As open source as Android is, it is very difficult to find a decent browser, let alone one that is privacy focused and also usable on daily.
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Almost all web searches point to site that shows stuff like : Chrome, Edge, Opera…etc. So this doesnt help.
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Play Store is full of shitty browsers. If you skip the usual DDG, Chrome, Edge, Opera…etc then you will see either:
a) browsers from random Chinese company (Via, UC Browser)
or b) browser that is coupled with other products, e.g. a video downloader with built in browser.
- After the recent fiasco with Firefox and their ToS, I saw a lot of posts saying IronFox / Water Fox is better. I’ve never heard of these Foxes variants before.
So I tried the following on Android:
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DDG: only good if you do basic search. It lacks a good adblocker. So very annoying if you are on a site with shit tons of popups.
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Brave: not a fan of the in your face AI tools. Overall it works ok though
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The Foxes variants: IronFox seems to be very good on privacy. It has its own DNS and most of the security is on by default. However, same as all Foxes, IronFox just doesnt play well on Android. There is a slight lag when you try to switch tabs.
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TOR: This would be the safest. But the poorest in terms of usability.
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Chrome w/o account or Chrome run from private space. Surprisingly, Chrome is still the one browser that runs the smoothest…
Any input is appreciated.
Firefox with Ublock Origin and NextDNS
I find VIvaldi to be the most functional and its also my preferred desktop browser, It’s like brave but without the crypto non-sense, and much more focused on what users want rather than what will make them advertising money.
Firefox or Waterfox if you’re freaking out about Firefox.
Firefox. They’re still great, people keep freaking out over extremely benign changes.
Vanadium along with Kagi Search engine and NextDNS is god tier
Brave with Orbot.
firefox/fennec with ublock origin
I’m on IronFox on a cheap ~200$ Motorola phone and had no issues, runs like the old Mull used to
Mullvad browser and Tor browser are the only serious options for privacy on the internet. Librewolf, cromite, Firefox, brave, etc will get you fingerprinted. If you care about security more than privacy, use a chromium based browser. Personally, I use Mullvad browser with Vpn (use only protonvpn, mullvad, or ivpn, they have had security and legal tests) it’s the best combo of fast and private.
For mobile, the options are more limited. Ironfox, Cromite, and Vanadium (GrapheneOs) are the best bets for daily use. Tor Browser is the only one that actually stops fingerprinting however, but it is difficult to recommend it as a daily driver, it’s more of a tool.
Source: I actually help code security software and test it in real world scenarios regularly
I was about to ask, wasn’t Mullvad discontinued a few months ago? But I’m thinking of the Mull browser, right?
Yeah Mull is a different project. Mullvad browser is better than Mull (now Ironfox) tho lol.
For those wondering, Mullvad is only good if you change nothing about the browser, if you do, then you will he easily fingerprinted. As the number of people who use Mullvad is already small as it is. You will br like a spotlight in the dark if you add other extensions.
People should be aware that Tor is gonna be quite a bit slower and isn’t practical for things like streaming.
I use 3 browsers on my android devices. All 3 on all of them. That’s Firefox as the primary, and then Firefox Focus, and Firefox Nightly.
In the primary Firefox browser, I use uBlock Origin.
I have no lag - so why you talk about “all foxes” here, I don’t really know. Maybe you do know that Google, Like MS, Apple and others, always try to make it harder to use anything else, than their solution?
Compartmentalize, you don’t need to use the same browser for everything.
Fennec on Fdroid + uBlock Origin for Youtube, everyday browsing, through a VPN (split tunnel) to a privacy-friendly country
Chrome for the “normie” stuff, like banking, making purchases, taxes, government stuff, since those likely break on firefox-like browsers, and those are tied to identity anyways, no need to hide anything. Chrome goes through my real IP (cuz transactions would fail if make over a VPN)
Tor Browser for Lemmy (bypasses VPN, because using both VPN + Tor is practically unusable, too slow, just Tor is good enough)
I’ve been on Waterfox for years and see no reason worth changing for.
Cromite+Fennec
I use Firefox Focus/Klar as my default and if I want anything to persist, I’ll open it in Brave or Chromium.
I’ve been using DuckDuckGo’s browser, it’s pretty alright.
DuckDuckGo Browser is a webview browser which has weaker tab isolation and uses the system’s default webview implementation, most often chrome webview.
Huh, that’s unfortunate. I see a lot of recommendations for Fennec and Ironfox a fair amount and use regular firefox on desktop, maybe I should check those out. Is there one you recommend?
