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.

    • FriendBesto@lemmy.ml
      2·
      2 hours 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)@lemmy.ml
        1·
        1 hour 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.