New Samsung Internet Beta, Introduces Protected Browsing!

Samsung Internet 7.2 brings an engine upgrade and new UI features and better performance on low memory devices.

Get it here:

It is still being rolled out on the play store, so if you don’t have the latest features already it will auto-update by early next week.

New stuff to try!

This is a feature-packed update so take a look at the new upgrades to try out:

Engine Upgrade

The engine has been upgraded to Chromium M59, bringing new Web Platform features such as Web Assembly, Intersection Observer and WebGL2.

These features will be great for speeding up websites and improving the graphics in online gaming.

Protected Browsing

This feature is to warn users from going to sites which may be trying to use trickery to steal information or install malware onto their phone.

It works by checking a hash of the URL with a database of known dangerous sites. Keeping you safe, without risking your privacy.

If a site is detected unsafe it suggests the user to go back to the previous page, but if you think it has been a mistake it is still possible to visit the site. See the image below.

Content Blocker Improvements

To further protect users we have improved access to content blockers, which prevent ads and tracking cookies on websites.

Content blockers can now be installed directly within the browser, making it a single tap to keep you safe.

Because the quick install feature relies on the Samsung Galaxy Apps store it is only available on Samsung phones and tablets, but where it is not available we provide a direct link to the play store where it can be installed.

Samsung Internet has supported Content Blockers since 2016. Watch out for a blog post on how it compares to other browsers’ ad-blocking capabilities soon.

These blockers are in addition to our existing inbuilt tracking blocker powered by ‘Disconnect’ to help further reduce tracking cookies through out the web, preventing malicious websites from tracking how you browse the web.

Interface Improvements

We have revamped the URL bar to make more room for website-specific ambient badges.

When we detect a Web App such as Starbucks (below) we show the ‘Add to homescreen’ button to allow users to install the Web App instantly with a single tap.

Look out for this ‘Add to home screen’ icon.

On news articles we add the ‘Reader mode’ badge. Tapping this will reformat the article to remove distracting bits of the web page to make it easier to read.