Tor Browser (Alpha)

What this Tor Browser is for

This is the mobile browser the Tor Project supports for its network, so browsing runs over Tor rather than a standard connection. The listing pitches it at people who want privacy online and names censorship as one of the problems it addresses.

The listing says it will always be free and is paid for by donations to the Tor Project, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in the US. The title carries an Alpha label.

Blocking trackers and clearing cookies

The browser keeps each website you visit separate, so third-party trackers and ads loaded on one site cannot follow you to the next. According to the developer, this is the main way it stops cross-site tracking.

Cookies are cleared automatically when you finish browsing, so a session does not leave stored site data behind.

Keeping visited sites hidden from your network

Browsing goes through the Tor network, so someone monitoring your connection, such as an internet provider or a network operator, cannot see which websites you open. The developer says such an observer can only tell that you are using Tor.

This is the part of the app meant to protect your browsing from surveillance, as opposed to the trackers that sites themselves place.

Making your device harder to fingerprint

Websites can try to identify a device from details of its browser and hardware. The listing says Tor aims to make every user look the same, which makes that identification harder.

The effect depends on everyone using the browser looking alike, so the listing presents it as a shared design goal across users rather than a setting you turn on.

Reporting bugs and sending feedback

Bug reports and feedback go through a page on the Tor Project's support site, which the listing links directly. Since the title marks this as an Alpha release, that channel is the route the developer names for problems.