Analysis updated 2026-05-18
Browse the web on Android with a very small, privacy-focused app.
Use user scripts and ad filtering without an account or cloud sync.
Manage many tabs efficiently on a low-memory Android device.
Build a strict-size-budget Android app that stays under 500 KB.
| bi-box/median | 2202alejandro/originlab-originpro-workflow-templates | achilles-0/red-giant-trapcode-toolkit-archive | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stars | 56 | 56 | 56 |
| Language | — | HTML | HTML |
| Setup difficulty | moderate | moderate | easy |
| Complexity | 3/5 | 3/5 | 1/5 |
| Audience | general | researcher | general |
Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.
Building from source needs JDK 17, Android SDK Platform 36, and Gradle 8.13, just using the app only needs installing the release APK.
Median Browser is a lightweight web browser for Android built on top of the system's built in Android System WebView component. Instead of building its own rendering engine or bundling a large set of online services, it reuses the rendering, security, and media handling that the device's WebView already provides, and puts its own effort into tab management, privacy controls, downloads, user scripts, and running well on devices with little memory. The project follows a local first design: bookmarks, browsing history, site settings, user scripts, filter rules, and backups are stored on the user's own device by default, with no account system, cloud sync, ad SDK, or analytics SDK involved. The browser supports multiple tabs with pinning, tab freezing, and session restore, along with bookmarks, history, offline page saving, a reading mode, text to speech, translation, and a desktop viewing mode. On the privacy and security side it offers ad filtering subscriptions, tracking parameter cleanup, HTTPS-only browsing, Safe Browsing checks, per-site control over third party cookies and pop-ups, an encrypted password vault backed by Android's secure keystore, and encrypted backups. It also supports user scripts with explicit permission grants and origin checks for higher risk capabilities. Downloads are handled by the browser's own single connection downloader rather than the standard Android download manager, with resume support, automatic retry, accurate progress and speed estimates, and safe handling of file names and types. A performance scheduler offers low power, standard, and extreme modes that adjust how many tabs stay warm in memory and how aggressively background tabs are frozen, tuned for low memory devices. The project provides build scripts including one that fails the build if the resulting APK is larger than 500 kilobytes, and ships documentation covering release checklists, security boundaries, and privacy policy. It targets Android 8.0 and above. The source code is provided for review and building by authorized parties, but the license does not grant rights to copy, modify, or redistribute the code without written permission from the copyright holder. This project is aimed at Android users who want a small, privacy respecting browser without accounts or cloud services, and at developers curious about building a full-featured browser shell on top of WebView within a strict size budget.
A tiny Android browser built on the system WebView that focuses on speed, privacy, and staying under a 500 KB app size.
The source is provided for review and building by authorized parties only, no rights to copy, modify, or redistribute are granted without written permission.
Setup difficulty is rated moderate, with roughly 30min to a first successful run.
Mainly general.
This repo across BitVibe Labs
Verify against the repo before relying on details.