cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/58870060

I’ve been using Samsung Internet for a very long time, knowing it isn’t the best one for privacy. However, the user experience with it is, for me, unmatched by any other browser, including Vivaldi, Brave, and any Firefox forks.

So here’s what I’m looking for in a browser:

  • preferably FOSS

  • some control on privacy setting, less trackers/fingerprinting, etc. Doesn’t have to be the most hardened.

  • decent dark mode for web pages (Dark Reader is OK)

  • bottom search bar

  • bottom tabs bar rather than tab switcher

  • a quit button I don’t have to tap and scroll 2 times to find. Ideally it’d be placed on the main bottom bar

  • the quit button must clear cache and close all tabs, so I think it should be native and not an extension, but maybe I’m wrong?

Is there any browser that can give me that?

I’d love using Fennec as my main - and God knows I’ve tried multiple times to - but missing some of those feature made it hard for me to leave Samsung Internet behind. ATM I’m using both browsers BTW.

Any suggestion is appreciated!

  • brax@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    3·
    10 hours ago

    Don’t think I’ve ever used the default Samsung browser… Not intentionally, at least. Firefox Mobile has been fine for me. It has basic plugin support, do you can run unlock origin with it, too.

    • char_stats@lemm.eeOPEnglish
      2·
      11 hours ago

      I’m OK with using Fennec, probably. I’ve used Mull before, which I think is where Ironfox comes from.

      What do you like about Ironfox that, you think, is not in other FF forks? And what’s Accrescent?

  • kia@lemmy.caEnglish
    321·
    2 days ago

    Firefox on Android is really nice and meets most of these. Also having full extension support is a huge plus.

    • Sifu@lemmy.worldEnglish
      444·
      1 day ago

      What are you even talking about, Firefox on android sucks. It is so outdated design wise and just terrible to use, and the download list doesnt show you download history for some reason. Firefox on other OS’s work great, I even use it as my daily driver but on android. Uff no way.

      Sure, the extensions are great, fantastic even. But its the only pro in a sea of cons.🤷

      • kia@lemmy.caEnglish
        232·
        1 day ago

        No idea what you’re talking about as I’ve had none of these issues. Also Firefox on iOS isn’t actually Firefox, it’s just another reskined webkit browser.

        • Sifu@lemmy.worldEnglish
          314·
          1 day ago

          I was never talking about the iOS variant. I meant the android version was bad. Sorry for the misunderstanding then.

          • kia@lemmy.caEnglish
            91·
            1 day ago

            I’m talking about the Android version. You mentioned Firefox on other OSs is great so I assumed you were talking about iOS, which is not actually Firefox.

            • Sifu@lemmy.worldEnglish
              11·
              1 day ago

              Sorry, not an iPhone user. I just meant the windows and Linux ones were better.

              • skepller@lemmy.worldEnglish
                2·
                12 hours ago

                I mean, no shit. Of course the fully fledged PC version is better than the mobile counterpart lol, I’d say that’s a given for any browser.

                • Sifu@lemmy.worldEnglish
                  1·
                  10 hours ago

                  In comparison, with other multiplatform alternatives its still bad in my opinion

        • Sifu@lemmy.worldEnglish
          14·
          1 day ago

          I just use brave and arcsearch. I’m not saying they are great alternative and completely devoid of issues but personally I’ll rather use them than Firefox in android(specifically the android version), I love ZEN browser its my daily driver on my PC but the android one, I just can’t.

            • Redjard@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
              1·
              8 hours ago

              Compare these:
              https://sh.itjust.works/post/34698028/17414247
              https://lemmy.world/comment/15793837

              The user is on lemmy.world, where the comment is gathered by all other instances. It is visible for me on dbzer because that pulls from lemmy.world where it still exists.
              I assume your instance admins deleted it locally for your instance only. Who knows why. I suggest you move to a different place that doesn’t randomly moderate external sublemmys for local users only.

                • Redjard@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
                  1·
                  5 hours ago

                  The modlog on your instance has a few entries with “reason: automod”.
                  These all aren’t present on the actual sub.
                  Another example here is

                  which still exists on lemmy.world.

                  This post has less than 30% vote ratio and more than 50 votes. There might be a cutoff under which shit.just.works simply removes content.
                  Which if true I gotta say kinda sucks. Maybe a remnant from the cp catastrophe?

                  You better get used to visiting the home instance of posts whenever you see a removed comment you wanna read. Most apps should have a “source link” option, usually with the fediverse symbol, which should open the post on the “ownership” instance, so the one authoritative over what the comment looks like. My app (summit) even offers that per commend conveniently.

      • Condiment2085@lemm.eeEnglish
        14·
        1 day ago

        I barely use Firefox because i typical use chrome but if all my shit was in Firefox it’s absolutely fine. I’d say there are certain parts of Firefox that is actually just better than chrome on Android

  • swelter_spark@reddthat.comEnglish
    3·
    23 hours ago

    I use Ironfox and Fulguris (for when something doesn’t work in IF). They’re both good. Ceno is also interesting for its p2p/ anti-censorship features, although it’s slow when not on wifi.

  • Log in | Sign up@lemmy.worldEnglish
    62·
    1 day ago

    I use duck duck go browser as my main and default browser, and I press the burn it all button regularly. It offers to exclude sites from the data purge if you log in, but for the three or so websites that I want to stay logged in to fill time, I just use Opera for them.

