Browser

Alternative browsers

Lightweight Web Browsers

• Comparison of lightweight web browsers
• The 7 Best Lightweight Web Browsers for Linux. Pale Moon, Midori, Otter Browser, Netsurf (included in Clonezilla using Fluxbox WM), Vivaldi, Opera, GNOME Web
• The 7 Best Browsers for Old and Low-End Computers. K-Meleon, Falkon, Pale Moon, Lunascape Orion, UR Browser, SeaMonkey, Slim Browser
• (12/17/2022). Tested by visiting bing.com. Pale Moon is the lightest (200MB). Midori 360MB. Both are installed by apt command and tested in antiX. The Dillo browser has a strange format.
• Luakit.
  • Depends on GTK3, WebKitGTK+, Lua, ...
  • 10 Best Free and Open Source Lightweight Graphical Web Browsers.

Privacy-focused browsers

• 5 Browser Alternatives to Ease Privacy Concerns
  • Brave
  • LibreWolf
  • DuckDuckGo
  • Bromite
  • Tor
• Beyond Chrome: Switch to these 6 obscure browsers for better security
  • Duckduckgo Browser
  • Ghostery Private Browser
  • Brave: The classic security browser
  • LibreWolf Browser. LibreWolf is another version of Firefox that is optimized for data protection. The adblocker Ublock Origin is pre-installed and active.
  • The Norton browser

DuckDuckGo

How to Use DuckDuckGo's Browser on Windows

Telemetry

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telemetry
• What Is Telemetry? How Telemetry Works, Benefits of Telemetry, Challenges, Tutorial, and More
• Firefox collects telemetry data by default to help improve the performance and stability of Firefox. Telemetry collection and deletion

Do not track

How to Enable Do Not Track in Any Web Browser

Firefox

• The browser engine is Gecko. It supports MathML (Chrome or Safari does not).
• How to install, uninstall and update Firefox on Ubuntu 18.04 Bionic Beaver Linux
• How To Install The Latest Firefox (Non-ESR) On Debian 10 Buster (Stable) Or Bullseye (Testing)

Wifi captive portal detection

• Captive portal. A captive portal is a web page accessed with a web browser that is displayed to newly connected users of a Wi-Fi or wired network before they are granted broader access to network resources.
• Some browsers like Brave does not show up login page. In this case, go to http://captive.apple.com or http://8.8.8.8 or try http://neverssl.com to force it to show up.
• http://detectportal.firefox.com/canonical.html. See Captive portal detection.
• Openwrt have functions that support things like captive portal from hotels. GL.iNet GL-SFT1200 (Opal)

Tor

3 Ways Of Installing Tor Browser On Linux

Firefox ESR

• Download
• Differences Between Firefox and Firefox ESR: Which Browser to Download

Firefox Nightly

How to Install Firefox Nightly on Debian and Ubuntu

Pale Moon

• https://www.palemoon.org/
• Installation and Uninstallation
  • No ARM version (for e.g. Raspberry Pi)
  • No deb package
• 7 Apps That Every Windows PC Should Have (And Why)

Librewolf

• https://librewolf.net/
  • No ARM version
• LibreWolf, a privacy-focused web browser
• How to Install LibreWolf on Ubuntu 22.04 or 20.04.

Waterfox

• https://www.waterfox.net/, wikimedia
  • No ARM version
• Waterfox supports extensions from the Chrome Web Store, Firefox add-on store and the Opera Extensions store.

Chrome or Chromium

• The browser engine is Blink
• Download link: https://www.chromium.org/getting-involved/download-chromium/. Click the first link and it'll show the build reversion number.
• Install from ubuntu repository. sudo apt-get install chromium-browser To launch it, type chromium-browser.
• Install the latest version of chromium.

sudo apt install curl git
git clone https://github.com/scheib/chromium-latest-linux.git
cd chromium-latest-linux
./update-and-run.sh

# next time
./run.sh

Note that the chromium program is not in the global environment. That's why we use run.sh to launch chromium.

