlei 9, the huge browser window still cannot be cancelled by VIP.

Speaking of the nickname "Thunder Browser", many users have something to say. Thunder 9 uses a browser-like layout. As soon as it was launched, it attracted a lot of criticism from users on the official website forum, including many VIP users. It's okay to have a huge browser, but the video keeps playing automatically. I really don't know what the product manager is thinking. Although users continue to protest, in order to maximize profits, Thunder officials turn a blind eye to the protests and suggestions of users and even VIP users, causing many users to uninstall Thunder and turn to other software. Among the user groups who stick to Thunder, there is also a phenomenon of uninstalling the new version and looking for the old version everywhere. So many users are still using Thunder Speed ​​​​Edition, but Thunder Speed ​​​​Edition has also experienced a period of forced upgrades and the inability to use offline download high-speed channels. The previous incident of being unable to download resources also made many users use the old Thunder 5 again.

Figure 10 Xunlei 9, which is called Xunlei Browser by users

Then, some resources could not be downloaded offline or use high-speed channels, which led to protests from VIP users. At that time, Xunlei launched a membership suspension function to comfort VIP users. This function is quite good. For example, when users are on business trips and cannot use Xunlei, they can suspend their membership to avoid wasting VIP days. However, this function was taken offline not long after.

The next thing to be cut was the Xunlei member's sub-account function. A VIP account can open two sub-accounts, which is convenient for users to use different devices at home, but this privilege has also been cancelled. Good services cannot be provided continuously for a long time. This is like a small candy used to comfort users, which makes people unable to see the sincerity of truly considering users.

Figure 11: Revoked sub-account privileges

Other software manufacturers are constantly increasing and upgrading VIP user privileges to retain VIP users, why is Xunlei doing the opposite?

What do you want to do when the third-party software Xunlei is installed automatically in the background?

I don't know from which version, Xunlei began to add a startup service item in the system service item, which has achieved the purpose of starting the background process at startup. For example, in the latest version of Xunlei 9, two services are added to the system service item after installation. As for what these two services do, the editor has no idea.

One is the XLServicePlatform item, which is described as Xunlei Basic Service, which supports the normal operation of Xunlei download software. However, even if the user sets the startup type to "Disabled", it will automatically change to "Automatic" after restarting the computer.

Another one is the XLNXService item, which is described as the basic service of Xunlei NiuX Game Service Center. This item is better and can be disabled.

Figure 12 Service Item 1

Figure 13 Service Item 2

What are these services for? There are all kinds of speculations online, and many people associate this service with rogue behavior. Why do people think so? There are clues. In Xunlei 9.1.37.846, Xunlei automatically installed the iQiyi client, which caused a lot of strong protests from users in the forum. The editor also wrote a special test. Fortunately, Xunlei stopped in its tracks in later versions and did not do this rogue behavior again. This incident caused some users to lose trust in Xunlei, and the behavior of Xunlei services being stationed in the background became even more worrying.

Figure 14 IQIYI client automatically installed by Xunlei

Summarize

Pursuing maximum profit is understandable, but it is too much, constantly squeezing user value, offending users and even VIP users. If the number of users decreases, what can you use to pursue profit? Can Xunlei pay more attention to user experience?

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.