Author: Soren Stoutner

Several years ago I was approached by the the developer of the a custom ROM for the Sony Xperia Z1c about creating a ROM integration file to make it easier to integrate Privacy Browser as the default browser on custom ROMs. I was happy to oblige, and have maintained the Privacy Browser ROM Integration repository… Continue reading Discontinuing Privacy Browser ROM Integration

Privacy Browser 3.7 has been released. It includes a major refactor of how Privacy Browser interacts with the Android file system. Beginning with Android 11 (API 30), Android is enforcing new storage restrictions called scoped storage. Under scoped storage, the Storage Access Framework allows apps to access files without requiring the READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE and WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permissions.… Continue reading Privacy Browser 3.7

I recently read an article talking about the supply chain vulnerability of accessing Git using the git:// protocol instead of https://. Because the Git protocol is not encrypted, it would be possible for a well-positioned attacker to perform a Man In The Middle (MITM) attack when a client like F-Droid is cloning the repository. This… Continue reading New Git URLs

One of the best parts of working on Privacy Browser is interacting with the community. I have fascinating conversations with people from all over the world. When I first started working on Privacy Browser I wanted to reach out to as many people as possible through as many means as possible. However, as the project… Continue reading Removing Some Comments

Some people might be interested to know what the requirements are to be included as a search engine in Privacy Browser. The search engine must work with JavaScript and cookies disabled. The search engine must produce usable results. If a search engine has one URL that works with JavaScript disabled and a second URL that… Continue reading Requirements for a Search Engine to Be Included

The referer header is an optional header that informs the website you are visiting of the URL of the previous website (assuming you clicked a link to get to the current site instead of typing the URL into the address bar). It has no good reason to exist, but those who want to track you… Continue reading The Referer Header

A user recently pointed out to me that there is a bug in WebView’s handling of nested scrolling which causes the long-press menu to appear when the user’s finger is on a link, the app bar is being scrolled on or off the screen, and the scroll moves at a slow pace. This is caused… Continue reading Bug in WebView’s Handling of Nested Scrolling