Various sources that you visit online might be raring to collect your data and track your every move online. Not using the right browser can potentially cause problems in the future, because well, personal data is something that should be kept personal, unless obviously, you purposely want to share it for legit reasons. You’re about to discover the best privacy-focused browsers for iOS and Android that’ll protect your privacy and help you be safer online. Check out this post for a desktop browser. Before I go on to list those, let me tell you why you need to use them.
No targeted results
Most of the well-known browsers have cookies enabled on your consent, which means whatever you search on the web is based upon your interest and past searches. You wouldn’t get unbiased results from it. On the other hand, the browsers on this list will only show fresh results every time, because it doesn’t have cookies enabled by default.
No browsing history
The browsers on this list don’t store your browsing history, which means you won’t get personalized results from it. You can browse the internet from scratch every time. On a lighter note, this is also beneficial when you’re buying gifts for someone in your house, and you don’t want them to know about it. No browsing history means no trace of it. And as a result, the surprise isn’t spoiled.
You get to keep your personal information private
There is a lot of money to be made by businesses by collecting your data, and most of the browsers these days have made it a norm to do so. There is very little privacy left, but thankfully not with the browsers mentioned in this list. These browsers put special attention to privacy, which is why they do not collect any of your personal information. Let’s check out the following browsers.
Avast Secure Browser
Made for both IOS and Android, Avast Secure Browser is a very popular browser that’s fast, private, and fully encrypted. When I say “fully encrypted”, I truly mean it because it includes your bookmarks, IP address, downloads, DNS queries, and everything else in the mix. A very interesting feature of this browser is the ability to pin-lock or fingerprint-lock your browsing history to protect your device against eavesdroppers, which you won’t find on all browsers. Besides that, you can utilize free unlimited VPN, hide selective or all ads, block trackers, mask your identity and overall keep your data very personal and away from hackers.
Onion Browser
Available for iOS, Onion Browser lets you browse through the web anonymously with the help of Tor. No matter if you’re a business trying to keep your strategies in secrecy or just an individual looking for a safe surfing experience, this browser is great for that. In a nutshell, Onion Browser can help you:
Be anonymous online Protect your privacy from various website trackers Be safe from insecure networks and ISPs Auto-switch to HTTPS when available Access handpicked websites by Onion
And with over 25 different languages support, Onion completely is a surprise for being free. There is no cost to using this browser.
Aloha Browser
Do you fancy protection with speed? If yes, then Aloha Browser is a perfect match for you. It has a built-in free and unlimited VPN that compresses traffic and blocks trackers. This browser allows you to surf the internet at 2x faster speed as compared to the other ones out there, all thanks to their optimized rendering engine. Also, here are some other features:
Blocks spammy ads Built-in media player with VR support Store downloaded files in their manager Easy interface, made for everyone
It is free to start with, but you can unlock premium features by picking one of their paid plans, starting at just $2.99/month.
Brave
Another browser that is very apt for its name, Brave, has been praised by companies like The Verge, Cnet, and Wired. It puts you in total control of your personal information by:
Blocking trackers Blocking unnecessary ads Enabling anonymous browsing via Tor
Believe it or not, all of this adds up the speed of your browser, which is much more than Chrome and Safari. Another interesting feature worth mentioning is the ability to earn rewards by watching their privacy-respected ads. You can then spend those points on supporting your favorite web creators and even gift cards in the future.
Firefox
A veteran in this list, Firefox has constantly been providing a great experience for quite a lot of time now. This browser can block over 2000 trackers, including companies that keep retargeting you everywhere. Their default private browsing mode will delete your history and cookies automatically after you’ve closed the windows. Besides, you can also:
Sync passwords, tabs, history and bookmarks across devices Stop Facebook tracking Block annoying ads
There’s a lot more to it, and you can experience them all for free.
Tor Browser
Available for Android, Tor Browser provides one of the strongest privacy-focused experiences in the world. There are very fewer browsers that can come close to this one in terms of freedom and privacy. It can do a bunch of tasks, such as:
Blocks trackers Clear cookies automatically Prevents surveillance over your browsing behavior Comes with multi-layered encryption Browse even blocked websites in your region
Tor Browser is completely free and open-source, which means you can start protecting your privacy immediately.
DuckDuckGo
DuckDuckGo is another well-known browser that puts special emphasis on privacy, and it’s also free and open source. It has all the features that a privacy-focused browser provides, such as:
Auto-switch to HTTPS whenever available Search anonymously with no history Block advertising and other trackers for a fresh browsing experience
The most interesting and unique feature of this browser is, it shows a privacy rating for whichever website you visit. This helps in identifying if the website is secure or if it’s trying to fetch your personal information. You can download DuckDuckGo for Android.
Private Browsing Browser
As straightforward as the name, Private Browsing Web Browser allows you to view websites privately and in full-screen mode. It provides maximum privacy by clearing history, cache, and cookies, which is why over 8 million users use this. Whenever you exit the browser, all your usage history will be cleared, and you can start afresh next time you open it. The UI and backend engine is very identical to the Safari browser and, surprisingly, the speed too. This browser is completely free to download and is available for iPhone, iPad, and iPod.
Snap Search
Snap Search promises a ‘Super Incognito Mode’ where everything you browse is automatically deleted – cookies, history, everything. What makes Snap Search a truly unique private browser for Android is that it asks for zero permissions, ensuring privacy.
It helps that there’s a VPN service built into it as well. The following are some of its more features.
The largest collection of search engines (55+) Really compact size (~6mb) Cool features like Reader Mode and force Dark Mode for websites Better Blocking for Analytics, Ads, and Trackers
You can get on Android from here.
Conclusion
These browsers might not have the functionalities as good as Google Chrome or Safari, but it allows you to be in full control of your data and protect your privacy, which is much more important. On top of using a private-focused browser, you should also consider using a password manager for better online security.
