Tor Project gets its first official mobile browser for Android, the privacy friendly Tor Browser

2 min read

The Tor Project released its first mobile browser on the Google Play Store, called the Tor Browser, last week. The browser is currently an Alpha release i.e. you can expect few bugs while using the browser. The stable version is expected to be released by early 2019. It comes packed with privacy-enhancing features such as block trackers, defense against surveillance, resist fingerprinting, browse freely, and multi-layered protection.

The Tor Browser for Android comes with the highest privacy protections available. The Alpha release of this browser can be downloaded on GooglePlay, or you can use the apk directly from their download page.

The Alpha release of this browser requires the installation of a proxy application named Orbot. Orbot is used for connecting the browser to the Tor network. This dependency on Orbot will be deprecated in the future stable release of the this Browser. Let’s now have a look at the features of this new Browser.

Block Trackers

Tor Browser prevents third-party trackers and ads from following you as it isolates each website that you visit. Also, all the cookies clear away on their own once you are done browsing.

Defend against Surveillance

This feature in the Tor Browser prevents others watching your connection from knowing what websites you visit. All that the people monitoring your browsing habits would see is that you’re using Tor.

Resist Fingerprinting

Tor Browser focuses on making all users look the same, and makes it difficult for you to be fingerprinted depending on your browser and device information.

Multi-layered Encryption

Using Tor Browser for Android, your traffic gets relayed and encrypted three times on passing over the Tor network. The network comprises thousands of volunteer-run servers called Tor relays.

Browse Freely

Tor Browser lets you access sites that your local internet service provider may have blocked.

Currently, there is no official Tor Browser for iOS devices, and there’s one known issue i.e. the Security Slider is under ‘Security Settings,’ but because of a small issue, it shows up only after you restart the app.

For more information, check out the official Tor Project Blog post.