Orbot – A new Android anonymous browsing tool

Several days ago, another Android application for anonymous browsing was released: Orbot. The Android app manages installation, bundles the Tor binary, provides the user interface and contains a built-in HTTP proxy.

“We have successfully ported the native C Tor app to Android and built an Android application bundle that installs, runs and provides the glue needed to make it useful to end users…. secure, anonymous access to the web via Tor on Android is now a reality,” writes Guardian Project team member Nathan Freitas.

Better than TorProxy

The development team believes that their C implementation is significantly better than the Java-based ports of Tor (like TorProxy). This translates to a better experience for the user, with no noticeable increase in battery drain or lag on the rest of the device while Tor is running in the background.

Developers would like to get Orbot ready for a 1.0 release as soon as possible and they are looking for some volunteers to lend a hand. The team also needs help modifying the privacy-focused Android browser, Shadow to make it work with Orbot’s HTTP proxy. If you want to help them leave a comment on Nathan Freitas’s blog.