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Privacy Respecting Web Browsers for Android and iOS - Privacy Guides |
Mobile Browsers |
material/cellphone-information |
These browsers are what we currently recommend for standard/non-anonymous internet browsing on your phone. |
mobile-browsers.webp |
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Protects against the following threat(s):
- :material-account-cash: Surveillance Capitalism{ .pg-brown }
These are our currently recommended mobile web browsers and configurations for standard/non-anonymous internet browsing. If you need to browse the internet anonymously, you should use Tor instead.
{ align=right }
Brave Browser includes a built-in content blocker and privacy features, many of which are enabled by default.
Brave is built upon the Chromium web browser project, so it should feel familiar and have minimal website compatibility issues.
:octicons-home-16: Homepage{ .md-button .md-button--primary } :simple-torbrowser:{ .card-link title="Onion Service" } :octicons-eye-16:{ .card-link title="Privacy Policy" } :octicons-info-16:{ .card-link title="Documentation" } :octicons-code-16:{ .card-link title="Source Code" }
Tor Browser is the only way to truly browse the internet anonymously. When you use Brave, we recommend changing the following settings to protect your privacy from certain parties, but all browsers other than the Tor Browser will be traceable by somebody in some regard or another.
=== "Android"
These options can be found in :material-menu: → **Settings** → **Brave Shields & privacy**.
=== "iOS"
These options can be found in :fontawesome-solid-ellipsis: → **Settings** → **Shields & Privacy**.
Brave includes some anti-fingerprinting measures in its Shields feature. We suggest configuring these options globally across all pages that you visit.
Shields' options can be downgraded on a per-site basis as needed, but by default we recommend setting the following:
=== "Android"
<div class="annotate" markdown>
- [x] Select **Aggressive** under *Block trackers & ads*
- [x] Select **Auto-redirect AMP pages**
- [x] Select **Auto-redirect tracking URLs**
- [x] Select **Require all connections to use HTTPS (strict)** under *Upgrade connections to HTTPS*
- [x] (Optional) Select **Block Scripts** (1)
- [x] Select **Block third-party cookies** under *Block Cookies*
- [x] Select **Block Fingerprinting**
- [x] Select **Prevent fingerprinting via language settings**
<details class="warning" markdown>
<summary>Use default filter lists</summary>
Brave allows you to select additional content filters within the **Content Filtering** menu or the internal `brave://adblock` page. We advise against using this feature; instead, keep the default filter lists. Using extra lists will make you stand out from other Brave users and may also increase attack surface if there is an exploit in Brave and a malicious rule is added to one of the lists you use.
</details>
- [x] Select **Forget me when I close this site**
</div>
1. This option disables JavaScript, which will break a lot of sites. To unbreak them, you can set exceptions on a per-site basis by tapping on the Shield icon in the address bar and unchecking this setting under *Advanced controls*.
=== "iOS"
<div class="annotate" markdown>
- [x] Select **Aggressive** under *Trackers & Ads Blocking*
- [x] Select **Strict** under *Upgrade Connections to HTTPS*
- [x] Select **Auto-Redirect AMP pages**
- [x] Select **Auto-Redirect Tracking URLs**
- [x] (Optional) Select **Block Scripts** (1)
- [x] Select **Block Fingerprinting**
<details class="warning" markdown>
<summary>Use default filter lists</summary>
Brave allows you to select additional content filters within the **Content Filtering** menu. We advise against using this feature; instead, keep the default filter lists. Using extra lists will make you stand out from other Brave users and may also increase attack surface if there is an exploit in Brave and a malicious rule is added to one of the lists you use.
</details>
</div>
1. This option disables JavaScript, which will break a lot of sites. To unbreak them, you can set exceptions on a per-site basis by tapping on the Shield icon in the address bar and unchecking this setting under *Advanced controls*.