• Arch linux

sudo pacman -Syu
sudo pacman -S chromium

Password/Keyring storage

• Disable kwallet popups from chrome

chromium --password-store=basic
chromium  --password-store=kwallet5 # or --password-store=detect

• Linux Password Storage

Share a link

• From PC or Phone: Share -> Send To Your Devices
• From PC: Create a QR Code. Phone: Camera to scan the QR code
• From Phone: Create a QR Code file. PC: Use a Chrome extension (like QR Code Reader for Google Chrome™) or an online tool (eg 4qrcode, QRscanner) to scan the QR code.

Proxy

• To use a proxy server,
• Manually configuring proxy settings of Google Chrome on Ubuntu

chromium-browser --proxy-server="10.130.5.180:3128"
chromium-browser --proxy-server="socks://localhost:4096" # Useful if we use "ssh -D"

Enable hardware acceleration

enable hardware acceleration in chrome / chromium browser [quick tip]

• check if your Chrome / Chromium browser uses hardware acceleration chrome://gpu
• force Chrome / Chromium to use hardware acceleration chrome://flags Search for "Override software rendering list", enable it and restart Chrome. This does not work. The update method is How To Enable Hardware Acceleration In Chromium On Ubuntu Or Linux Mint (VA-API Patched PPA Builds).

Electron

• Electron Can Bring Your Web App to the Desktop. Here’s How to Get Started
• Electron is based on Google’s open-source Chromium project. Electron combines Chromium and Node.js into a single runtime, allowing developers to build desktop applications using web technologies.
• RStudio does use Electron in its source code. RStudio Electron Preview Release Notes.

Microsoft Edge

• PPA
  • How to Install Microsoft Edge Browser on Ubuntu 20.04.
  • https://www.ubuntuupdates.org/ppa/microsoft_edge . This site shows the latest edge version.

  sudo sh -c 'echo "deb [arch=amd64] http://packages.microsoft.com/repos/edge/ stable main" >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/microsoft_edge.list'
  sudo apt update
  sudo apt install microsoft-edge-stable
  

• Edge has a pretty neat trick up its sleeve here—you can use the “Read Aloud” feature to have the entire article read aloud to you using natural sounding voices
• 7 Microsoft Edge Flags to Supercharge Your Browsing Experience
• To uninstall it in Ubuntu, first search the package name by dpkg --get-selections | grep edge. Then use sudo apt remove XXX to remove it.

AI

• Your AI-Powered Browser
• How to Use Bing Image Creator to Make AI Art

Drop

• On Linux, it shows "Open" icon. Files are automatically saved in ~/Downloads/MicrosoftEdgeDropFiles/Default folder.
• On Android, it shows "Download" icon. If I downloaded the shared file, the icon was changed to "Open". Files are saved in Android/Data/com.microsoft.emmx/files/Download/MicrosoftEdgeDropFiles/ ; see How to Share Files Using Edge Browser’s Drop Feature.
  • For my Samsung tablet (Android 13) device, the directory shown on Debian 11 desktop is mtp://SAMSUNG_SAMSUNG_Android_xxx/Internal%20storage/Android/data/com.microsoft.emmx/files/Download/MicrosoftEdgeDropFiles/Default.
  • For Boox Note Air, I need to use the BooxDrop app. Internal Storage/Android/data/com.microsoft.emmx/files/Download/MicrosoftEdgeDropFiles/Default.
• Every file that you share with Microsoft Edge will be stored by OneDrive in a folder named Microsoft Edge Drop Files; see How to Share Files Between Devices Using Microsoft Edge. If we delete files in Drop, the files will be removed from OneDrive (& my Samsung table device) too. But the files won't be deleted from Linux desktop according to my observation.

