Onion Browser Reviews

Onion Browser has been the best Tor Browser alternative for iOS. From what I have seen, it behaves the same way that the PC Tor Browser does, offering many of the same features, security and anonymity. Of the many Tor browsers for iOS I have tried, Onion Browser tales the cake. Knowing that The Tor Project endorses Onion Browser is a huge step forward for Tor use on iOS and mobile platforms I general. Until The Tor Project is able to develop and release the real Tor Browser for iOS and mobile, Onion Browser certainly does the trick. These days, in an extremely mobile world, Tor on mobile is much more important than Tor on a computer, and I believe that most people believe the same. Literally the only issue I have with this browser, is the fact that if OnionBrowser spends longer than a few seconds in the background, it will lose its connection to the Tor Network, forcing us to force quit OnionBrowser and re-launch it. I understand the limitations and the technical stuff with iOS, and that is the reason for this, but if there were a workaround that could be implemented, that would be fantastic. Because of OnionBrowser losing its Tor connection, and requiring a force quit to reconnect, it causes me to lose anything and everything I am doing online, which is a real set back. Other than that, it is the best Tor Browser I have used.

**WARNING**

You can NOT fully disable Java Script on this browser. If you value your security when using the darknet and/or your work requires full anonymity, do not do your work through OnionBrowser. Use the official Tor browser on desktop.

I’ve reached out to the official Tor Project about this and they have advised people to stop using OnionBrowser until the issue is patched because it places people’s anonymity and online security at risk.

It’s been a month that, when visiting security conscious onion websites, I get an alert from the website warning me that Java Script is still on. I’ve disabled java script within the browser manually as well as set the browser to its most secure state (which is supposed to disable java script) but multiple onion websites still detect that it’s not off and warn me. Some websites won’t even allow entrance if your java script it not fully disabled so I can’t even visit websites that are crucial to my college research.

Without this browser being able to disable java script entirely, it totally defeats the purpose and is useless to anyone who values their safety and security on the darknet.

I’ve left a review of this issue in the past but it’s been deleted for some reason. This java script not disabling has been going on for at least a month and there’s been no update to fix it or a comment to at least acknowledge it.

BE WARNED!

Well, OnionBrowser launches, then closes and nothing happens. Yup, I’m browsing so anonymously that even I can’t see the browser itself! Lol. Great job, I bet the next version will be so anonymous that my entire iPad will, poof, maxx level anonymity yo!

Ok but seriously, I thought this was supposed to be the best Tor variant in OnionBrowser Store and its the worst as it doesn’t even stay opened. I just used the very first one on OnionBrowser list when I searched and it turned out to be the best, with the highest rating of 4.8 I believe vs. this one that (prior to my review of 1 star) has a rating of 3.6....that terrible rating made me skeptical to begin with and I should have just gone with my gut as I usually do but I tried to give the benefit of the doubt to Mike since he worked on the original Tor project. Idk what went wrong mike but this is absolutely below sub par, and sub par is already unacceptable. I almost feel like I should be paid for my time to test & evaluate OnionBrowser and leave a review for the amount of time it took. /sigh 😩

Okay a delete and reinstall repaired functional it’s, sorry Onion it’s a noble app by application. And, execution. Educational x10 too.

Now, It fails on open << ever time since 11.5.2 >> if this is going to be a common theme at the AppStore then I trust there is going to be a Great Wave to come crashing in P/E as in recent days but the size is going to be tsunami and final.

Not necessarily your fault their Onion but an ignorance in business is just going to go the way it was imagined we have tort law and consumer protection and agencies to govern these and more than likely as in checkers there’ll be some jumping to Senate as opposed to judiciary digital media and the like laws updated and refined reflecting the standards for trade and brand new ones it’s not a dark day, it’s a a shining moment of truth coming to some and some won’t survive the day. Tough.

There have been several ‘updates’, but the hotlink to NYTimes is still invalid!!! NYT stopped supporting the old version onion link last year. You can use DuckDuckGo onion to search for nytimes, then select the listing that says Breaking News. If you have Onion Browser set to use onion links ( if available) it will automatically use the new NYTIMES onion link. You cannot remain anonymous to report a bug!!! You must signup for a GitHub account to provide feedback or report an error - defeats the purpose of the browser!!!!!!!

I have used this browser in the past and it never met my expectations. I switched over to Or Net and lately I have been having issues with the latter, so I decided to switch back and give this another try and it is the best decision I’ve made. It’s the fastest tor browser I’ve used, faster than my laptop and it’s so simple and user friendly. I suggest you always use a bridge when browsing on the Tor and you should have no issues. I don’t easily trust my fellow men but this but after doing my research on this developer I can say his works prove him to be a trustworthy man who stands with and for the people. He’s not out to make profit. Thank you sir and peace be with you!

