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> where we’re the only major Android browser to support an open extension ecosystem Uhm, Kiwi browser is Chrome-based and supports Chrome-extensions on Android

> where we’re the only major Android browser to support an open extension ecosystem Uhm, Kiwi browser is Chrome-based and supports Chrome-extensions on Android and has for years. It's pretty great.

mod50ack 3y ago
While I respect Kiwi for implementing extension support, they've often fell far behind the upstream Chromium codebase and they're significantly smaller than even Firefox for Android. So I don't think they'd really be a "major" Android browser. Then again, Firefox could easily be said to not be a major Android browser either!
- xnx 3y ago
  > they've often fell far behind the upstream Chromium codebase I don't pay consistent attention, but these are the version numbers I currently see: Kiwi: 120.0.6099.26 Chrome: 120.0.6099.110
  - ajayyy 3y ago
    Kiwi has historically faked the version number to prevent websites from telling you to update your browser. I would assume that number is not legitimate.
    - mardifoufs 3y ago
      You're wrong. You can check the latest builds on the GitHub, it's not a secret.
- firebot 3y ago
  I wouldn't say that far, maybe a month. It gets regular updates.
  - mod50ack 3y ago
    Historically, it's gotten much further behind, but they've gotten better recently.
xnx 3y ago
I was a longtime Firefox on Android user until the extension situation got increasingly fragile and complicated. I've been very happy since switching to Kiwi. It's faster, more frequently updated, and supports all the extensions I want. Highly recommended.
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gruez 3y ago
According to their github repo, it was last rebased with chromium version 105.0.5195.24, which was from August 2022. Using a 15 month old browser seems hilariously insecure. https://github.com/kiwibrowser/src.next https://github.com/kiwibrowser/src.next
- davidy123 3y ago
  I use Kiwi, I take the risk for the ability to run my own extensions (though I use a two-fisted approach where I use Chrome for deep accounts). It's a shame it's not updated more often, it's an open source project I would support.
  - AzzyHN 3y ago
    You are vulnerable to the webp exploit (https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-4863 https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-4863)
    - davidy123 3y ago
      Yes, but everyone else is vulnerable to not being able to run extensions. As mentioned, I just use it for news & general web site surfing, no accounts.
- firebot 3y ago
  Mine states 120.0.6099.26, which was released a month ago, https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2023/11/chrome-beta-for-android-update_15.html https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2023/11/chrome-beta-fo...
  - zamadatix 3y ago
    Your user agent string or the actual browser code? The former is notoriously just set to whatever makes websites happy. An easy way to test is see if a current feature actually works as expected e.g. https://jsfiddle.net/fxc9a8uc/1 https://jsfiddle.net/fxc9a8uc/1 "test1" should be green at the top right.
troyvit 3y ago
I was about to be like, "Yah well is Kiwi a 'major' browser?" Then I looked at android browser share[1] and realized that Firefox certainly isn't either. [1] https://gs.statcounter.com/browser-market-share/mobile/worldwide https://gs.statcounter.com/browser-market-share/mobile/world...
- Ridj48dhsnsh 3y ago
  How does Opera have 3-4x the market share of Firefox? Is it installed by default anywhere?
  - phreack 3y ago
    Personally speaking, I would love to switch to Firefox just to use uBlock Origin, but this picture[1] shows Opera's killer feature. It's a screenshot of today's old.reddit.com/r/all. You can see how you're able to read all of the text vertically, without having to scroll sideways, because it wraps perfectly to the current pinched zoom level. No other browser works this good on Android, and reading stuff is my main internet use case. Try seeing how that website looks on any other browser, it's ridiculous how unusable they are. [1] https://files.catbox.moe/5t853c.png https://files.catbox.moe/5t853c.png
- mook 3y ago
  I wonder if there's a large overlap of people using Firefox on Android and people blocking StatCounter. I thought I'd look up Mozilla's public telemetry stats to see if they have any addon info, but I couldn't find anything about Android at telemetry.mozilla.org without a login…

