After eight months of testing, astable releasefor the Tor browser has arrived on thePlay Store. The new Android browser now brings Tor features directly into a standalone browser, replacing the Orbot/Orfox as the main way to connect to the Tor network via Android devices.
The stable version (v8.5) of Tor for Android routes your web traffic through the Tor network — a web of encrypted computers spread worldwide.
The traffic bounces between several nodes on the Tor network before arriving at its destination to maintain your anonymity and privacy. The browser can alsobypass geographic restrictionsto provide access to websites and content blocked in your region.
The Tor Project team has ensured there areno proxy bypassesand first-party isolation is enabled in the browser to protect users from cross-site tracking.
The official blog post says that even though there are feature gaps between the desktop and Android Tor Browser,“Tor Browser for Android provides essentially the same protections that can be found on desktop platforms.”
The team also notes that an officialTor Browser for iOS cannot happendue to restrictions by Apple. But the team recommends theOnion Browser(developed by Mike Tigas) if iOS users want to use Tor.
Tor Browser is built on Firefox browser, so it feels familiar and there’s tabbed browsing, private mode, etc.
Mozilla is also currently working on finding a way to integrate the Tor protocol into Firefox. This feature will be called theSuper Private Browsing Mode.
