Hermit • Lite Apps Browser

Claims of Sandboxing in Other Apps

A long-time Hermit user recently wrote to us,

I used Toby Kurien’s WebApps SandBox browser in my Android phone before I switched over to Hermit, and it has a sandboxing functionlity like yours.

They went on to describe their experience using two web apps at the same time in that other app.

However, in our testing, we found that the app did not offer the privacy feature they described.

Testing the Sandbox Feature: Focus on Simultaneous Use

To test whether an app correctly isolates your web browsing into multiple independent sandboxes, you must test when they are all open simultaneously.

Two (or more) windows should both active in Split Screen mode or Multi Window mode at the exact same time. Switching from one app to another app is not the same as having both run simultaneously, because Android will put the previous app in a stopped state when switching away from it. In Split Screen mode, they truly run at the same time.

Video of Our Tests: WebApps Sandboxed Browser

We tested “WebApps Sandboxed Browser” v4.3, the latest available version as of Nov 14, 2021. Last update was 9 months ago, on Feb 9, 2021.

Privacy Policy?

This is a security vulnerability, and potentially false advertising.

This likely also violates any reasonable privacy policy, but we can’t seem to find their privacy policy.

Compare with Hermit

To see how Hermit compares, here’s a similar video.

Rest assured: Hermit will never mix your sandboxed content with each other!