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submitted 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) by Stomata@buddyverse.one to c/android@lemmy.world

LibreWolf is a great privacy oriented Browser for desktop. But there is no version for android or IOS . There are some like mull but they have their own problems. Mobile phones stay with us most of the day. So we need extra privacy for it.

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[-] Shape4985@lemmy.ml 88 points 6 days ago

Mull is a good choice for android at the moment

[-] Enkers@sh.itjust.works 25 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

Oh, cool. I hadn't heard of this one before. I use Fennec. I wonder what the main differences are. I noticed Mull mentions fennec in their F-droid page:

It [Mull] is compiled from source and proprietary blobs are removed using scripts by Relan from [https://gitlab.com/relan/fennecbuild here].

It seems like Mull is more privacy focused?

[-] seang96@spgrn.com 12 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

I just swapped to mull today. Fennec is only on fdroid or build it yourself. Fdroid updates take a week for official repo. Mull can get faster updates through DivestOS repo. Firefox just had a huge 0day and fennec is currently vulnerable.

[-] Enkers@sh.itjust.works 3 points 6 days ago

Ahh, cool! Good to know. I just checked that 0day, and they're both JS exploits (which I imagine most probably are), so NoScript will probably protect me unless some of my trusted domains get compromised. It's not ideal, but it's within my comfort tolerance.

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[-] blibla@slrpnk.net 42 points 5 days ago

android already has fennec and mull though

[-] chottomatte@lemdro.id 14 points 5 days ago

Surprisingly, I thought about the same thing a few days ago ... but we have mull browser

[-] circuscritic@lemmy.ca 22 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

This always gets downvoted, because it's a painful truth, but Chromium on Android is significantly more secure than Firefox.

There is a reason why the default included browser on GrapheneOS, Vanadium, is a Chromium fork.

So I'm sorry, until Firefox on Android catches up to Chromium, another Firefox fork isn't going to make the impact on the ecosystem that you think it is.

I'm not saying you can't or shouldn't use Firefox forks on Android, I'm saying do so being aware of their limitations relative to Chromium forks, such as Cromite, or Mulch, the latter being the same dev as Mull. That same dev also has a lengthy write-up going over the technical details of why Chromium is more secure than Firefox on Android.

This has nothing to do with desktop browser engines, this is specifically and exclusively in regards to Android browsers

Interesting. What security risks are you talking about exactly? Do you have a link?

I know Chromium is faster and more responsive on Android but I haven't read much about security differences yet. With Chromium being pre-installed and signed by the OS vendor, I always assumed the risk of exploiting the Chromium process was higher instead of lower.

I'm not sure what threat model you're protecting yourself from if the Android sandbox isn't good enough for either to be honest, but I suppose there's risk in hijacking the browser too.

[-] circuscritic@lemmy.ca 5 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

See the replies below regarding per-site process isolation.

it really sucks tho, because most chromium forks still force you to use a google account in order to sync, and thats if they don't strip google entirely. there's brave, but I haven't had the best of experiences with that browser.

I can still self host something like floccus to "sync" bookmarks, and use kde connect to send browser tabs from one device to another, but I still wish it was as convenient as firefox; which iirc, let's you self host their sync service

[-] saywhatisabigw@lemmy.world 2 points 5 days ago

It's because you are making extreme claims without any sources.

[-] circuscritic@lemmy.ca 6 points 5 days ago

Pretty sure I told you where you could find more information, as well as pointing out that the default browser on Graphene is a hardened Chromium browser, not Firefox Gecko.

But okay, here, I can even do that little bit of searching for you:

https://divestos.org/pages/browsers

[-] Akip@discuss.tchncs.de 6 points 5 days ago

what divestOS is actually saying:

While DivestOS includes a Gecko based browser for privacy reasons, Chromium based browsers have many security advantages. It is up to the user to choose their preference.

https://divestos.org/pages/browsers

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[-] fl42v@lemmy.ml 22 points 6 days ago

Soo, what "own problems" does mull have? I mean, pretty much fennec with some tor patches

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[-] RustyNova@lemmy.world 14 points 6 days ago

True. For now I got a combo of Firefox and Firefox focus. Set focus as default browser, and if you do need cookies, copy the link.

[-] uzay@infosec.pub 5 points 5 days ago

I recommend a combo of Mull and Mulch or Cromite instead. Configure one of them to delete cookies and history on exit. Use URLCheck as your default browser. Then you can see the actual link when you click on one, you can remove tracking parameters, and then choose which browser to open it in.

[-] Stomata@buddyverse.one 7 points 6 days ago

The problem is that they both have telemetry.

[-] bluelion@sh.itjust.works 17 points 6 days ago

Firefox Klar has telemetry disabled to comply with stricter German regulation

[-] shadeless@discuss.tchncs.de 6 points 6 days ago
[-] Enkers@sh.itjust.works 12 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

Just to mention, Fennec's F-droid page does list the following as an anti-feature:

This app tracks and reports your activity
Connects to various Mozilla services that can track users.

It does say that telemetry has been removed, but that it still connects to services (like Firefox Sync, for example) which could still potentially be used to track you.

That's not a dealbreaker for me personally, but if it bothers anyone else, it seems like Mull might be the more privacy conscious choice, at the cost of some convenience features.

[-] Andromxda@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 4 days ago

You can disable FF Sync from about:config

[-] Rikj000@discuss.tchncs.de 10 points 6 days ago

It's not LibreWolf, but how about IceRaven?
https://github.com/fork-maintainers/iceraven-browser

Has been my goto FireFox fork for Android for years.

[-] Stomata@buddyverse.one 3 points 5 days ago

It still has telemetry. Devs also mentioned it in the github repo

[-] lime@feddit.nu 9 points 5 days ago

ok but like... telemetry is not automatically bad. a vast majority of users never report bugs in software, and are trained to just click through popups. this means the bugs don't get fixed, and the crash reports don't get sent.

scrutinizing what actually gets sent from your browser is how you keep yourself safe, blocking all telemetry is how you get unpatched security holes.

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[-] mashbooq@lemmy.world 7 points 6 days ago
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this post was submitted on 10 Oct 2024
188 points (91.2% liked)

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