Articles about Browser

The latest update to Chrome has rolled out, and Google has done a lot to improve and evolve the browser. The company says that there are massive improvements to page load times as well as improvements to resource usage by open tabs thanks to Tab Throttling.

But this is not the only change to come to tabs. Google has also made tabs touch-friendly, added tab previews, and introduced a new option to collapse grouped tabs to save space. This last option is currently in beta, however, and you'll have to enable hidden setting to enable it.

Continue reading →

One week after launching Vivaldi 3.2 for desktop, Vivaldi Technologies has released Vivaldi 3.2 for Android and Chromebooks.

The new Android build adds several improvements to its built-in tracker and ad-blocking tools, plus makes even more use of the bottom of the user interface. It follows on from last week’s desktop release, which improved the browser’s pop-out video feature with the addition of a mute button.

Continue reading →

Mozilla has released Firefox 78.0, the latest in a long line of major updates to the veteran browser. Available for Windows, macOS and Linux, the new release is joined by Firefox ESR 78.0, the first major update of the Extended Support Release browser since Firefox 68 last year.

The release sees the Privacy Protections screen renamed to Protections Dashboard. It also gains two new features: the ability to track the number of resolved breaches directly from the dashboard itself, plus an option to check to see if any saved passwords have been exposed in a data breach. Type about:protections to access the dashboard quickly.

Continue reading →

In the crowded web browser market, finding unique selling points can be hard. Opera 69 launches with one major headline feature: a new sidebar providing users with easy access to their Twitter accounts.

The new feature joins other recent additions designed to make Opera stand out -- from ad and tracker blockers to free browser VPN -- and follows on from recently added support for Instagram, which Opera claims allowed it to "reach a record number of users in March 2020".

Continue reading →

Vivaldi Technologies has unveiled Vivaldi 3.1 for Windows, Mac and Linux. The release comes 48 hours after the first major update for Vivaldi for Android.

The desktop build unveils a major upgrade to its existing Notes feature in the form of a full-blown Notes Manager tool. The tool is now accessible via its own full-screen tab in the main browser window (click the link in the Start page or type vivaldi://notes/ into the browser’s address bar).

Continue reading →

Increasing numbers of internet users are becoming aware of the privacy and security implications of being online, and it is for this reason that secure browsers such as Tor are growing in popularity. Now, with the release of Tor Browser 9.5, the browser features an option that can automatically switch to the secure .onion version of a site if one is available.

In short this means that sites are able to actively promote the fact that they have a secure .onion site available. Publishers now can advertise their onion service to Tor users by adding an HTTP header, so if someone visits the regular version of a website, a notification will appear informing them of the more secure option.

Continue reading →

With more and more people expressing concern about privacy and security online, companies have had to start to take notice and deliver tools to help. This is particularly noticeable in the browser market, and with the latest version of Chrome, Google has doubled down on security.

Having tested DNS over HTTPS (DoH) for some time, Google has added enhanced support for DNS lookups over an encrypted HTTPS connection to Chrome 83.  In the Windows, macOS and Linux versions of the browser, Google's implementation of the security feature is called Secure DNS; here's how to use it.

Continue reading →

Mozilla has released Firefox 76.0 for Windows, macOS and Linux, the latest in its long line of major updates to the venerable open source browser.

The chief focus in this new release is the further development of Mozilla’s Lockwise password manager. Users gain several enhancements including alerts of website breaches with prompts to update all online accounts that share the same password.

Continue reading →

It’s a day of double celebration for fans of the Vivaldi web browser. Not only does Vivaldi 3.0 get released for Windows, Mac and Linux, but the company -- led by Opera co-founder Jon S von Tetzchner -- unveils the first stable release of Vivaldi for Android.

Both releases come with a brand new feature in the guise of built-in ad and tracker blockers. The desktop release also unveils a new clock for its status bar, plus improvements to its pop-out video feature.

Continue reading →

Avast has launched an Android version of its security- and privacy-focused web browser. Avast Secure Browser features various DNS options and a built-in VPN to calm the fears of those concerned about their privacy.

This is not all the browser has to offer. There's also anti-tracking technology and complete data encryption to take care of the security side of things as well.

Continue reading →

Google Chrome is still the leader of the pack, but there's a different rival tailing it. New figures show that Microsoft Edge is now the second most used browser in the world, pushing Firefox down into third place.

The silver medal now belongs to the Chromium-based version of Edge on the desktop which has seen a great increase in popularity, even though it has only been available for a matter of months.

Continue reading →

Websites are, on the whole, vertical experiences, whereas laptop screens and desktop monitors are, in most cases, horizontal ones. Despite the relatively limited amount of vertical space available, browsers tend to further reduce this by placing tabs, menus, toolbars and more at the top of the screen. But Microsoft is ready to try something different.

The company has announced a number of new features that are coming to the new Chromium-based version of Microsoft Edge. Among these features are vertical tabs which make more efficient use of screen space.

Continue reading →

Google's decision to hide the start of website URLs from Chrome's omnibox was a little controversial. While replacing https://www. and http://www. with icons indicating whether the site was secure or not, many people preferred being about to see that the HTTPS protocol is being used through the presence of those five letters.

If you're one of these people, there's some good news: Google seems to have been listening. Having previously implemented an experimental option to show full URLs on a one-off basis, preview builds of Chrome for macOS, Windows and Linux have a new "Always show full URLs" option.

Continue reading →

Avast-owned Piriform is best known for its CCleaner software, a tool designed to help you clear out the crap from your computer. Now, after a preview period, the company has launched the Chromium-based CCleaner Browser 80.0.

Promising "no ads, no tracking, no junk[and] built-in security" CCleaner Browser is billed as a fast browser that gives users easy-to-use privacy tools that help to reduce digital footprints.

Continue reading →

Mozilla has released Firefox 74.0 for desktop, along with Firefox for Android 68.6.0 and Firefox ESR 68.6.0.

Firefox 74.0 ships with several new features, none of which are jaw-dropping, but all of which serve to further improve the browser’s privacy, security and usability. In addition, the Facebook Container add-on now gives users control over which sites are blocked from reporting back to Facebook.

Continue reading →