Android

• The standard Edge browser and Bing browser on Boox devices only support the phone device look and feel
• Edge Beta, Edge Canary & Edge Dev support the tablet device look and feel on Boox devices
  • Edge Beta is a preview channel that allows users to test new and upcoming features for the browser. It has mostly stable features to test out at the cost of being behind Edge Canary and Dev. You can install Edge Beta alongside the generally released version of Edge and other preview versions of the app
  • Edge Canary is a preview channel that offers the most cutting-edge features for the browser. It is updated daily with new features and bug fixes, but it may be less stable than other preview channels.
  • Edge Dev is a preview channel that offers more experimental features for the browser. It is updated weekly with new features and bug fixes, but it may be less stable than other preview channels.

Arc browser

• https://arc.net/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arc_(web_browser)
• Arc Browser Review: A Plucky New Browser With Big Ideas 2023
• 4 reasons why I use Arc, the internet's new favorite browser, over Chrome 2024

Vivaldi

• Based on Chromium.

• 6 reasons to quit Chrome and switch to Vivaldi, the enthusiast’s browser. 1) Privacy and ad blocking, 2) The side panel, 3) Tabs 4) Built-in mail and calendar 5) Speed Dial 6) Bottom nav bar controls.

• How to view multiple web pages side by side – no extensions
  • Edge also supports screen split.

• A sidebar provides a place to quickly access your bookmarks, downloads, and history. Less standard is the built-in ability to write and save notes, also available in the sidebar.

• While cool, Vivaldi is also a proprietary browser.
• The proxy setting is not found in the latest version. To use it,

$ vivaldi --proxy-server="127.0.0.1:8118"

• To uninstall it, open the package manager to remove it.
• On Android, when I visited howotogeek.com, the website displayed "Something went wrong. Please disable your blocker on How-To Geek". So I can't view the website (Brave has no problem).
  • Some websites can detect ad blockers on the Vivaldi browser but not on the Brave browser due to differences in how these browsers handle ad blocking.
  • The Brave browser uses a feature called Brave Shields to block third-party ads, trackers, and autoplay videos3. This feature is built into the browser and works seamlessly with most websites.
  • On the other hand, Vivaldi uses lists to block ads. Some websites have mechanisms to detect such lists and can therefore identify when Vivaldi’s ad blocker is being used. This can lead to the website asking the user to disable their ad blocker before they can access the content.
  • Vivaldi says its ad blocker will continue working even after changes in Manifest V3, Ad-blocker detected on some website.

Opera

• Based on Chromium.
• Like Chrome, Opera is closed source.
• Ad blocking and Block Pop-ups are turned on. But it seems they are not working:( Tested on iOS.
• To enable Desktop mode permanently: Settings - User Agent - Desktop. This will disable reddit.com for the pop-up message "This page looks better in the app".

GNOME Web

There are browsers made specifically for Linux, and GNOME Web is the most mature of the bunch.

It looks and feels like a program intended to run on Linux.

Web lacks the kind of extensions you see on Chrome and Firefox (though ad-block does come built-in).

Eolie

Eolie is another browser built specifically for GNOME.

The URL bar shows a site’s title rather than the web address.

Brave

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brave_(web_browser)
• The browser uses a fork of Electron, called Muon, designed with a focus on browser features. For example, it has support for Chrome extensions, and a higher level of security.
• Privacy-Focused Brave Browser Caught Sneaking In Cryptocurrency Affiliate Links
• How do I remove Brave completely?
• Brave browser can get past this stupid paywall.
• What Is Brave Talk and How Do You Use It?
• How to Purge Crypto From the Brave Browser,
• How to Disable Crypto-Related Features in Brave
• Youtube site is not showing 1080p and higher resolution on ipad pro. Going to Setting > Playlist and disabling the “Web Compatibility” toggle worked for me.
• Change These Settings to Make the Brave Browser Even More Private
• Set up sync
• Brave’s ‘Forgetful Browsing’ mode blocks first-party tracking 5/15/2023
• I Switched From Chrome to Brave for the Privacy Features, Here's How Easy It Was

Access News Articles for Free

• Access News Articles for Free: A Guide to Unlocking Paywalls
• How to Get Past a Paywall to Read an Article for Free
• Medium parser Firefox extension by Xatta Trone. OR directly using the URL https://readmedium.com/ OR append the URL to https://freedium.cfd/.

apt update

SOLVED: Linux .deb install gives error when you apt update a repository. To correct this you need to add the architecture parameterarch=amd64 in the deb command. E.g.

deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/brave-browser-archive-keyring.gpg arch=amd64] https://brave-browser-apt-release.s3.brave.com/ stable main

Dillo

Too vanilla.