- Select Clear data on exit
- Uncheck all social media components
=== "Android"
<div class="annotate" markdown>
- [x] Select **Disable non-proxied UDP** under [*WebRTC IP handling policy*](https://support.brave.com/hc/articles/360017989132-How-do-I-change-my-Privacy-Settings#webrtc)
- [x] (Optional) Select **No protection** under *Safe Browsing* (1)
- [ ] Uncheck **Allow sites to check if you have payment methods saved**
- [x] Select **Close tabs on exit**
- [ ] Uncheck **Allow privacy-preserving product analytics (P3A)**
- [ ] Uncheck **Automatically send diagnostic reports**
- [ ] Uncheck **Automatically send daily usage ping to Brave**
</div>
1. Brave's [implementation of Safe Browsing](https://support.brave.com/hc/en-us/articles/15222663599629-Safe-Browsing-in-Brave) on Android **does not** proxy [Safe Browsing network requests](https://developers.google.com/safe-browsing/v4/update-api#checking-urls) like its desktop counterpart. This means that your IP address may be seen (and logged) by Google. Note that Safe Browsing is not available for Android devices without Google Play Services.
=== "iOS"
- [ ] Uncheck **Allow Privacy-Preserving Product Analytics (P3A)**
- [ ] Uncheck **Automatically send daily usage ping to Brave**
These options can be found in :material-menu: → Settings → Leo.
- Uncheck Show autocomplete suggestions in address bar (1)
- This option is not present in Brave's iOS app.
These options can be found in :material-menu:/:fontawesome-solid-ellipsis: → Settings → Search engines.
- Uncheck Show search suggestions
Brave Sync allows your browsing data (history, bookmarks, etc.) to be accessible on all your devices without requiring an account and protects it with E2EE.
{ align=right }
Cromite is a Chromium-based browser with built-in ad blocking, fingerprinting protections, and other privacy and security enhancements. It is a fork of the discontinued Bromite browser.
:octicons-home-16: Homepage{ .md-button .md-button--primary } :octicons-eye-16:{ .card-link title="Privacy Policy" } :octicons-info-16:{ .card-link title="Documentation" } :octicons-code-16:{ .card-link title="Source Code" }
These options can be found in :material-menu: → ⚙️ Settings → Privacy and security.
- Select Close all open tabs on exit
- Select Open external links in incognito
- Select Always use secure connections
This prevents you from unintentionally connecting to a website in plain-text HTTP. HTTP is extremely uncommon nowadays, so this should have little to no impact on your day-to-day browsing.
These options can be found in :material-menu: → ⚙️ Settings → Adblock Plus settings.
Cromite contains a customized version of Adblock Plus with EasyList enabled by default, as well as options to select more filter lists within the FIlter lists menu.
Using extra lists will make you stand out from other Cromite users and may also increase attack surface if a malicious rule is added to one of the lists you use.
- (Optional) Select Enable anti-circumvention and snippets
This setting adds an additional Adblock Plus list that may increase the effectiveness of Cromite's content blocking. The warnings about standing out and potentially increasing attack surface apply.
These options can be found in :material-menu: → ⚙️ Settings → Legacy Adblock settings.
- Uncheck the autoupdate setting
This disables update checks for the unmaintained Bromite adblock filter.
On iOS, any app that can browse the web is restricted to using an Apple-provided WebKit framework, so a browser like Brave does not use the Chromium engine like its counterparts on other operating systems.
{ align=right }
Safari is the default browser in iOS. It includes privacy features such as Intelligent Tracking Prevention, isolated and ephemeral Private Browsing tabs, fingerprinting protection (by presenting a simplified version of the system configuration to websites so more devices look identical), and fingerprint randomization, as well as Private Relay for those with a paid iCloud+ subscription.
:octicons-home-16: Homepage{ .md-button .md-button--primary } :octicons-eye-16:{ .card-link title="Privacy Policy" } :octicons-info-16:{ .card-link title="Documentation" }
We would suggest installing AdGuard if you want a content blocker in Safari.
The following privacy/security-related options can be found in ⚙️ Settings → Apps → Safari.
