Tor Browser 8.5 arrives and the first stable version of Tor for Android

tor-logo

After ten months of development, it arrives a major version of the browser Tor Browser 8.5 which continues the development of the functionality based on the Firefox 60 ESR branch. The browser focuses on ensuring anonymity, security and privacy, all traffic is redirected only through the Tor network.

It is impossible to contact directly through the regular network connection of the current system, which does not allow the user's real IP to be traced (in the case of a browser hack, attackers can access the system parameters of the network, for therefore products such as Whonix should be used to completely block possible leaks).

What's new in Tor Browser 8.5?

In this new version of Tor within its main changes we can find that the panel was reorganized and access to the protection level indicator was simplified with which it was also removed from the Torbutton menu in the main panel. This change to the Torbutton button moves to the right side of the panel.

Another change that can be highlighted is that by default, HTTPS Everywhere and NoScript flags are removed from the panel (can be returned in the panel configuration interface).

HTTPS Everywhere flag is removed because it does not contain useful information and redirect to HTTPS is always the default option. The NoScript flag is removed because the browser provides a switch between basic levels of protection and the NoScript button often misleads warnings caused by settings made in the browser Gate.

The NoScript button also provides access to extensive settings, without a detailed understanding of what changing parameters can lead to privacy issues and inconsistency of the security level set in the Tor browser.

Controlling JavaScript blocking for specific sites can be done through the additional permissions section in the context menu of the address bar (the "i" button).

On the other hand browser styling was fixed and compatibility with the new Firefox layout assured prepared in the framework of the "Photon" project in which the modified and unified layout is for all platforms of the home page "about: tor".

In addition to this, the Tor developers have presented new browser logos, with which it is indicated in the type of version in which the browser is working, the logos are the following:

Logos

First stable version of Tor for Android

Now, regarding the browser version for Android devices, the first stable version of the mobile edition of Tor Browser has been prepared for the Android platform, which is based on the code of Firefox 60.7.0 for Android and allows you to work only through the Tor network, blocking any attempt to establish a direct network connection.

In this version of the browser for Android HTTPS Everywhere and Tor Button plugins are included.

This version of Tor supports working on devices with Android 4.1 or newer version of the platform. Tor developers point out that they do not intend to create a version of Tor Browser for iOS due to restrictions imposed by Apple and recommend the use of Onion Browser, as it is available for iOS.

In terms of functionality, the Android edition lags behind the desktop version, but it provides almost the same level of protection and privacy.

The mobile version is published on Google Play, but it is also available in the form of an APK package from the project site.

Publication in the F-droid catalog is expected in the near future.

How to install Tor on Ubuntu and derivatives?

For those who are interested in being able to install the browser, they are going to open a terminal and in it they are going to type the following.

In the case that they are Ubuntu 18.04 LTS users, we are going to add the browser repository to the system with:

sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list

And we add at the end:

deb https://deb.torproject.org/torproject.org bionic main

deb-src https://deb.torproject.org/torproject.org bionic main

In the case of 18.10 users:

deb https://deb.torproject.org/torproject.org cosmic main

deb-src https://deb.torproject.org/torproject.org cosmic main

We save with Ctrl + O and close with Ctrl + X.

Then we type:

curl https://deb.torproject.org/torproject.org/A3C4F0F979CAA22CDBA8F512EE8CBC9E886DDD89.asc | gpg --import

gpg --export A3C4F0F979CAA22CDBA8F512EE8CBC9E886DDD89 | apt-key add -

And to install the browser:

sudo apt update

sudo apt install tor deb.torproject.org-keyring

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