Tor browser now has a mobile version for Android devices
After months of testing, finally Tor
Project announced the launch of the Tor Android browser, which will be
available for download via the official Google Play Store platform, reported web
application security services experts.
Thanks to this, users of Android devices will
no longer have to resort to alternatives like Orfox to browse privately; this
browser integrates the Tor protocol stack into a completely different browser.
The developers of Tor Project announced this project last September 2018; since then the public tests with alpha versions began and, after eight months, the mobile browser version is now available, the web application security service specialists mentioned.
During the announcement, Isabella Bagueros,
director of Tor Project, said: “For us, to live up to the demand of users
who only browse Internet through a mobile device was a priority”. The
developers of Tor for Android
ensure that the users of mobile devices are subjected to a constant activity of
surveillance, censorship and information gathering, so offering alternatives to
conventional browsers was fundamental.
“Although there are still notable
differences between the version of Tor for desktops and the new version for
mobile devices, Tor’s essential function, which is the protection of the user’s
privacy, is equally functional in both versions of the Browser”, the
developers added.
The mobile Tor Browser was launched with
version number 8.5 and is synchronized with all previous versions of the
browser for Linux, Windows and Mac; these systems will also update to V 8.5
shortly, reported web application security service experts.
Although there is no official version of the
Tor browser for computers with iOS, specialists from the International
Institute of Cyber Security (IICS) recommend users of Apple devices to install
the Onion Browser app to use the Tor browser in system Operative iOS.
Other companies have undertaken similar projects,
such as Mozilla, which is currently working to find a method of integrating Tor
protocol in the Firefox browser, it should be noted that Tor was written from
the Mozilla code, so there are those who consider that the development of this
project would bring the ultimate private navigation tool.
Gloss