Show HN: Helium Browser for Android with extensions support, based on Vanadium
github.comBeen working on an experimental Chromium-based browser that brings 2 major features to your phone/tablet:
1. desktop-style extensions: natively install any extensions (like uBO) from the chrome web store, just toggle "desktop site" in the menu first.
2. privacy/security hardening: applies the full patch sets from Vanadium (with Helium's currently wip).
Means you get both browsers' excellent privacy features, like Vanadium's webrtc IP policy option that protects your real IP by default, and security improvements such as JIT being disabled by default, all while being a reasonably efficient FOSS app that can be installed on any (modern) android.
It's still in beta, and as I note in the README, it's not a replacement for the full OS-level security model you'd get from running the GrapheneOS Vanadium combo. However, goal was to combine privacy of Vanadium with the power of desktop extensions and Helium features, and make it accessible to a wider audience. (Passkeys from Bitwarden Mobile should also work straight away once merged in the list of FIDO2 privileged browsers)
Build scripts are in the repo if you want to compile it yourself. You can find pre-built releases there too.
Would love any feedback/support!
For people looking for a more vanilla experience I'm publishing Google's official extension supporting Chromium builds for Android here https://github.com/andrewginns/chromium-browser-snapshots-An...
Combined Obtainium it's easy to keep it updated. https://github.com/ImranR98/Obtainium
I hoped these were builds with H264 support.. but if you just publish these Google-provided builds they don't have it..
Do you have any plans to push it to F-Droid?
That would raise the value of that project quite a lot (at least for me, but I feel like there are others, thinking similarly).
Please, push it to F-Droid!
f-droid is unsuitable for a browser. they regularly block security patches for many months and violate the android security model. anyone who cares about their privacy or security should not be using it
I second this!
I've been digging into Vanadium's extension support implementation and this looks like a solid approach for Android. The key challenge we faced with WebExtensions on mobile was the memory footprint - each extension runs in its own process which can add 30-50MB of overhead per extension on resource-constrained devices.
Curious how you're handling the isolation/sandboxing model here? The standard Chrome approach of site isolation + process-per-extension becomes pretty heavy on mobile. Have you considered using a shared process model with context isolation instead? We found that careful use of V8 contexts could give similar security guarantees with ~70% less memory overhead, though it required some tricky IPC handling between the extensions and main browser process.
Also worth noting that the WebExtension manifest v3 transition adds some extra complexity for mobile browsers - particularly around the service worker lifecycle and background page limitations. Would love to hear how you're approaching that migration path.
Ah thought I saw a Helium browser mentioned recently on HN[0] and thought this was the same thing. So this is not the same as this Helium browser [1]?
[0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45366867
[1]: https://helium.computer/
The repository introduces it as indeed based on Helium [0].
The cool part about Helium is that it's based on patches, rather than forking the full source code. I don't know how sustainable this is in the long term, but it's an interesting approach for sure.
[0]: https://helium.computer/
Not sure what's cool about that. A fork is a patch set, with a ton more ergonomics on top. Passing around sets of patches was what we did before VCSs were common/easy-to-set-up, and it was always brittle and annoying.
I tried installing uBlock Origin but the web store says I have to sign in and enable sync to download it. I didn't want to do that so I tried unpacking the extension .zip from GitHub and loading unpacked, but then the app just crashed.
Is extension support only meant to work with a Google account signed in or am I missing something?
EDIT: I tried loading the store page in desktop mode but I can't install the non-Lite uBlock Origin, I guess because this Chromium version doesn't support Manifest V2 anymore. I'm still on Kiwi Browser which supports MV2.
This is really great work, but can you comment on whether or not any Google-based "safebrowsing", etc is still enabled in the code base?
Have you thought about merging your efforts with ungoogled-chromium (Android)?
There USED to be an ungoogled-chromium for Android (circa v88 chrome, the APK is still available for download) that also allowed extentions.
Fascinating, I use Firefox because on Android I can use extensions (for this https://plzat.me). This is a great alternative.
Edit: hard to find where to get this browser. Do I need to build it myself?
With Obtanium you can add the URL (https://github.com/jqssun/android-helium-browser) and it will automatically notify when a new version is available. Kind of like a package manager for GitHub and other sources (for stuff not available on F-Droid).
Click on 'Releases' and you'll see a link to an apk download.
There is Quetta browser that is stable and support extensions on mobile.
Quetta is unusable for me from how much they redesign the UI for no real reason. What I wanted was just an up-to-date version of Kiwi Browser which this project seems to aim for.
Great job on this release! I've been waiting for something like it since my favorite browser, Kiwi, stopped getting updates.
Without updates, many sites will likely stop working with it soon.
Kiwi had some great features, like disabling AMP mode, rearranging the Chrome Store for mobile, and customizable tab layouts, etc. These features might interest others as well.
I miss kiwi.
It would be really useful if we could sync bookmarks and history with Google's servers.
Some Chromium builds has that: https://chromium.woolyss.com/#google-api-keys
I suspect these 'alternative' Chromium-based browsers are mostly aimed at those (like me) who want to keep their data out of Google's (et. al.) reach and as such would consider 'sync with the data parasites' as a misfeature.
The title of this thread actually says "with extensions support", so I think it is a major selling point intended for casual users like me, who priorities convenient over privacy.
> ...would consider 'sync with the data parasites' as a misfeature.
I am curious why Firefox isn't a choice for you. Why Mozilla as a NGO isn't trusted for handling your data?
What makes you think I do not use (something like) Firefox? I use Fennec - F-Droid's build of Firefox Nightly - as my main browser. I only use Chromium-derivative browsers for those sites which won't work with Gecko and to test whether things I make work 'on the other side´.
As to not trusting an NGO with my data, well... where to start? Ever since Mitchell Baker turned Mozilla into an activist cooperative while firing those pesky developers - who needs developers when all you want to do is political campaigning - and raising her own salary 5-fold that organisation has lost its shine as far as I'm concerned. As far as I'm concerned Mozilla is ripe for a new 'March 31 event' [1] in the sense of a transfer of the stewardship of the Gecko engine and Firefox browser to either another organisation entirely or to a splinter group from within Mozilla which still considers developing the main competitor to the Blink engine as its primary focus without any of the heavy political baggage from the Baker days.
[1] https://www.cnet.com/tech/tech-industry/netscape-sets-source...
I've been looking for a Kiwi Browser replacement since it stopped updating. I'll check this out.
Curious how it compares to Brave browser on Android
this is great. I miss extensions in android browser. That existing extensions from web store would work out of the box is cherry on top.
Excellent, please make sure you push for financial support in your project.
Kiwi was a great browser but has since shutdown. Android needs something like Kiwi that also has a steady income to support itself in future.
Yet another Chromium clone, we should create a Distrowatch site for Chrome.