Privacy Browser Android

Thanks for posting in the forum. Generally I would recommend creating a separate forum thread for each topic, and putting them all together makes it hard to reference in the future.

Buenav Zero wrote:

Hi,

I have been using Privacy Browser for some time and I want to share miscellaneous thoughts and suggestions.

First, suggestions of bookmarks in the address bar would be much much appreciated.

I am not sure I understand what you are describing here. Perhaps you could post more information in a separate thread.

A global history of visited webpages would be appreciated and suggestions for them too.

As described at https://www.stoutner.com/privacy-browser-android/core-privacy-principles/, for security and privacy reasons, Privacy Browser will never store a list of websites you have visited.

It would be good if we could delete simply a bookmark via long-pressing in the list.

Currently long-pressing on a bookmark opens it in a new tab, which is an important feature that some people would be very sad if it was changed. For reference, see #912, #926, #932.

Then I have some complaints but no real complaints because it's a free piece of software and that's very cool.

What I don't get is why I lose control over tabs when I open a link in a new tab and it fails to open the site. That's mean. I have to wait or stop the loading to change tabs.

I'm not sure I understand what you are describing here. Perhaps you could create a new thread with more information.

Now I'm looking for reasons why I don't use it more often over Mull though it's better at privacy.

Let's be honest the first reason is that real privacy breaks sites nowadays so I end up using Mull out of weariness.

But otherwise credentials management would be good. I don't think PB manages passwords, or does it ?

Privacy Browser does not have an integrated password manager for privacy and security reasons. However, you can use the Android OS autofill functionality if you like. See https://www.stoutner.com/privacy-browser-2-11/ and https://www.androidcentral.com/how-use-autofill-android-oreo.

Parameters and navigation options being scattered in two menus at the top is not very convenient.

There isn't enough screen real estate to put them all on one side. However, if you have a specific suggestion about how to better organize them I would recommend you open a feature request or a separate forum thread to discuss it.

Finally I would like an option to keep the app open when I close the last tab. It's a real annoyance as it makes me keep the first tab empty all the time.

I think one of the best features of Privacy Browser is that Clear and Exit is automatically run when the last tab is closed. Beyond that, there was briefly a version (3.0) where the app didn't close when the last tab closed. This ended up being a fairly frustrating and unintuitive workflow, and it was changed in 3.0.1. You can read more about it at https://www.stoutner.com/privacy-browser-design-guidelines/ and #421.

But PB is better at exporting pages to PDF than Mull, that's a good point as one can hardly save pages in any format with Mull. And Mull is not fully FOSS though available on F-Droid too. I had strange behaviour with it accessing my camera recently.
And the global zoom option is great in PB.

Hoping you can get something out it

Cheers

First, suggestions of bookmarks in the address bar would be much much appreciated.

I think the author meant bookmarks icon in the address bar, just like JS.
@Buenav Zero, you actually don't need one. Just slide the right edge of your screen (outside gesture obstructions).

Let's be honest the first reason is that real privacy breaks sites nowadays so I end up using Mull out of weariness.

If you mean JavaScript, that's how the technology is designed. It's a double edged sword, where the site owners can optimize the page, as well as fingerprint you instead of using local cookies.

Parameters and navigation options being scattered in two menus at the top is not very convenient.

This is a good design choice I believe. All the temporary page management features are in menu. And all the permanent/navigation/configuration related functions are in hamburger drawer.

Now I'm looking for reasons why I don't use it more often over Mull though it's better at privacy.

Firefox & it's other android forks are good chrome alternatives. But I personally don't like them, as they lack native android optimisations.
Also, gecko is completely different than blink.