Android phones don’t really have a single default browser. Instead, they come with different pre-installed browsers depending on your Android phone’s version and manufacturer. Even so, most of these browsers have one thing in common: they don’t do much to protect your privacy.

The Issue With Pre-Installed Android Browsers

Most stock Android phones come with either the plainly named “Browser” or with Google Chrome pre-installed. However, depending on your Android phone’s manufacturer, you could wind up with a totally different pre-installed browser.

Huawei, for example, has now introduced its own browser, although it is only officially available in China for now, while Samsung phones come with Samsung Internet Explorer pre-installed. Other less renowned Android phone manufacturers sometimes pre-install their own self-developed browser on their devices as well.

The problem with most of these default Android browsers is that they don’t really do much to protect your privacy. And even when they do, most of the time they still gather more of your private data than you should be comfortable with. After all, these big tech companies make huge amounts of money from the data they gather from you.

Related: Essential Security Checks to Keep Your Android Phone Safe

So, what is wrong with Android browsers?

Stock Android Browser

Although this browser was phased out from Android KitKat (4.4), you can still find the stock Android browser app pre-installed on Android Jelly Bean phones. You cannot download the app from Google Play but you can still find its APK file for download on several hosting sites online.

One of the main reasons this browser is still in use is that it still supports Flash video, which many modern browsers no longer support in 2021. However, using Android’s stock browser poses a serious security and privacy risk.

Google no longer releases security patches for this browser since it replaced it by Chrome as Android’s default pre-installed browser. For this reason, you should not use it nor try to access sites that require authentication with it, since it’s highly vulnerable to fishing attacks and your private data could be stolen.

Google Chrome

Chrome on a smartphone logo

Chrome now stands as the most used browser by Android phone users and is Android’s default pre-installed browser in most of its builds. It can also be downloaded from Google Play.

Chrome is for sure one of the most secure Android browsers to surf the web as it has Google Safe Browsing built-in. This feature warns you when you try to access a dangerous site or download a malicious file, and checks URLs against Google’s constantly updated list of unsafe sites.

The main reason that keeps pushing Android users away from Chrome is their ever-growing concern over privacy. After all, Google as developed a reputation over the years as a very intrusive company.

Many of Chrome’s features require you to allow Google to track almost every single of your moves online and to gather a lot of your browsing data. Moreover, even when Chrome does include some privacy tweaks such as turning off auto-fill forms and usage and crash reports, they are on by default.

Another privacy downside with Chrome is its Do Not Track feature. Even when Chrome includes this feature, it really isn’t all that reliable, since all it really does is send a do not track request to the sites. While most mainstream sites do honor the request, they are under no obligation to comply and some just won’t.

Huawei Browser

A photo of the Huawei logo

This is Huawei’s newly introduced browser and it now replaced Chrome as Huawei Android phone’s pre-installed browser, at least in China. If you want to try it, you need to either change your AppGallery’s language settings (do not do so if you don’t read Chinese) or download the APK file from the internet.

Huawei markets its browser as fast, secure, and private, offering quite a few configuration options. It has a Block pop-ups option that stops sites from opening new tabs as well as an Ad filter, which is not active by default.

This browser also offers some security and privacy options, such Allow cookies, Block third party cookies, Block tracking cookies, Safe browsing and Do not track. The latter, unfortunately, works just like Chrome’s Do Not Track feature and relies on the sites’ willingness to comply.

Samsung Internet Browser

A photo of the back side of a Samsung phone

This is Samsung phone’s pre-installed Android browser. It is available for download from Google Play from 2015 and according to StatCounter has a market share of 6.23% as of December 2020.

Samsung Internet Browser offers the most private experience when it comes to default Android browsers. It offers the option to Block unwanted pages, which blocks pop-ups, and Protected browsing, which warns you when you come across a malicious site.

It also allows third-party ad-blockers and has a Smart anti-tracking feature that actually works. When enabled it automatically removes tracking cookies that monitor your online activity.

3 Private Android Browsers to Consider

Online security

If even with all of the privacy features on all of these default Android browsers, you feel they don’t meet your expectations, there are several more private alternatives. You can find other privacy-focused browsers whose main purpose is to keep your privacy secure at all times on Google Play.

1. DuckDuckGo

This privacy browser blocks all third-party cookies to protect you from tracking while forcing sites to use encrypted connections when available. It also won’t store any data about your browsing history.

Download: DuckDuckGo (Free)

2. Firefox Focus

Firefox Focus is one of the most popular privacy browsers out there. Focus won’t save any passwords, it doesn’t allow cookies or trackers, and it includes an ad-blocker.

Download: Firefox Focus (Free)

3. InBrowser

InBrowser is another of the most renowned privacy browsers and with good reason. It has been around the Play Store for a while now and aside from its privacy features it offers Tor support (you need to install Orbot if you want to use this feature).

Download: InBrowser (Free)

Default Android Browsers: Profit Over Privacy

However private these default browsers claim to be, the tech giants that develop them make much of their revenue from selling targeted personalized ads. This means that there is a lot of money to be made from your personal usage data.

That is precisely the reason so many of Google's services rely on your disposition to accept their privacy policies. The same goes for other tech giants, such as Samsung, as they too use and sell your data to third parties.

That is why even when adding some privacy features to their browsers, they still want to gather as much of your data as possible. For that reason, so many users concerned about their privacy, myself included, choose to look for a more private Android browser.