Yandex Browser enters beta with a strong focus on privacy

Discussion in 'other software & services' started by avatar, May 21, 2015.

  1. avatar

    avatar Developer

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    Yandex’s browser enters beta, with a strong focus on privacy outside Russia

    And a few words about Stealth Mode extension.

    The major difference between Stealth Mode and popular blockers like ABP, Adguard, Ghostery and others, is that it takes a completely different approach to achieving online privacy. It doesn't physically block all the trackers. Instead, Stealth Mode simply prevents them from collecting any information. This turns into an advantage, because since all cookies and ETags are being blocked, even if a tracker has not been added to the database yet, it still won't be able to get any information, making Stealth Mode a more reliable solution.

    Stealth Mode is not yet available in Chrome Store, but we plan to publish it soon.

    Some words about that version of the Yandex Browser. I know a bit about what they have done in that version and it is really impressive. They have done a lot of work to remove everything that could harm your privacy.
     
    Last edited: May 21, 2015
  2. pegas

    pegas Registered Member

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    Well, you know me ... can you block favicons? :D Just kidding.
     
  3. pegas

    pegas Registered Member

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    How this extension is gonna be coexisting with Adguard for Win and Adguard Chrome Extension? Do you recommend to use it along Adguard? Benefits?
     
  4. avatar

    avatar Developer

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    It does not conflict with any other blocker.

    It's important that SM is completely different. So, let's imagine the situation when AG has not blocked some tracker.
    Maybe it's new and is not on the list yet or maybe it's unblocked because blocking breaks the website.
    In this case SM will prevent tracking of you without blocking the request.
     
  5. pegas

    pegas Registered Member

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    Great! Thanks for the explanation. Will be possible to install (using userscript) this SM extension into AG for Win?
     
  6. avatar

    avatar Developer

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    No, it's for Chromium-browsers yet.

    In future we may add the same (and even more) functions in the desktop app.
    Extension is not allowed to change some requests (for instance it can't change Authorization header which is used for tracking sometimes), and within desktop AG we won't have such restrictions.
     
  7. pegas

    pegas Registered Member

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    OK, using Opera Chromium I will have to use AG for Win and SM extension. :)
     
  8. avatar

    avatar Developer

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    Have you tried Yandex? Feels really different than ordinary browsers.
     
  9. pegas

    pegas Registered Member

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    Not yet but plainly say. Does it have fully customizable speed dial, mouse gestures, password manager with pre-filling, inbuilt dictionaries, keyboard shortcuts and plugins? All these are a must for me.
     
  10. avatar

    avatar Developer

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    Yes for all.

    Speed dial: https://help.yandex.com/yabrowser/overview/tableau.xml
    Gestures: http://help.yandex.com/yabrowser/settings/gestures.xml
    Passwords: http://help.yandex.com/yabrowser/privacy/privacy-settings.xml
    Translation: https://help.yandex.com/yabrowser/features/translators-settings.xml
    Hotkeys: http://help.yandex.com/yabrowser/overview/hotkeys.xml
    Plugins: both chrome store and addons.opera.org are supported
     
  11. pegas

    pegas Registered Member

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    Good and thanks for the links. Then I will give it a try :)
     
  12. pegas

    pegas Registered Member

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    OMG 112 MB installation file? Why?
     
  13. avatar

    avatar Developer

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    I guess standalone installer may be big enough. For example Opera standalone installer is 50Mb.
     
  14. Tyrizian

    Tyrizian Registered Member

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    I am surprised to see no option to add DuckDuckGo as a search engine.

    I would have thought so, considering that DuckDuckGo is in partnership with Yandex.
     
  15. Tyrizian

    Tyrizian Registered Member

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    As for the Stealth extension, any plans to add support/protection against "HTTP Authentication data"?

    The only extension I know of, that is able to fully protect against this, is "Random Agent Spoofer" for Firefox.

    It would be nice seeing this feature implemented for the first time, for a chrome based browser.

    Real Agent Spoofer could be a real good example of what Stealth can become (In my opinion)
     
    Last edited: May 21, 2015
  16. avatar

    avatar Developer

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    Impossible in Chromium-based browsers.

    Will be possible in desktop app only and/or in Firefox add-on when it's ready.
     
  17. avatar

    avatar Developer

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    Maybe beta version bug, I am able to select DuckDuckGo.
     
  18. Tyrizian

    Tyrizian Registered Member

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    Desktop app? Are you talking about into Adguard for Windows/Mac?

    If so, this is a feature that would be quite nice to have and I'll be looking forward to it.
     
  19. Tyrizian

    Tyrizian Registered Member

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    Hmmmm, weird, I didn't get that on my end.
     
  20. avatar

    avatar Developer

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    Yes, as I've told pegas, in AG for Win/Mac we can do much more than in extension.
     
  21. pegas

    pegas Registered Member

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    How to make bookmarks toolbar always visible on every page/tab? Now it is only on the main page but I want to have it pinned to be accessible on every tab.
     
  22. Tyrizian

    Tyrizian Registered Member

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    I must have missed that reply, sorry about that.

    Wow, this makes me glad to have purchased Adguard, makes me excited for what is to come.

    Keep up the great work!
     
  23. Tyrizian

    Tyrizian Registered Member

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    +1 on this one, I would like to see this as well.

    Not only that, I would also like to see a "Home" button somewhere.

    Opera got rid of their Home button and it drives me bonkers that they went without it, I would hate to see Yandex taking the same approach.
     
  24. Tyrizian

    Tyrizian Registered Member

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    *Possible Bug*

    1. Have Adguard extension detect malware sites

    2. Visit a bad site that triggers alert window and notice that two tabs open up with the alert, rather than just one.

    Note: This only happens when a user types a URL without the "www", For example: wilderssecurity.com, instead of www.wilderssecurity.com

    type the full address (with www) and it'll only open one alert window for the site.

    Shouldn't it only open one, regardless if a user types www or not?
     
  25. pegas

    pegas Registered Member

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    OK, my feedback, cons and pros.
    1. + Absolutely smooth import of Bookmarks, passwords etc. from Opera Chromium
    2. + The speed seems to be on par with Opera Chromium
    3. - Speed dial limited to 20 entries
    4. - Bookmark toolbar needs to be placed/pinned somewhere to be accessible on every page
    5. + Keyboard shortcuts and mouse gestures are the same with Opera Chromium thus making very easy transition
    6. + Inbuilt translator
    7. - Colourful tabs
    8. - Installation size is 480 MB while Opera Chromium takes 222 MB.
    9. - Takes a bit more of RAM and CPU than Opera Chromium
    10. - Speed dial entries from Opera aren't imported as speed dials but as bookmarks.

    All in all, it is a very good browser but doesn't give me anything more than Opera. OK maybe Stealth Mode.
     
    Last edited: May 21, 2015
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