First official version of Tor Browser for Android released on the Play Store
Today, the Tor Project released on the Google Play Store the first stable version of the Tor Browser for Android.
This new mobile browser integrates the Tor protocol stack into a standalone browser and replaces Orfox as the main way to navigate the Tor network from an Android device.
Tor Project developers have been working on this browser for eight months now, since September 2018, when they first released an alpha version for public testing.
"We made it a priority to reach the rising number of users who only browse the web with a mobile device," said Isabela Bagueros, Executive Director of the Tor Project. "These users often face heavy surveillance and censorship online, so it is critical for us to reach them."
"We made sure there are no proxy bypasses, that first-party isolation is enabled to protect you from cross-site tracking, and that most of the fingerprinting defenses are working," the Tor team added.
"While there are still feature gaps between the desktop and Android Tor Browser, we are confident that Tor Browser for Android provides essentially the same protections that can be found on desktop platforms."
The first version of the Tor Browser for Android has a version number of 8.5 and is in sync with the rest of the Tor Browser releases -- for Windows, Mac, and Linux. The Tor Browser v8.5 was also released today for the other platforms.
There is no official Tor Browser version for iOS, but the Tor Project recommends that iOS users install Mike Tigas' Onion Browser iOS app if they want to use Tor on iOS.
Mozilla is also currently funding a research grant for academics to find a way to integrate the Tor protocol into Firefox, where it plans to use it as a "Super Private Browsing Mode." Firefox is the browser on which the Tor Browser has been built on.
More browser coverage:
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- Google's Web Packaging standard arises as a new tool for privacy enthusiasts
- Google changes how the Escape key is handled in Chrome to fight popup ads
- Microsoft releases first Chromium-based Edge preview for MacOS
- Mozilla offers research grant for a way to embed Tor inside Firefox
- How to use the Tor browser on an Android device TechRepublic
- Brave's privacy-first browser ads arrive with promised payout for you CNET