Hello everyone, I'm in search of a new Android browser. Currently, I'm using Via browser, which is lightweight and functions well with essential features. However, the only thing it lacks is a tracker library blocker. I'm contemplating switching to Mozilla Fennec, which does have a library blocker, but I'd prefer something as minimalistic as Via, which I believe is only around 2 MB in size
this post was submitted on 06 Nov 2023
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Privacy
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A place to discuss privacy and freedom in the digital world.
Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.
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Firefox with ublock
Mull is the best mobile browser based on Firefox imo. If you really want or need something Chromium based, then I'd go for Cromite.
or Mulch (instead of Cromite) for a Chromium-based choice. by the same group (or person) that's responsible for Mull
I always forget about that one. It's also the one that serves as the basis for DivestOS' System Webview, which is pretty cool
I use Mull. It's Firefox but removes Firefox trackers and add privacy settings right into the browser.
You can get it via FDroid (I use neostore client) and it gets frequent updates.
Can i still use sync with dekstop Firefox? How about add-ons?
Yup and yup.
Awesome, thanks! I'm going to give it a shot.
All add-ons in regular firefox are available. Same with features. I don't use sync, but I see the feature.
Personally I use Cromite (degoogled Chromium with adblock and harden security) and Mull (DivestOS harden Firefox based browser with adblock and addons support)
Firefox Nightly
Mull seems to be best not only on privacy, but the fact that you can move the search bar to the bottom of the screen is a huge win. Only thing missing imo from vanadium, which i've been using, is tab groups with a mini tab bar that stays visible
Vanadium and Mull. I prefer Mull because I can sync it with my Firefox, and has uBlock. But for privacy I guess Vanadium is the best, but for now you need to have GOS.
Many thanks OP for starting this thread and also big thank you to all suggesting Mull and Mulch. I was not aware of those apps and will try out both of them.
Here are some links to start from:
- DivestOS website with information about their apps: https://divestos.org/pages/our_apps
Mulldirectly from F-Droid: https://f-droid.org/en/packages/us.spotco.fennec_dos/Mulchonly from DivestOS F-Droid Repo: https://f-droid.org/en/packages/us.spotco.mulch/ - must enable repo first!
I'm currently using bromite. If that not ideal, someone please let me know
I really liked the Bromite browser on my mobiles, but unfortunately it did not get (security) updates for a longer time. From the many discussions in the Issue tracker asking about status of the project, I could not get a clear clue about the situation, but fact is that the last Bromite release is from Dec 2022.
From here Bromite is Dead, Use Cromite Instead I learned about and tried to switch to Cromite, but on my 32-bit Android devices it is still very unstable.
Iceraven is the most underrated, and actually has I2P proxy add-on, which Mull is missing!
Vanadium (chromium), Fennec (hardened firefox) anf Iceraven (firefox with A LOT of extensions avalable by default)
I like Firefox, Cromite as well as Duckduckgo.
Via is indeed a wrapper for WebView, and i used it on an old device for its small memory footprint. Then kept using it for some features which the non-Chromium alternatives (Firefox but also Mull) have dumbed away.
That's mainly navigation buttons in the address bar, drop-down tab switcher, the ability to export settings and bookmarks (never liked to have yet another "cloud" account that tracks my usage...), and saving webpages for offline use. Among other features such as code and resource-file viewer, network log. -- It's just a a lean and convenient UI.
Lately, i started to run it together with DuckDuckGo-browser's tracking protection. That does take care of Via's own built-in trackers.