Bubbles Browser is an AI-free, privacy-focused web browser for Android. It combines everyday mobile browsing with local profiles, accessibility controls, media tools, and visible privacy settings.
Visit the end-user website at https://kernferm.github.io/Bubbles-Browser-Android/ to view features, screenshots, installation steps, and the direct APK download.
Privacy policy: https://kernferm.github.io/Bubbles-Browser-Android/privacy.html
See the complete screenshot gallery for the browser, privacy controls, music tools, streaming hub, profiles, diagnostics, and settings. For a focused setup walkthrough, see INSTALLATION.md.
- Browse websites in multiple tabs with back, forward, home, reload, and new-tab controls.
- Add or remove the current page with the bookmark button beside the address bar.
- Choose Bubbles Browser as the Android default browser so web links open directly in the app.
- Follow the phone language automatically for core browsing controls, saved content, permission prompts, and primary settings across 29 locales: English, Spanish, French, German, Brazilian Portuguese, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Arabic, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Korean, Russian, Dutch, Polish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese, Czech, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian Bokmål, Romanian, Swedish, Greek, Hungarian, Slovak, and Croatian.
- Load modern mobile sites with JavaScript, responsive images, stylesheets, web fonts, forms, uploads, downloads, popups, and supported audio or video through the device's Android System WebView.
- Search the web or enter a website address from the start page.
- Save bookmarks and review or clear browsing history.
- Download files through Android's system download service and receive completion notifications.
- Use separate standard, guest, child, work, and streaming profiles.
- Export and import local profile backups. Profile PINs are not included in backups.
- Block known advertising and tracking requests and show a session counter.
- Review separate ad, tracker, fingerprinting, URL-cleanup, malicious-request, cryptomining, and compatibility statistics in the Trust Center.
- Enable, disable, and update locally cached EasyList, EasyPrivacy, AdGuard, Peter Lowe, DuckDuckGo Tracker Radar, Fanboy, URLHaus, and NoCoin-compatible protection lists.
- Choose strict, balanced, or off modes for canvas and JavaScript fingerprint protection, plus recommended, strict, or off WebRTC privacy.
- Store website logins in Android Keystore-backed encrypted storage, generate strong passwords, and check saved passwords with Have I Been Pwned k-anonymity.
- Keep a user-controlled encrypted clipboard history; Android clipboard content is captured only when you press the save action.
- Apply local safe-browsing checks to websites and downloads.
- Open supported video, live TV, sports, creator, free, specialty, and audio services from the Streaming Hub, including full-screen HTML5 playback.
- Let secure websites request location for nearby restaurants, stores, and local search results after Android asks for permission.
- Play local audio with Android Media3 and download direct audio-file links after consent.
- Inspect tabs and memory information in the Task Manager and Diagnostics screens.
- Adjust large text, high contrast, reduced motion, dyslexia-friendly text, simplified UI, focus mode, reading ruler, battery saver, and background-tab behavior.
Bubbles Browser does not include Ollama, generative AI, telemetry, analytics, or cloud synchronization.
Enabled privacy lists are downloaded automatically when a fresh install has no local cache. Later updates can be requested from Settings > Manage privacy lists. Android WebView can enforce supported network and URL rules, but it cannot apply every desktop cosmetic-filter rule. The app reports only rules its Android engine can enforce.
- Android 10 or newer
- Android System WebView enabled and updated
- Internet access for browsing
Some websites and streaming providers may require their own account, subscription, DRM support, or official app.
- Open the Bubbles Browser Android Releases page on your Android device.
- Open the newest release and download its
.apkfile. - If Android asks, allow your browser or file manager to install unknown apps.
- Open the downloaded APK and choose Install.
- Launch Bubbles Browser.
- Allow notifications if you want download-completion alerts.
- Allow music and audio access only if you want the browser to load audio already stored on your device.
- Allow location only when a website you trust needs nearby search results.
Android may display a warning because the APK is installed outside Google Play. Only install APKs from the official repository linked above.
