Via

Via is a browser built on the idea that less is enough. The Android app is about 4 MB — a fraction of Chrome — because it does not ship an engine at all: it borrows Android System WebView, the Chromium component other apps use to display web pages. Sites render as they do in Chrome, and engine security fixes arrive through Google's updates to WebView. It has passed 10 million installs on Google Play.

What the small size hides is a surprising amount of control. Via blocks ads, accepts Adblock Plus filter lists and runs userscripts, so many scripts written for Tampermonkey install unchanged. JavaScript, images and the user agent can each be set per site, and reader mode, translation, a password manager and optional sync cover the basics. An AI panel exists, but it does nothing until you supply your own API key.

The trade-off is trust. Via comes from a small Chinese developer and is closed source, and its Play Store data-safety label says it shares app activity and device identifiers with third parties. It cannot install Chrome or Firefox extensions, and the iPhone app has not been updated since September 2025, which is why we list Via for Android only. On an older or low-storage phone, for someone happy to tinker, it is hard to beat; if you want privacy you can verify, Brave or Firefox is the safer choice.