Andy Walker / Android authority
There are a handful of specific web navigation tasks that I prefer to forget my phone, in particular those that require confidentiality and increased security. This includes banal searches that I will never revisit or no more personal tasks like buying an online article or connecting to a streaming service to modify a parameter. For all these instances, I go from the digital digital imprint which is my main browser to a secondary browser and first in terms of confidentiality.
I always try to rationalize my workflow, so during the longest, the incognito mode of Chrome was my solution of choice. However, a much better and more sensible option was there in the Play Store.
I recently joined the DuckDuckGo Bandwagon and I’m so happy to have done it. Although the company is best known for its alternative Google Search, it is also responsible for my new favorite confidentiality browser on Android. Let me explain why.
Have you tried the DuckDuckGo browser on Android?
40 votes
A large secondary browser with an emphasis on confidentiality
Andy Walker / Android authority
First of all, let me say this: there is nothing wrong with using incognito mode to keep your main browser data separated from instant web tasks. The use of chrome for this allowed me to reduce the number of browsers that I had installed while keeping my accounts and my history separated from random searches and Wikipedia rabbit holes. But it was not an optimal solution. I have often forgotten to activate the incognito mode, which completely defeated the goal. Later, I exchanged on Mozilla’s intimacy browser, Firefox Focus, but its unique design is much less flexible than Chrome. I needed a solution as Swift as the Google browser, which would not store my navigation data if I did not want it, and the one that prioritized confidentiality. This led me to DuckduckGo.
How many browsers do you use on your smartphone?
28 votes
I have been using this avian inspiration browser for a few weeks. While many online users believe that it is too basic for their main navigation habits, I consider its simplicity as one of its attractive qualities, which makes it perfect as a secondary browser.
DuckDuckGo checks all the basics of the browser: it is polished, well optimized and is surprisingly easy to use.
It is polished, well optimized and surprisingly easy to use, and its sensitive IU plays a major role here. The settings menu houses everything that is modifiable in the browser, which makes the exact search you want to be easy. Google must also note that this is how you implement a lower bar on a browser. DuckDuckGo makes surfing with a super simple hand, because all the essential buttons are in the lower corner of the screen next to the address bar. When I press on the latter, it remains easily accessible at the top of my keyboard.
I don’t want to miss the best of Android authority?
A good browser with a surprisingly good search engine
Andy Walker / Android authority
As I mentioned, DuckDuckGo is best known for its search engine, and this is the default value here. You can find the results of Bing slightly different if you are a committed Google search user. This can be positive or negative depending on your position. I found that what it serves is as good, if not better, as Google in many ways.
The research assistance function is also much smoother and more useful than IA previews. The search for “Cape Town”, for example, offers a table of key facts, from the city’s foundation date to HDI and GDP. I can deepen the search by asking additional questions below the result. I am skeptical of AI, but I believe that the implementation of the AI of DuckDuckGo research is more practical than that of Google.
Research assistance is much smoother and more useful than IA previews.
If you want even more AI, there is also Duck.ai, an integrated chatbot offering access to several models, including GPT-5 Mini, Claude Haiku 3.5 and Mistral Small 3. Although this is not one of the features that attracted me by the browser, it will please those who appreciate the sampling more than the simple chatgpt or gemini. The browser facilitates access to Duck.ai via a shortcut on the address bar. I like this choice because it allows users to search for the web via its traditional search engine or an established AI model.
Encouncing your session (or keep it, if you wish)
Andy Walker / Android authority
DuckDuckGo has a great user interface, a solid search engine and shortcuts to the characteristics of the AI, but this is not mainly why it is my browser of choice for critical tasks. Open the settings and you will find various protections available for the user. These elements can be activated individually, providing additional stamps from cookies, monitoring of applications, web monitoring and scams. I appreciate that I can switch them to my taste – the granular parameters are good!
Attaching all this together is the Fire button – The functionality that I use much more often than I thought. It is indeed a large Red Nuke button which, when sunk, deletes all navigation stories, cookies and data from your current session. Once triggered, a cute animation of a hell, a whirlwind or a wind storm sweeps the screen again, leaving you again an immaculate browser.
DuckDuckGo allows me to erase all my session history (if I want) with a button.
This is where DuckDuckGo goes away slightly from the incognito mode on most browsers. Sometimes I may want to continue a previous session on a fascinating Wikipedia Rabbit Hole or return to my basket of a random online retailer. When you use incognito mode on Chrome or Firefox, my session is lost as soon as I close the application. With DuckDuckGo, I have the choice to clean my session or keep it for later.
Andy Walker / Android authority
At this point, you are probably wondering why I do not replace Chrome and Firefox by DuckDuckGo if I love it so much. Well, it’s good, but it’s not that GOOD. As I mentioned, it is quite naked in design, which works in its favor for the way I use it, but it makes a bad main browser.
Thanks to its wide range of extensions, I always prefer to use Firefox as a web anchor. DuckDuckGo does not have this capacity, but since Chrome on Mobile does not have this feature, you may want to consider changing full-time.
The emphasis put by DuckDuckGo on confidentiality, its excellent search engine and the pile of online protection features make it a brilliant session browser. Goodbye, incognito mode. I won’t miss you at all.
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