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.
i run cromite, it works quite well, has built in ad and track blocking and is quite fast
Firefox or Waterfox if you’re freaking out about Firefox.
Graphene os + vanadium
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?
firefox/fennec with ublock origin
Vanadium along with Kagi Search engine and NextDNS is god tier
I’m spread out across Waterfox, Ironfox, Brave and Vivaldi.
For FF forks, don’t neglect extensions like JShelter. They make a difference as well.
Glad to hear Brave isn’t awful. I haven’t tried it as I’m trying to avoid Chrome entirely for now.
I’ve been using IceRaven/Mull on a very old (out of support) LG phone, and I’m not sure I entirely understand the “pauses” thing? I don’t see meaningful pauses when I switch tabs, other than the page reloading if it was purged from RAM. But like. That happens in Safari on iOS on a brand new phone, too, so it’s not entirely an Android-specific complaint.
Honestly, all mobile browsers are UI train-wrecks of one kind or another. For me it was this exact process of elimination to decide which I like least, and then from there deciding which inflict the fewest paper cuts. For me, FF sync (settings mostly, but also tab sets) was more important than whatever memory problems Mozilla rebrands might have. :(
Cromite+Fennec
deleted by creator
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 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.
Usually the same. Except Brave I use Vivaldi.
Same except my alt is chromite
Chromite is on Android?
deleted by creator
Cromite 🤓
I’ve been running IronFox for a while and it’s been solid.
Firefox. They’re still great, people keep freaking out over extremely benign changes.
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?
Ironfox or Cromite
