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.

  • Almost all web searches point to site that shows stuff like : Chrome, Edge, Opera…etc. So this doesnt help.

  • 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:

  • 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.

  • Brave: not a fan of the in your face AI tools. Overall it works ok though

  • 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.

  • TOR: This would be the safest. But the poorest in terms of usability.

  • 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.

  • haui
    1•5 days ago

    Android is not open source in its final form. The base is open source. First step to privacy is checking if you can use something like lineageos or graoheneos. They both include android open source project (aosp) as a base and build on top. Graphene only works on pixel phones and lineage has a variety of phones you can put it on. Dont install play services and use fdroid for most apps. Some apps you will need aurora (play store but anonymous) which is a last resort.

    I use fennec on lineageos which works quite well. I have ublock (recommend) and noscript (optional because pretty drastic).

    Let me know if you need more help.

  • Melody FwygonEnglish
    1•6 days ago

    I personally use Firefox still; and keep a fresh copy in a (Pixel only feature) Private Space (Basically an implementation of Android alternate user profile) as well. It works and accepts any privacy addons I throw at it.

    Currently using:

    • uBlock Origin
    • Chameleon
    • Privacy Badger1
    • LocalCDN
    • Decentraleyes1
    • CanvasBlocker1

    1 - May duplicate functions of other plug-ins; but provide additional protection layers and cover for the limitations of other addon(s)…

    Being worried about addons adding to your fingerprint is something that I quite honestly find is not a significant issue usually…unless you’re explicitly doing something truly spooky if found out…then you should use Tor Browser ONLY.

  • PortNull
    29•9 days ago

    I use IronFox and have no qualms. Vandium on graphene is also popular. Buy apart from that I can’t offer up much more

    • @nfreak@lemmy.mlEnglish
      1•8 days ago

      I ran into some broken site issues with IronFox (which is completely understandable), but after tweaking every setting I could possibly find I couldn’t resolve them. Fennec is a good compromise for me

  • @Gibberish9031@lemmy.mlEnglish
    19•9 days ago

    I’ve been using Fennec and it works 99% of the times and on the rare occasion I need Chromium based browser I use Brave. I don’t have any issues with either.

  • marcie (she/her)
    13•8 days ago

    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

    • @yo_scottie_oh@lemmy.mlEnglish
      2•8 days ago

      I was about to ask, wasn’t Mullvad discontinued a few months ago? But I’m thinking of the Mull browser, right?

      • marcie (she/her)
        1•8 days ago

        Yeah Mull is a different project. Mullvad browser is better than Mull (now Ironfox) tho lol.

        • @FriendBesto@lemmy.ml
          2•8 days ago

          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.

          • marcie (she/her)
            1•8 days ago

            I’ve actually tested doing addons to the browser and keeping permanence, and I found it good for my use cases and my specific add-ons (add-ons that do not access DOM). Most major sites don’t have the tech to actually fingerprint it that way. Yes, it does harm the potential fingerprinting, but if you are careful and make it so that private browsing mode basically resets it to default, you can turn it on when you need to. The biggest issue is turning cookies on imo.

            Of course, only do this if you know what you’re doing, know your requirements, and know the ins and outs of how fingerprinting on particular sites work. Its perfectly reasonable to main mullvad browser with its baseline setup.

  • Hemingways_ShotgunEnglish
    8•9 days ago

    I use Cromite. It’s a more hardened fork of Bromite. Which itself is a hardened fork of Chromium.

    The only thing I’ve found so far is that it likes to block the discussion threads on some websites. But other than that I’ve had no issues whatsoever.

  • Hellfire103English
    8•9 days ago

    According to the tests I’ve run, IronFox, Brave, and Tor Browser are the only options (in my opinion).

    Cromite also works, as does Vanadium, but they’re… basic, and the fingerprinting resistance could be better.

  • @MangoPenguin@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
    6•9 days ago

    Also on IronFox and it’s solid.

    If you already use Brave on desktop then that works fine too and syncs your data. Not a huge fan of the crypto/AI stuff in the browser, but the security/privacy aspect of the browser is good.

    • NovalingEnglish
      3•9 days ago

      Gonna be real, Firefox with some settings changed + uBlock/Librewolf + uBlock is Brave, and even better honestly. Brave has whitelisted some trackers on sites, and they also will break a site while not giving you a chance to find the one tracker breaking the site, forcing you to turn the entire shield off, defeating the purpose. Meanwhile, uBlock with advanced settings on will allow you to still block anything unnecessary to letting the site do basic functions.

  • @kyub@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
    4•8 days ago
    • Tor browser for anonymous/private regular browsing (without logging into personally-identifiable accounts)
    • Vanadium (GrapheneOS’ Chromium-based browser, maybe it’s usable on non-GrapheneOS as well?) in combination with a good crap-blocking DNS server
    • Brave is decent but has some bad default settings, can probably be configured to behave well (similar to regular Firefox)
    • Firefox + forks are generally not that great (at least on Android?) because their sandboxing capabilities (and maybe other security features) are weaker compared to those of Chromium-based browsers. See also: https://grapheneos.org/usage#web-browsing
    • Proprietary browsers like Chrome, Edge, Opera, and so on all contain loads of on-by-default-spyware and should never be used