If it's APPSTORE APPROVED IT'S USER WORTHLESS‼️
Anything proven to truely be private centered will never be found on / in iOS (stores ) PERIOD! True story !
1. Ublock Origin = gone
2.Matrix = gone
3.Tails = where ya at? = gone
4.Searx = gone
on and on it goes

We are here instead , you're to rely on LIES ; Like, updates = more intrusiveness not security / keynotes = more fluff ie lies / YT sponsored video endorsemented reviews=paid to lie . All of that to scam you into believing { you've got security-privacy}

GPS-Bluetooth -location-location sharing non of this crap turned off by user matters! Always on by default , so what did we expect when OnionBrowser fails like all others …

According to some IOS fan sheep-ol the only security/privacy you'll ever need is to trust the device that you truely do not own! And it's Out of the boxes components to protect you yea right! Good one.

That's why everything is turned on by default eh ?!? FOR OUR PROTECTION HUH! °°¡°°

On n on n on… well the dystopia marches on why because you believe lies, the false need for shiny things ! This is why we can't just freakin search,work, create, enjoy life and the beauty of what the internet should n could be ! Maybe just maybe sheeples will wake up!

The Right to tweak privacy settings would prove you worthy

Much more responsive than the previous OB and the tabbed browsing is great!!! Other reviewers state that they can’t connect to certain websites or any web sites at all.....none of those problems here. I’ve been able to connect everywhere I’ve browsed (although HTTPS Everywhere does limit some unencrypted links, which is what it’s supposed to do). I have had to switch my bridge a couple of times, but that par for the course these days. MT, this is a big step in the right direction for OB on iOS. Keep up the good work. I do have one suggestion : Make it possible to change your identity IP with a button.....like The Tor Browser (if it’s possible on iOS)

So OnionBrowser is amazing and I love it but there’s just one measly thing I have a question about. I’ve downloaded this on my iPhone and it works great, no issues whatsoever except that there is no option to turn JavaScript off. Apparently turning JavaScript off adds to the protection part of OnionBrowser except that there is no such option anywhere. I’ve checked the settings on OnionBrowser and my iPhone but still nothing. Not sure if there truly is one but I’d like for that to be an option if possible. Please and thanks!
Update: I just found where JavaScript blocking was after extensive searching. Apologies for before. OnionBrowser is worth the 5 stars

I agree with the previous review 100%. Behaves exactly like tor on pc. And that tor endorses OnionBrowser to be the best so far for online... privacy. (for the LIFE of me I can’t remember how to spell that word right now ... what is it.... annonomitity? .....no..... annynomitity? ... Nope... wrong again... ananomitity???? .... I give up!)
I’m just writing this review so the developer gets the credit he deserves! Whoever rated OnionBrowser anything less, doesn’t understand tor. It’s a big step forward in the fight for online..... PRIVACY. And SOMEBODY had to make the first move. Those who complain do not have the willpower, motivation or knowledge to do it so be thankful people. Thanks Mike! I appreciate your hard work!

Less than average performance. Yes it’s free, but most people who are involved as advocates for personal privacy don’t do this for gain, but on principle and as a hobby. Three levels of ‘security’... It really doesn’t do much on Top Level Gold security, it just sits there or gives you nothing 99% of the time. What’s the point if you have to give in for less privacy by downgrading your level of protection to less than maximum? Kind of like using a thick condom, but with a patch or small hole in it... might work, but leaves you vulnerable. Too bad it’s not like the desktop version of TOR. I really wanted to like this, but I’m probably dumping it until something more worthy of TOR endorsement comes along. Thanks.

I’ve tried every other Tor app that OnionBrowser Store provides and this is hands down the absolute best by far. It performs just like the Tor browser does on PC. The only problem I have is if I switch to a different app on my phone when I return to the Tor browser it takes me back to the home page and you’ve got to start all over getting back to whatever site you were on. Don’t know if I’m the only one that happens to or not?? Still wouldn’t use any other

For some reason, lower numbers now indicate… MORE security? It’s very unintuitive since bigger numbers are, y’know, larger than smaller ones, and almost everywhere else indicate higher expert levels.

But whatever. This is still the only Tor app for iOS recommended by the Tor project, so you really shouldn’t download any other ones. If you think it’s slow then 1) either you don’t know what Tor is or 2) just ask for a new Tor circuit, duh.

Now if only there were a way to make this your default browser…

OnionBrowser crashes on a regular basis, generally when opening or when typing text longer than a sentence or two. It is INCREDIBLY annoying to have to rewrite the same paragraph three times because OnionBrowser keeps crashing, I’ve started Copying what I’ve written each sentence as a backup.

In addition, on occasion it will just... decide to not create a TOR circuit, leaving me browsing on my own IP. Clicking “create new circuit” doesn’t seem to help, so I have to forcequit OnionBrowser and reopen.

I haven’t explored the alternatives yet, so I can’t say whether OnionBrowser is worse or (heaven forbid) BETTER somehow than its competitors, but currently I’m very displeased.

On Wi-Fi routers, the person who owns the Wi-Fi can look at a log of which websites have been visited. Not here! On Onion, it ends at the first forward slash. This is great when I want to web-search something cringy without anyone knowing. I recommend OnionBrowser to anyone who is worried about being laughed at by the Wi-Fi owner because they like to play , they want to learn about or they can't spell right!

