The mobile universe has taught us that there is an app for everything, but sometimes we need to browse the traditional way. The problem is that “standard” browsers on Android allow tracking of our activity, or at least a good part of it. The alternative is to install a browser with a more private profile, blocking trackers and enabling tools to easily delete our history. Today we’ll look at three options.
Firefox Focus
This variant of Mozilla’s browser aims for a simple and minimalist experience. In fact, it doesn’t even support tabs, a testament to its main goal. The idea is that the user uses Firefox Focus for those “in and out” moments that should remain separate from the default browser.
In addition to blocking trackers and other background elements, Firefox Focus also includes a dedicated button to quickly delete history and close the open site. This simple and direct profile in Firefox Focus means that there aren’t many advanced options, and some more demanding users might not feel comfortable with that.
DuckDuckGo Privacy Browser
Recently we talked about the DuckDuckGo’s App Tracking Protection project to limit tracking on Android devices, which just entered a public beta phase. But to use it, you need to install the DuckDuckGo browser, which extends the blocking to web pages and emails. The features of DuckDuckGo Privacy Browser are a bit more polished (compared to Firefox Focus), and we can open multiple tabs without issues.
The Fire Button in DuckDuckGo Privacy Browser does exactly what we imagine: closes all tabs and clears the complete browsing history. Finally, App Tracking Protection places a permanent notification at the top, which helps us visualize the number of blocks. Depending on the installed apps, they can be thousands per day.
Kiwi Browser
Kiwi Browser is not necessarily a private browser, but its profile is closer to Chromium than to Chrome, and that gives us some advantages. The most important one is the possibility of installing conventional extensions on a mobile browser. Obviously, not all will work (since they are designed for desktop browsers or carry other dependencies), but that flexibility should not be taken lightly.
The good news is that Kiwi Browser is receiving updates more frequently than before. The bad news is that it still retains some not-so-good habits, such as its extreme behavior in saving memory, constantly reloading tabs or presenting reduced versions. Anyway, it’s a solid option to escape traditional Chrome.