Under Siri:
- Disable Learn from this App
- Disable Show in App
- Disable Show on Home Screen
- Disable Suggest App
This prevents Siri from using content from Safari for Siri suggestions.
- Disable Search Engine Suggestions
This setting sends whatever you type in the address bar to the search engine set in Safari. Disabling search suggestions allows you to more precisely control what data you send to your search engine provider.
Safari allows you to separate your browsing with different profiles. All of your cookies, history, and website data are separate for each profile. You should use different profiles for different purposes e.g. Shopping, Work, or School.
- Enable Prevent Cross-Site Tracking
This enables WebKit's Intelligent Tracking Protection. The feature helps protect against unwanted tracking by using on-device machine learning to stop trackers. ITP protects against many common threats, but does not block all tracking avenues because it is designed to not interfere with website usability.
- Enable Require Face ID/Touch ID to Unlock Private Browsing
This setting allows you to lock your private tabs behind biometrics/PIN when not in use.
- Disable Fraudulent Website Warning
This setting uses Google Safe Browsing (or Tencent Safe Browsing for users in mainland China or Hong Kong) to protect you while you browse. As such, your IP address may be logged by your Safe Browsing provider. Disabling this setting will disable this logging, but you might be more vulnerable to known phishing sites.
- Enable Not Secure Connection Warning
This setting shows a warning screen if your connection to a website isn't using HTTPS. Safari will automatically try to upgrade the site to HTTPS, so you should only see this when there is no HTTPS connection available.
- Disable Highlights
Apple's privacy policy for Safari states:
When visiting a webpage, Safari may send information calculated from the webpage address to Apple over OHTTP to determine if relevant highlights are available.
Under Camera
- Select Ask
Under Microphone
- Select Ask
Under Location
- Select Ask
These settings ensure that websites can only access your camera, microphone, or location after you explicitly grant them access.
These options can be found in ⚙️ Settings → Apps → Safari → Advanced.
The Advanced Tracking and Fingerprinting Protection setting will randomize certain values so that it's more difficult to fingerprint you:
- Select All Browsing or Private Browsing
- Disable Privacy Preserving Ad Measurement
Ad click measurement has traditionally used tracking technology that infringes on user privacy. Private Click Measurement is a WebKit feature and proposed web standard aimed towards allowing advertisers to measure the effectiveness of web campaigns without compromising on user privacy.
The feature has little privacy concerns on its own, so while you can choose to leave it on, we consider the fact that it's automatically disabled in Private Browsing to be an indicator for disabling the feature.
Open Safari and tap the Tabs button, located in the bottom right. Then, expand the :material-format-list-bulleted: Tab Groups list.
- Select Private
Safari's Private Browsing mode offers additional privacy protections. Private Browsing uses a new ephemeral session for each tab, meaning tabs are isolated from one another. There are also other smaller privacy benefits with Private Browsing, such as not sending a webpage’s address to Apple when using Safari's translation feature.
Do note that Private Browsing does not save cookies and website data, so it won't be possible to remain signed in to sites. This may be an inconvenience.
Synchronization of Safari History, Tab Groups, iCloud Tabs and saved passwords are E2EE. However, by default, bookmarks are not. Apple can decrypt and access them in accordance with their privacy policy.
You can enable E2EE for your Safari bookmarks and downloads by enabling Advanced Data Protection. Go to ⚙️ Settings → iCloud → Advanced Data Protection.
- Turn on Advanced Data Protection
If you use iCloud with Advanced Data Protection disabled, we also recommend setting Safari's default download location to a local folder on your device. This option can be found in ⚙️ Settings → Apps → Safari → General → Downloads.
Please note we are not affiliated with any of the projects we recommend. In addition to our standard criteria, we have developed a clear set of requirements to allow us to provide objective recommendations. We suggest you familiarize yourself with this list before choosing to use a project, and conduct your own research to ensure it's the right choice for you.
- Must support automatic updates.
- Must receive engine updates from upstream releases quickly.
- Must support content blocking.
- Any changes required to make the browser more privacy-respecting should not negatively impact user experience.