I really like this onion browser for iPhone. The developer updates it regularly. Only a few complaints. First one is that you can’t download things in the tor browser, you have to open in safari, and when you go back to the onion browser your page is gone and you need to start all over, for ever download. Also, sometimes logging into websites simply won’t work on this. If these two things were fixed, I would happily pay up to 1.99 for OnionBrowser and rate it 5 stars.

And crashes whenever you switch to another program. I often need to copy/paste from the notes app so it’s annoying that the browser crashes every time so you have to start over.

Also, I simply can’t find a way to delete cookies and local storage. Even Firefox and Safari have that for their iOS versions.

The DuckDuckGo engine still does not work after the latest May 2020 update. This started happening after the June 2019 update. Any search term put in to the engine elicits a “forbidden” blank page. A few other web pages I tried generate a “forbidden” page as well. Other webpages work, so that has improved.

I have gone to the developer’s page multiple times. I have read about the security issues in iOS, and the security setting recommendations. I’m not a careless user who can’t / won’t figure things out - I’ve had OnionBrowser for at least 4 years...

I can’t comment on whether these situations surrounding DuckDuckGo and “forbidden” are due changes at the iOS level or if it is solely an issue with OnionBrowser . Most likely reason is probably a combination of factors...

The developer seems sincere in his efforts to create a secure browsing environment. Whatever is going on, it’s a shame. OnionBrowser used to work great and I used it a lot...

This is as good as it gets on iOS platform. Browser serves its purpose, blocking spying on a users browsing, secures information sent and received from the mobile carrier (when using cellular network) and from ISP (when connected via wifi).

While it is easier to close tabs, it’s still difficult to press just in a right spot to get the tab closed.

First loaded page still shows for some reason only first six bookmarks and no way to scroll to through the rest of the bookmarks.

When user wishes to load a new page in current tab, instead of loading that new page, browser initiates a new tab. This is odd, confusing and not consistent with traditional behavior of the browsers like Firefox or Tor Browser on a desktop.

OnionBrowser is great due to its reliablity, which is supported by the tor people in an article. However, in the same article, they admit that its showing its age. An example of this is that everytime I "leave a review" by clicking on the prompt, which says that it'll stop showing up when I leave a review, always pops back up. (This is my second review, after a few months of usage.) It's also a bit on the slow side.

As far as I can research, this appears to be a genuine open source port of a tor-tunneled browser to iOS. There exists an article on Ars Technica, but more importantly, Onion Browser is linked as a recommendation on the Tor Project download page, as an alternative for iOS users.

I suspect the reason it has not been fully adopted by the Tor Project, as an official Tor Browser Bundle, is due to certain unavoidable issues with iOS causing IP address leakage - the Onion Browser website currently lists an issue with iOS’ handling of OCSP, and WebRTC, both potentially leaking data outside of the Tor connexion. Perhaps we will have an alternative when iCEPA (Tor on iOS via VPN API) is completed.

As far as more easily solvable problems go, I think it is worth mentioning that the default User Agent does not match that of the Firefox ESR branch as done by TBB; perhaps that is intentional, to reduce the fingerprinting uniqueness of a WebKit browser masquerading as a Gecko one, but I think this should have been explained to the user in the setting description.

Also, the Global Settings option for “Privacy - open in Settings app” does nothing, merely switching to Settings, without opening a specific preference panel/pane.

I downloaded probably ten different Tor apps, and this is the only one that consistently could reach .onion links without some generic error about the webpage not working. I tried the same link in every app, and OnionBrowser is the winner. Only reason its not getting 5 stars is that if the page being loaded is too big, the entire browser just crashes. A bit disappointing, and I hope this is fixed.

Thank you for keeping OnionBrowser updated.

The 2.0 update looks great, but here are some things which I think could be improved:
1) The dark mode has quite low contrast ratio. It might be hard to read for some people.
2) There is no longer an option to reset the connection if something goes wrong. If programmatically force-quitting OnionBrowser (like in v1.0) is no longer accepted by Apple, include a guide for the users. Or just implement re-connection in-app without the need to re-launch.
3) Can’t see a typing cursor in DuckDuckGo search bar, which makes editing queries quite a challenge
4) No Reddit page would load for me. It always ends on the “something went wrong” page.

These are all minor quirks. Thanks again for working on OnionBrowser !

The browser worked pretty much flawlessly until the latest update; however, now every page either times out or throws a “no internet connection” error, even though other browsers connect without issue.

I’m not sure what broke with the update, but I get the same results with or without bridges, and regardless of the security level.

Had you asked me a week ago, I’d have given the browser four to five stars; however, due to the current connectivity and loading issues, it’s unusable, leading to my current one star review.

For years this has been hands-down the best adaptation of TOR to the iOS platform, combining good usability with pretty solid assurance of privacy for many sites. Unfortunately, this week’s update to version 2.3 has made it incredibly cumbersome to use with any site protected by Cloudflare/Recaptcha, even at the moderate security setting. The interminable delays and unreliable results greatly limit its usefulness. I hope the developer can implement the improvements advertised for v.2.3 without sacrificing usability.