Frequently Asked Questions

• I am new to Hermit, how do I get started?

  We have a Getting Started guide available for you! Plus, here are a few videos created by our passionate users & impartial reviewers who love Hermit!

  Getting Started → Videos →

• Why do I need Hermit?

  Hermit is a quick way to make web sites “feel” more like apps on Android. Yes, other browsers on Android can also add icons to your home screen. That’s not what Hermit is about. Compare →

Common Problems and Solutions

• What features are not supported in Hermit?

  Hermit supports most modern browser features, including geolocation, file uploads, DRM media, full-screen videos, etc.

  But since it is based on Android WebView, and does not embed its own rendering engine (like Chromium or Gecko), certain advanced features are not possible to support. Read more →

• Unable to login to ___ site

  Hermit’s default settings are strict, because they enhance your privacy and keep you safe. But some sites require you to loosen your security settings for login to work correctly. Typically, you’ll need to turn off the following privacy features:

  • Unblock Popups
  • Unblock Third-Party Cookies
  • Login to Google using Mobile Mode, not Desktop Mode

  Read more →

• Why doesn’t the app recognize that I already purchased Premium?

  Some users have reported problems activating Premium, because of bugs in Google Play Store. Here are some common solutions that work for almost all users. If this still doesn’t work for you, please contact us via the app (Send Feedback) Read more →

• Can Hermit save passwords?

  Yes, you can use the AutoFill service by Google to enable this. But many users have told us that this is not reliable, and we are not 100% sure what the issue is. Read more →

• Why does the app start up so slowly on certain phones?

  Certain Android phone manufacturers kill your apps even when Google recommends that they should not do that. They make changes to the core Android OS with the expectation that it will improve battery life, but not only are those changes not even very effective, but they also break well-written battery-efficient apps. Read more →

• Where did my icons go after rebooting?

  Some launchers, including those made by device manufacturers such as Samsung and Xiaomi, have bugs that prevent them from working well with shortcut icons. We recommend the excellent free Nova Launcher. Read more →

• The requested URL was rejected. Please consult with your administrator.

  Unfortunately we have no idea what that error means, it seems to affect a lot of browsers out there. This is likely from some Web framework that Walmart and Sam’s Club use (and perhaps a few other large sites too?) The error message is cryptic and offers no details about the technical root cause that an engineering team could use to actually diagnose it. We are not sure why it works in certain browsers and not in others: so unfortunately the only thing we can recommend is to reach out to the administrator and ask. But we doubt Sam’s Club will respond.

Known Issues

Hermit uses Android WebView as its rendering engine, which brings certain limitations compared to other browsers that have an in-built rendering engine (e.g. Chrome or Firefox). While we strive to make Hermit as perfect as we can, there are no clear solutions for the specific issues listed below. If your workflow is affected by these, unfortunately we recommend that you might want to consider using another browser instead.

• Pull to Refresh interferes with page scroll behavior on certain sites

  When pull-to-refresh is enabled on certain sites, the swipe action is handled by Hermit, which sometimes leads to broken behavior on the web page itself. Note that this does not affect most sites.

• Some password managers do not work well with Hermit

  While Hermit works well with some password managers, it is not well-supported by others. Read more →

General Questions

• What permissions does Hermit require to function?

  Zero. No permissions are required for Hermit to run. Only if you use advanced features, certain permissions may be necessary. Read more →

• How do I delete a Lite App?

  Lite Apps can be managed through the List View. To delete or manage Lite Apps,

  • Switch from Grid View to List View first, using the icon.
  • For the selected Lite App, press the icon.
  • Then select “Remove”.

• How and why should I update Android WebView?

  For a safe, secure online browsing experience, always keep Android WebView updated to the latest version. Read more →

• Why are all Lite Apps synced at the same Sync Frequency?

  To save battery. Read more →

• Is the source code available?

  No, because we don’t want to encourage copycats who simply take open source code, put their own ads, and re-release the same app. Read more →

• How does Hermit reduce crashes?

  Read more → for how we have achieved a 99.8% crash-free rate!

About Specific Lite Apps

• Can you add my favorite Lite App to the Library?

  Sure, we love to add new Web Apps to our Library, as long as they are mobile-friendly, fast, and light-weight. Read more →

• Can you add Feature X to Lite App Y?

  Hermit is a browser; we don’t control any sites on the Web. You should contact the owner/publisher of a specific site and ask them to add the features you want. Read more →

• Can Hermit create APKs or add apps to the App Drawer?

  Google Play policy does not allow apps to create APKs on the device. You can create your own APKs using source code that we provide. Read more →