this post was submitted on 03 Mar 2025
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Privacy

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On Linux and Android. What are privacy oriented alternatives to Firefox now that it's no longer trustworthy?

The ability to sync between devices would be a huge bonus, even just on a local network.

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (2 children)

LibreWolf finally has an account at mastodon @[email protected]

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago

I made the switch, its worth noting that there is some differences, like not keeping cookies by default, and you're not able to set it dark mode etc. These can be fixed up through extensions or config changes.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago

Cromite, it's basically Vanadium for non GrapheneOS devices

[–] [email protected] 24 points 2 days ago

I just installed Librewolf today, using it now. Being a fork of FF it makes a very smooth transition.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

https://digdeeper.club/articles/browsers.xhtml has a somewhat comprehensive analysis of a dozen of the browsers you might consider, illuminating depressing (and sometimes surprising) privacy problems with literally all of them.

In the end it absurdly recommends something which forked from Firefox a very long time ago, which is obviously not a reasonable choice from a security standpoint. I don't have a good recommendation, but I definitely don't agree with that article's conclusion: privacy features are pointless if your browser is trivially vulnerable to exploits for a plethora of old bugs, which will inevitably be the case for a volunteer-run project that diverged from Firefox a long time ago and thus cannot benefit from Mozilla's security fixes in each new release.

However, despite its ridiculous conclusion, that page's analysis could still be helpful when you're deciding which of the terrible options to pick.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago

While it was an interesting read, the article is quite outdated and the author is overly negative of literally everything, not just privacy. If a browser has a glowy button, it's horrible because it's too fancy... I feel for the guy...

[–] [email protected] 13 points 2 days ago (3 children)

If you want to keep the Gecko Engine from Mozilla to support an alternative to Google's monopoly here are a couple alternative for Linux :

  • Librewolf
  • Mullvad Browser
  • Zen Browser

For Android you have to be aware that unfortunately every firefox based browser lack of per-site isolation unlike chromium browsers.

  • IronFox (active fork of Mull by DivestOS)
  • Fennec

On the dark side of the spectrum you have chromium browser such as :

  • Brave (Linux & Android) (disable cryptocrap, sponsor backgrounds and it's quite good)
  • Cromite (Android)
[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Vivaldi is much better than brave, no ai or crypto shit and the CEO isn't alt right

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago

Yes Vivaldi doesn't come with crypto bullshit nor AI. However by default it's so badly tuned for user privacy... and sprobably even security. Honestly I would prefer having a Vivaldi AI Agent over a proprietary web browser (I know it's mainly open but it's not) It was not that well optimized on several of my devices when I tried it... I'm not conviced by their chromium proprietary fork even tho it's not the worst alternative either.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 days ago

I use ungoogled-chromium & thorium are worth a mention.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 days ago (2 children)

For Android you have to be aware that unfortunately every firefox based browser lack of per-site isolation unlike chromium browsers.

Wait really? Its 2025, seriously, what is Mozilla doing?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 days ago

Collecting paychecks for being controlled opposition?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 days ago

Yes, I learned that thanks to DivestOS which was comming with Mull, they had a comparison table and yes no FF based browser support that basic security feature yet...

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 days ago (2 children)

I've been using LibraWolf on desktop for several years now. It's just far simpler than modifying standard Firefox. for my personal needs.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 days ago

LibreWolf is great ! Coming from ArkenFox, I found LibreWolf's override cfg a bit easier.

They also have a pacdiff cfg to see what changes from version to version without the need to roam arkenfoxes github repo for hours to find what changed or what to change.

I installed it yesterday to see how it goes :) If it doesn't fit, will go back to Arkenfox.

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 2 days ago (5 children)

I use a similar set up. Librewolf on Linux and IronFox on Android. You could still use a Firefox account to sync, but I wouldn’t. I’ve heard there’s a way to host an older version of Firefox sync locally, but I haven’t looked into it.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 days ago

Second the Ironfox recommendation.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Not OP, but I've never heard of IronFox. Is it a comparable replacement for Mull? Gods I'm still a bit salty over how sudden that was...

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 days ago

It's a fork of Mull, in fact!

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Yes IronFox is a fork of Mull, and though it does have a couple of differences in opinion on the balance of privacy and usability, it's very similar. I've been using it since shortly after we lost Mull.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago

Is this the GitHub repo for it?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 days ago

This + xBrowserSync for bookmarks.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 days ago

Ironfox on Android, easily is the best.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 days ago (2 children)

So I haven't been following the Firefox thing that closely. Fennec isn't an alternative because it uses Firefox's Sync and Brave is out of the question because it's crypto Chrome?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Fennec is a poor alternative because it connects to Firefox services. Sync is optional, but some internal components will talk to Mozilla, and Mozilla changed their mind about "never selling your data" recently.

Brave is Chrome with a history of suspicious moves, toxic leadership, involvement with crypto and AI

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I remembered using Vivaldi a while back, I think I'll look into it again.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 23 hours ago

Still buggy

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 days ago (3 children)

librewolf, mullvad, zen browser? all fork of firefox

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Floorp and librewolf, among others.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 days ago (3 children)

Depends on your specific case, but IMO in order of preference for deskop, Tor Browser as much as possible, followed by Mullvad Browser as much as you can, for scenarios where you cannot use Tor Browser, followed by LibreWolf for the few sites that require persistent logins (you'll need to enable setting cookies for those specific sites). There's also other Firefox forks like GNU IceCat (unofficial binary for it), Floorp and Zen Browser.

For a less complicated alternative, just swap out Firefox with LibreWolf. Just make sure to read the ENTIRE docs to save yourself from any nasty surprises. Especially about RFP (Resist Fingerprinting), WebGL, Canvas, etc.

On Andriod, again, there's Tor Browser, IronFox, Fennec F-Driod. Additionally if you want a browser based on a different engine, there's Cromite, which is based off of Chromium, but it's probably better to stay with a less commonly used engine like Firefox rather than keep using the mainstream monopoly of Google.

As an aside, this video helped me understand some stuff better and it seems to be less of Mozilla being untrustworthy and more about them being total losers in communication. I recommend checking it out.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I don't have the 512 gb of ram needed to open more than two browsers at the same time, high roller.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Oh also, Ladybird Browser, is being developed. It is not based off of Mozilla Firefox or Google Chromium or Safari. They're building their own browser independently without getting any code from other browsers. The Alpha release is planned to come out on 2026.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Impossible to take them seriously if they have already started off on the wrong foot using exclusively megacorpo proprietary platforms for coms. If your developer / testers privacy doesn’t matter since they opted for Microsoft GitHub & Discord, what would lead you to believe their project would take privacy seriously?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago

Ah that does makes sense. I didn't think about that. I still do hope it'll go well though, simply because more options will be available.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago
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[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 days ago
[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 days ago (2 children)

LibreWolf is what I use, but I heard Zen Browser is another fork that's been getting some traction. I don't use it though, but I've heard from someone who does that it works for them. thumbs-up

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Zen looks good, but being more unique couldn't it get fingerprinted more easily?

Also their community is on Discord, which to me is a red flag quite frankly. I realize it's separate from the browser, but still. Discord no good.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago

these days if i find any project exclusively active on socials like discord and twitter, and github forge, i quit using it. i mean i wont be registering an account there just for community support.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago

Yeah I don't personally like how unlike LibreWolf it doesn't use ResistFingerprinting.

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