DuckDuckGo Private Browser

DuckDuckGo

About this app

The DuckDuckGo app provides the most comprehensive online privacy protection with the push of a button. With one free download, you get an everyday private Internet browser that offers seamless protection while you search and browse, and access to tracking protection for emails you receive and apps you use. Many of these protections are not offered in most popular web browsers by default.
 
FEATURE HIGHLIGHTS
Search Privately by Default – DuckDuckGo Private Search comes built-in, so you can easily search the web without being tracked.
 
Block Tracking Cookies While Browsing – Prevent most 3rd-party Internet cookies from tracking you as you browse online.
 
Escape Website Trackers Before They Load – Automatically stop most hidden trackers (3rd-party scripts) from loading, which prevents companies from collecting and using any personal data from these trackers. Stay secure with our cutting-edge tracker-blocking technology – 3rd-Party Tracker Loading Protection, which goes above and beyond what you get in most popular web browsers by default.
 
Automatically Enforce Encryption – Force many sites you visit to automatically use an encrypted (HTTPS) connection, which helps shield your data from Wi-Fi snoopers and network onlookers like your Internet provider.
 
Block Email Trackers (Beta) – Over 85% of emails sent to Duck Addresses (@duck.com) contain trackers that can detect when you’ve opened a message, where you were when you opened it, and what device you were using. Email Protection makes it easy to block most email trackers and hide your existing address when signing up for things online, all without switching email providers.
 
Protect Your Privacy in Other Apps (Beta) – Block most hidden app trackers in other apps day or night, and prevent third-party companies from invading your privacy with App Tracking Protection. This feature uses a VPN connection, but is not a VPN. It works locally on your device and does not collect personal data.
 
Escape Fingerprinting – Help stop companies from creating a unique identifier for you by blocking their attempts to combine specific information about your web browser and device settings.
 
Block Tracking Cookies – Prevent most third-party cookies from tracking you as you browse online from website to website.
 
We feature many protections not available on most Internet browsers (even incognito browsers), including protection from link tracking, Google AMP tracking, and more.
 
EVERYDAY PRIVACY CONTROLS
Tap Fire Button, Burn Data – Clear your tabs and browsing data fast with our Fire Button.
 
Signal Your Privacy Preference with Global Privacy Control (GPC) – Built in to our app, GPC intends to help you express your opt-out rights automatically by telling websites not to sell or share your personal information. Whether it can be used to enforce your legal rights (for example, current or future CCPA, GDPR requirements) depends on the laws in your jurisdiction.
 
Note about our 3rd-Party Tracker Loading Protection following DuckDuckGo ad clicks: Our 3rd-Party Tracker Protection goes above and beyond what you get in most popular browsers by default, but we’re constantly working to make it more comprehensive. Currently, if an advertiser wants to detect conversions on their own website for our private DuckDuckGo search ads, our 3rd-Party Tracker Loading Protection will not stop bat.bing.com requests from loading on the advertiser’s website following DuckDuckGo ad clicks, but those requests are stopped in all other contexts. This is because DuckDuckGo private search advertising is in partnership with Microsoft. As part of that partnership, viewing ads on DuckDuckGo is anonymous and Microsoft has committed to not profile our users’ ad clicks.
 
Read more about this and our free Tracking Protections at https://help.duckduckgo.com/privacy/web-tracking-protections

Ratings and reviews

I had to reinstall this app. Now I can't get rid of the repeated notice on the homepage ("Now try visiting one of your favorite sites" blah blah blah). And Favorites icons no longer appear on the homepage (only the aforementioned stupid notice does). Most settings are buried 2 steps under Private Search (not intuitive at all). What happened to this app??

It's great at blocking ads and popups and protecting my privacy. However. The fact that the virtual keyboard appears whenever the app is launched is really really annoying.. The keyboard then covers the lower third of my favorites. Update: the logo for one of my favorites now shows up on several other favorites, replacing those with its own. In other words, the logo for website "A" is also used for "B", "C" and "D". Blocking ads is great but the subsequent battery drain? Not so much.

5 stars so far! Love it as an unbiased alternative to Google. I remember using duck duck go 10+ years ago and it was okay but it's so much sleeker. Criticisms: I really wish I could group tabs together (like the chrome app). I also really miss being able to highlight a word and instantly search or see the definition (like the chrome app). Hopefully we see more updates in the future, but for right now I will continue using duck duck go as my primary search engine

What's new

What's new in this release?
Bug fixes and other improvements

Join our fully distributed team and help raise the standard of trust online! https://duckduckgo.com/hiring

Have feedback?
You can always reach us at https://duckduckgo.com/feedback.