Violoncello - Text Browser

Tectra Systems

In-app purchases

About this app

Meet Violoncello, a powerful text-only web browser for Android! This app is great for reading text-heavy webpages such as articles and blog posts, as it removes annoyances such as ads and videos. It's easy to share websites in your main browser to Violoncello, and you can bookmark websites for easy access within the app.

Violoncello offers several settings and tweaks, and you can upgrade to the premium version to change the font and the text, background, navigation bar, and loading spinner colors. With a wide variety of features, customization options, and a simple user interface, Violoncello is a great way to read content on the web without distractions!

Ratings and reviews

I love this app, and would give it a 5/5. I use it to check local news websites, because all I get is the text, without any of the annoying ads or banners or pop-ups, etc. It saves so much data too! Minus 1 star because, as others have said, when I go to type in the address bar the Google keyboard covers it up and there's no way to see what I'm typing. also I noticed that the app covers up the very top of the Android screen, so text will overlap the time and the battery percentage, etc.

Amazing web browser. Used to be my favorite. Downloaded it on a new phone, though, a 2025 Moto G, and it's hardly usable. The url bar hides behind the tri-button bar on bottom (∇ 0 □) so there's only a sliver of room to tap it to begin searching. Miss, and I'm closing the app or leaving the page I'm on. Hit where I'm aiming, now the url bar is covered by the keyboard so I can't see what I'm typing. Together, these two make the app fairly unpleasant to use.

Easily the fastest web browser on Android! Great for reading long articles without distractions. A small fee unlocks customization options, which I expect will make night reading much easier (even compared to having a screen tinter over a regular browser). Sure, you can use Termux and install links2 for the same basic idea, but this Violoncello is actually designed for a touch UI, and I find it much more pleasant to use between the two.

What’s new

Premium info updated.