Quartz

• https://github.com/ksharindam/quartz-browser-qt5
• Raspberry Pi OS running on 2018 Raspberry Pi 3B+

Falkon and formally Qupzilla

QupZilla is a new and very fast QtWebEngine browser. It aims to be a lightweight web browser available through all major platforms.

Wikipedia. Download: only Windows and Linux binaries (apt, flatpak, snap) are available. Testing version 3.1.0 on Debian, it works fine. It included Adblock by default. It seems Falkon and Firefox-esr (extended support release) use about the same amount of memory from my testing (~240MB for one tab) according to System Monitor.

EinkBro

• Some new features of EinkBro App (v9.22.0) Mar 2023
• It allows to increase/decrease font size for a page (Safari on iOS can also do that).

Text browser

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Text-based_web_browser

lynx

• Lynx User Guide
• What is Lynx, and how do I use it?
• How and why to use Lynx – the faster web browser
  • g: go to some URL
  • Up/down: up/down
  • Left: back
  • Right: follows a link
  • Q: quit
  • ?: help
  • d: download the file on a link
  • /: search forward. n: forward match. N: backward match.
  • Ctrl-g: abort your connection to a slow or unresponsive link
  • o: option screen
  • If you want to always accept or reject cookies, edit ~/.lynxrc file to set accept_all_cookies=TRUE
• In one instance the html contains Chinese characters, w3m just give GC error. I need to close the terminal. However, lynx works well. sudo apt install lynx
• lynx supports mouse-selection while w3m does not (tested on Debian 11).
• Change the background color. How To Change Background Color In Lynx. sudo nano /etc/lynx/lynx.lss. Comment out the 2 lines

normal: normal: lightgray:black
default: normal: white:black

w3m

It is available in NIH/Biowulf. Works well. It works better than lynx for displaying tables.

sudo apt install w3m w3m-img

• Shift-B will take you back a page.
• Shift-U and you’ll get an URL prompt.
• +/Space: Scroll down a page
• -: scroll up a page
• g: Jump to beginning
• G: Jump to end
• /,C-s Search forward
• ?,C-r Search backward
• n Search next
• N Search previous
• Shift-H to view the help page if you want to see a more complete list of keyboard shortcuts.

One cool thing is I can save a file that I can't do with the wget command (if I copy the download link from chrome Downloads), such as the bam file (look at the bottom of the webpage, Output this run in XXX format to Screen/File) from SRA repository.

Links

• http://links.twibright.com/. It can run in graphical mode.
• http://pcworld.com/article/3196428/linux/why-installing-a-text-mode-web-browser-is-a-good-idea.html
  • Links can be run in a graphical mode if you want, by running links with links -g. However, the graphical mode will require starting a display server like X.
• The 7 best open-source terminal web browsers 12/6/2021
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Links_%28web_browser%29

Browsh

• Browsh. Require Firefox.
• Browsh – A Modern Text Browser That Play Videos and Everything

carbonyl

https://github.com/fathyb/carbonyl. Chromium running inside your terminal. It supports pretty much all Web APIs including WebGL, WebGPU, audio and video playback (like Youtube), animations, etc.

$ npm install --global carbonyl

added 5 packages, and audited 5 packages in 11s

found 0 vulnerabilities
npm notice 
npm notice New major version of npm available! 7.0.15 -> 9.8.1
npm notice Changelog: https://github.com/npm/cli/releases/tag/v9.8.1
npm notice Run npm install -g [email protected] to update!
npm notice 

$ whereis carbonyl
carbonyl: /home/$USER/.nvm/versions/node/v15.4.0/bin/carbonyl

Misc

User agent

• How to Change Your Browser’s User Agent and Trick Websites
• GPTBot.
  • OpenAI Launches GPTBot With Details On How To Restrict Access
  • How to Block OpenAI ChatGPT From Using Your Website Content.