If Android says Advanced Protection is blocking the APK, open your phone's Settings, search for Advanced Protection, open it, and turn off Device protection. Authenticate with your PIN or biometrics and restart the phone if Android requests it. Install the verified APK, then return to the same screen and re-enable Device protection. Use this only when Advanced Protection specifically prevents installation, and keep Google Play Protect enabled.
Version 1.0.10 updates a compatible current Bubbles Browser installation. Install the APK over the existing app so Android can retain local profiles and settings.
When Bubbles Browser detects the older installation, it offers Remove old app and opens Android's official uninstall confirmation. Back up anything needed from the older app first because uninstalling permanently deletes its local data.
Do not uninstall the current app before updating if you want Android to retain its local data. Export important profile data before updating as an extra precaution.
Open Bubbles Browser > Settings > Browsing and tap Set as default browser. Android displays its official browser chooser; select Bubbles Browser there. You can return to the same setting later to change the default browser.
- Internet and network status: load websites and detect connectivity.
- Notifications: report completed or failed downloads on supported Android versions.
- Music and audio: load local audio files into the music player. This permission is optional for normal browsing.
- Location: provide approximate or precise location to a secure website only after it requests access and Android displays a permission prompt. Background location is not requested.
- Camera and microphone: support trusted secure websites that provide calls or media capture. Android prompts before either permission is granted.
- Confirm the device runs Android 10 or newer.
- Allow installs from the app that opened the APK.
- Download the APK again if Android reports that the package is invalid.
- If Android specifically reports that Advanced Protection blocked the installation, temporarily turn off Settings > Security & privacy > Advanced Protection > Device protection, install the verified APK, and re-enable Device protection afterward. Some phones may request a restart.
- If Android reports a signature conflict, back up app data, uninstall the older differently signed build, and install the current release.
- Check Wi-Fi or mobile data.
- Update Android System WebView through Google Play.
- Reload the page after updating WebView. Bubbles Browser uses the WebView engine installed on the phone, so that update supplies current website-format and security support.
- Confirm the address is correct and begins with
https://when possible. - Temporarily disable ad and tracker blocking for compatibility testing.
- If a site breaks after enabling an optional privacy list, disable that list under Settings > Manage privacy lists, then reload the page.
- Facebook pages automatically use a compatibility mode because Facebook's mobile response can fail in Android WebView.
- Some DRM-heavy streaming websites may require their provider's official Android app.
- Open Android Settings > Apps > Bubbles Browser > Notifications and enable notifications.
- Check that battery restrictions are not preventing Android's Download Manager from finishing work.
- Grant the Music and audio permission in Android app settings.
- Use Pick audio files to select files through Android's file picker.
- The downloader accepts direct audio-file URLs; it does not include the desktop
yt-dlpextraction system.
Open Settings in Bubbles Browser and adjust Large text, Simplified browser UI, or other accessibility options. Android's system font-size setting also affects the interface.
Browser data is stored locally on the device. Bubbles Browser does not provide cloud sync and does not send analytics or telemetry. Incognito and guest modes reduce locally retained browser records, but they do not hide network activity from websites, internet providers, employers, schools, or the device operating system.
Password breach checks send only the first five hexadecimal characters of a SHA-1 password hash to the Have I Been Pwned range API. The password and complete hash are not sent. WebRTC recommended mode uses relay-only connections and may affect calls when a site has no TURN relay; strict mode disables WebRTC.
See SECURITY.md for supported versions and private vulnerability reporting.
Email: support.bubblesthedev.webbrowser@gmail.com
For ordinary bugs, include the app version, Android version, and steps that reproduce the problem. Remove names, account details, website history, credentials, tokens, location details, and other private information from screenshots and logs.
Copyright (c) 2026 BubblesTheDev. All rights reserved.
No open-source license has been declared for the Android repository. Source availability does not by itself grant permission to copy, modify, or redistribute the project. Any license file later published in the repository controls over this summary.