  • Clot@lemm.eeEnglish
    8·
    1 day ago

    I use fennec, it’s just firefox without current bs of firefox going on

  • darkkite@lemmy.mlBEnglish
    5·
    1 day ago

    regardless of your browser choice make url check your default link handler to unshort urls and remove query parameters

  • Stovetop@lemmy.worldEnglish
    3·
    1 day ago

    I had been using Samsung Browser for a while. With the latest push by Google to retire Manifest v2 in Chromium, and also not wanting to feel like I need to stick with Samsung for my next device (hopefully not for another long while), I switched to Firefox mobile.

    To be honest, I hated it. The interface is pretty clunky, it would keep just pulling up my keyboard at random times when browsing pages, it doesn’t seem to work reliably with Android’s native back button, and despite me having my preferences set to reopen my last used tab when launched, it keeps bringing me to the blank home/new tab page (blank because I disabled all of the Mozilla bloat).

    I like that it has extensions, though Bitwarden doesn’t seem to work well in Firefox mobile (I just use the Bitwarden app on my phone instead, which is ok).

    I missed having the separate bottom nav bar like Samsung Internet allows, but did learn that one exists in Firefox Nightly, so I switched to that version and have been doing my best to get used to it. It stinks a bit that Firefox is not nearly as customizable as Samsung internet, but at least with the nav bar, it’s familiar enough for my muscle memory to deal with for now.

    I guess everyone hates the nav bar though, the general consensus I’ve read online is that people want to keep everything hidden in the “More actions” menu, so if they end up removing the nav bar entirely I may look for something else.

    I was tempted to try Brave, even. But with all of the sketchy crypto shit, unfortunately right-wing leadership, and still using Chromium as its backend, that ended up being a hard no for me.

    • skuzz@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
      4·
      1 day ago

      Never seen any of those Firefox problems in 5 or so years on multiple Android phones including Samsung, and using the native back button/3-icon setup instead of gesture nav. Also using a light combination of privacy plugins. May want to check your phone OS settings and make sure there isn’t a third-party app running an unknown display overlay that is screwing with things.

    • subtex@lemmy.worldEnglish
      4·
      1 day ago

      To offer another take, FF has never been buggy for me. Never had this keyboard issue, or any of the stuff mentioned so your mileage may vary.

      As for the bottom nav, I have that on normal FF. If you go to Settings–>Customize, the option to pick top or bottom address bar is right there.

      • Stovetop@lemmy.worldEnglish
        3·
        1 day ago

        Not the address bar, but nav bar. I like to keep the address bar at the top, with the nav bar at the bottom.

        Standard Firefox:

        My setup in Samsung Internet:

        Firefox Nightly:

        • subtex@lemmy.worldEnglish
          2·
          17 hours ago

          So it’s just the forward/backwards buttons you want at the bottom?

          That’s so interesting. I can’t say I ever use the forward button when browsing and for backwards I just use the back gesture (same as any other app).

          But thanks for the screenshots. I didn’t even know people use that sort of setup.

          FF should offer it then, if that’s something people use/expect as a norm.

          • Stovetop@lemmy.worldEnglish
            1·
            12 hours ago

            For me it’s more about having the tab control and menu down at the bottom with the address bar at the top. Those are the features I interact with more, but I don’t like keeping the address bar at the bottom as well because it takes up the most space. I often use the native back button (when it works) but having back/forward readily available also helps with some reader views.

      • fadedmaster@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        2·
        1 day ago

        I had a Fold4 and now have an s25 Ultra and had none of those issues with Firefox either. Works just fine for me and I even have some extensions I’ve put on that aren’t technically supposed to work in the mobile browser so I was fully expecting some jank. But still works fine.

    • char_stats@lemm.eeOPEnglish
      2·
      1 day ago

      I didn’t know FF Nightly had a bottom nav bar, and I just tried it a couple months ago. I guess it’s new?

      I understand some may not like it, but I hope they keep it as an option at least!

  • PeterisBacon@lemm.eeEnglish
    2·
    1 day ago

    Samsung Internet is my favorite, but I am also a lil weirdo. Firefox is my second favorite to merge between devices, as well as connecting with the Pocket app to save things for later.

  • Whooping_Seal@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    1·
    1 day ago

    I’m going to suggest an alternative to Samsung Internet or Firefox : https://github.com/uazo/cromite

    Out of the options I’ve tried, it’s probably the best bet for reducing tracking, fingerprinting & increasing security without turning to Tor browser (which while it is more anonymous, is frustrating for general browsing)

    For clearing cache, there are two options. There’s a dedicated clear browsing data button in the hamburger menu, it can also be configured to “sanitize on close” (similar to Firefox on desktop, or Brave on desktop / mobile) [In cromite, this can be found under Security > Clear the data at open]

    I can’t recommend Firefox on Android in good faith, until site isolation (fission) is enabled on the platform. This is a major security regression compared to desktop Firefox, or chromium based browsers on Android

    Edit: It seems like Iron Fox (continuation of Mull / fork of Firefox) has site isolation enabled - but it is still buggy and does not have all features enabled e.g no isolated process SELinux labels.

    • Sifu@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      1 day ago

      I actually needed a help with it. For some reason redirection doesnt work on chromite now. I tried out all the settings nothing really worked. Do you know why it is.

    • char_stats@lemm.eeOPEnglish
      1·
      1 day ago

      Oh I think I’ve tried that extension some time ago, but it didn’t work very well. I’ll give it another try, thanks

  • dontblink@feddit.itEnglish
    1·
    1 day ago

    Probably an unpopular opinion but if you want absolute minimalism without ads use Violoncello text browser!