Mobile view/Responsive Design Mode

• Responsive web design
• Html#Responsive_Design HTML -> Responsive Design
• How can I quickly open a mobile view of a page in a desktop browser?
  • FF: More tools - Responsive design mode
  • Chrome: Developer Tools
  • Safari

Text font size

• How to Make Website Text Larger on Android
• EinkBro rocks!
• On Chrome - Settings - Accessibility -
  • Show zoom option in main menu. After enabling it, go to 3 dots and we should see a Zoom option. Clicking on it and we should see a minus & plus controls at the bottom.
  • Force enable zooom
• Vivaldi is very similar to Chrome. Zoom options on mobile devices.
• Edge browser has no this option?
• On Brave, Settings - Accessibility - Simplified view for web pages (Get notified when an article can be shown in simplified view). If it prompts me to view the page, I can use fingers to zoom in and it will increase the text font size. Not reliable.

Hard refresh cache

• How to Hard Refresh Your Browser
• Refresh Webpage with Soft or Hard Reload in Web Browsers. As for hard refresh, it is a method to force the web browser to fetch all of the files again ignoring the expiration time and bypassing the local cache.
• A hard refresh clears the browser’s cache for a specific page, forcing it to load the most recent version that includes changes to style-sheets or other javascript scripts.
• What is hard refresh? How do you do a hard refresh in a browser? Once the chrome dev tools are open, just right click on the refresh button and a menu will drop down. This menu gives you the option of doing a
  • Normal Reload
  • Hard Reload
  • Empty Cache and Hard Reload
• How to Clear Cache and Hard Reload Browsers
• How to do a hard refresh
  • Ctrl/Cmd + F5/refresh button
  • Shift + Ctr/Cmd + R

How to clear cache

How To Clear Web Browser Cache From Commandline In Linux

Read Aloud

• How to Use Your Browser's 'Reader Mode' to Actually Read What You Click
• How to Set Up and Manage the Read Aloud Feature in Microsoft Edge
• Firefox Read Aloud by LSD software

Ads: pixels

How tracking pixels work

Cookies

• Internet Cookies for Beginners: What Are They and How Do They Work?
• Firefox: See the Storage tab.
• My automatic NYT crossword downloading script
• The 5 Best Cookie Editor Extensions for Google Chrome
• This one Brave feature sold me on the whole browser 5/11/2023

How to Browse the Internet Anonymously

How to Browse the Internet Anonymously

Hide geolocation on browsers

How to Hide or Fake Your Location in Chrome, Firefox, and Microsoft Edge

Anonymous Web Browsers That Are Completely Private

4 Free Anonymous Web Browsers That Are Completely Private

How to Disable the Pop-Up Blocker in Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Safari

How to Disable the Pop-Up Blocker in Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Safari

Javascript

• Firefox:
  • Use JavaScript within a webpage
  • How to I find JavaScript source in web page?
• Extension NoScript by Hackademix. Disables all scripts such as Flash, Java, JavaScript and other executable content on a web page. It enables you to create a whitelist of trusted websites, like your bank, but takes getting used to.

Hidden browser games

How to Unlock Hidden Browser Games in Edge, Firefox and Chrome. Go to chrome://dino on chrome browser.

Browse the Web Without a Mouse

6 Fast Ways to Browse the Web Without a Mouse

Download a Browser on Windows Without a Browser

5 Ways to Download a Browser on Windows Without a Browser

Password manager

Should You Pay for a Password Manger?

Passkey

How to Set Up a Passkey on Your Microsoft Account

Translate

6 Ways to Translate Any Webpage You Visit

bing search glitch

Cursor moves to end of text when searching with Bing in Safari. The solution does not work:<