> where we’re the only major Android browser to support an open extension ecosystem Uhm, Kiwi browser is Chrome-based and supports Chrome-extensions on Android and has for years. It's pretty great.

mod50ack 3y ago

While I respect Kiwi for implementing extension support, they've often fell far behind the upstream Chromium codebase and they're significantly smaller than even Firefox for Android. So I don't think they'd really be a "major" Android browser. Then again, Firefox could easily be said to not be a major Android browser either!

xnx 3y ago
> they've often fell far behind the upstream Chromium codebase I don't pay consistent attention, but these are the version numbers I currently see: Kiwi: 120.0.6099.26 Chrome: 120.0.6099.110
- ajayyy 3y ago
  Kiwi has historically faked the version number to prevent websites from telling you to update your browser. I would assume that number is not legitimate.
  - mardifoufs 3y ago
    You're wrong. You can check the latest builds on the GitHub, it's not a secret.
firebot 3y ago
I wouldn't say that far, maybe a month. It gets regular updates.
- mod50ack 3y ago
  Historically, it's gotten much further behind, but they've gotten better recently.

xnx 3y ago

I was a longtime Firefox on Android user until the extension situation got increasingly fragile and complicated. I've been very happy since switching to Kiwi. It's faster, more frequently updated, and supports all the extensions I want. Highly recommended.

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gruez 3y ago

According to their github repo, it was last rebased with chromium version 105.0.5195.24, which was from August 2022. Using a 15 month old browser seems hilariously insecure. https://github.com/kiwibrowser/src.next https://github.com/kiwibrowser/src.next

davidy123 3y ago
I use Kiwi, I take the risk for the ability to run my own extensions (though I use a two-fisted approach where I use Chrome for deep accounts). It's a shame it's not updated more often, it's an open source project I would support.
- AzzyHN 3y ago
  You are vulnerable to the webp exploit (https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-4863 https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-4863)
  - davidy123 3y ago
    Yes, but everyone else is vulnerable to not being able to run extensions. As mentioned, I just use it for news & general web site surfing, no accounts.
firebot 3y ago
Mine states 120.0.6099.26, which was released a month ago, https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2023/11/chrome-beta-for-android-update_15.html https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2023/11/chrome-beta-fo...
- zamadatix 3y ago
  Your user agent string or the actual browser code? The former is notoriously just set to whatever makes websites happy. An easy way to test is see if a current feature actually works as expected e.g. https://jsfiddle.net/fxc9a8uc/1 https://jsfiddle.net/fxc9a8uc/1 "test1" should be green at the top right.

troyvit 3y ago

I was about to be like, "Yah well is Kiwi a 'major' browser?" Then I looked at android browser share[1] and realized that Firefox certainly isn't either. [1] https://gs.statcounter.com/browser-market-share/mobile/worldwide https://gs.statcounter.com/browser-market-share/mobile/world...

Ridj48dhsnsh 3y ago
How does Opera have 3-4x the market share of Firefox? Is it installed by default anywhere?
- phreack 3y ago
  Personally speaking, I would love to switch to Firefox just to use uBlock Origin, but this picture[1] shows Opera's killer feature. It's a screenshot of today's old.reddit.com/r/all. You can see how you're able to read all of the text vertically, without having to scroll sideways, because it wraps perfectly to the current pinched zoom level. No other browser works this good on Android, and reading stuff is my main internet use case. Try seeing how that website looks on any other browser, it's ridiculous how unusable they are. [1] https://files.catbox.moe/5t853c.png https://files.catbox.moe/5t853c.png
mook 3y ago
I wonder if there's a large overlap of people using Firefox on Android and people blocking StatCounter. I thought I'd look up Mozilla's public telemetry stats to see if they have any addon info, but I couldn't find anything about Android at telemetry.mozilla.org without a login…