The ugly duckling of Android web browsers got an update today which is going to make it slightly more useful. Amazon announced on the Silk developer’s blog that:
Amazon’s web browser is on the big screen. Go to your favourite websites to watch videos, view live events, socialise and shop. Easily control videos and music with Alexa or your Fire TV remote. Silk presents the web in full screen for an immersive experience that's comfortable from your sofa. The Silk Browser was tailor-made for Amazon Devices, which is comprised of the Firestick and other Fire Devices. Previously, internet browsers must be sideloaded from the Downloader application. In any case, presently, we can download the Amazon Silk Browser from the Amazon App store directly. Featuring what Amazon calls a 'split browser' architecture, the 'cloud-accelerated' Silk uses Amazon Web services to offer a faster Web browsing experience. The Silk software resides on both the. Just like any other web browser, the Silk browser also stores cookies and records history of your browsing activity while using the Kindle Fire Tablet. At any time, you can clear browsing history, cookies and cache from the Silk browser on your Kindle Fire Tablet, for privacy or to improve the performance of Silk browser. Silk was made by Yuri Vishnevsky, with music and sound crafted by Mat Jarvis. Art shared with Silk is licensed under Creative Commons. If you enjoyed Silk, please let me know!
In response to customer feedback, we are excited to announce support for Private Browsing. With Private Browsing, you can surf the web without saving a record of your visits. For example, if you use Private Browsing while researching travel destinations for a surprise trip or shopping for presents, these sites will not show up in your browsing history when someone else uses your device.
The new privacy mode is available on all Fire tablets except the original, and it’s also available on the Fire Phone.
The new private browsing mode can be found by tapping the 3 dot icon on the navigation bar (the same bar where you’ll find the search, home, and back icons), and then selecting Enter Private Browsing:
You can exit the private browsing mode by closing the tabs you opened during your browsing session. Silk will prompt you to delete the files you downloaded during the session, which you should probably do.
And now finally we can use the Fire tablets for their intended purpose (porn) without anyone other than your ISP and Amazon being the wiser. (Silk offers the option of performance boosted by Amazon’s servers, and unless you turn that off you’re basically sharing everything with Amazon.)
Just so you know, this is called a private browsing mode for a reason. It’s not a secret browsing mode, by any means, and the sites you visit can still be tracked by your ISP, the websites you visit (cookies), and any sufficiently crafty individual who is using the same public wifi network.
Truly private browsing would require either a VPN or a TOR node, and even that may not be enough. Earlier today a researcher at Columbia University showed that it was possible to track TOR users through traffic analysis.
On the other hand, that requires a lot more work than the average hacker can bring to bear, so perhaps we shouldn’t get too alarmed over it.
Amazon’s free official web browser
Silk Browser is a 100% free Amazon-proprietary mobile application for Android and Kindle Fire devices that use split-browser architecture to increase loading speeds. It operates on its cloud system and uses machine-learning algorithms to ensure a smooth experience.
Silky smooth performance
You might enjoy your native mobile browser, such as Google Chrome,Mozilla Firefox, or another, more niche alternative. Compared to all these options, Silk operates the same but performs faster. The primary reason for its speed is that it uses its cloud to render the largest part of the web pages.
This approach also reduces the cache size on your device, saving storage space. Finally, its performance doesn’t have latency issues. You won’t face any time lag between a command and its execution since Amazon’s cloud is always open.
Tailored suggestions
Apart from providing a much smoother performance, Silk’s connection to the cloud personalizes your experience. Its machine learning predictive technologies develop your profile. With time, the guesses of which pages you’ll access get increasingly accurate, speeding up performance even further.
Plus, this feature increases convenience, as you get access to tailored content. Making a profile makes each browser visit more personalized than the last.
Privacy and security
All this speed and convenience through the cloud raises issues of security and privacy, though. While Amazon claims it keeps the gathered information anonymous, there’s no guarantee that third-parties can access it with the right authorization.
Plus, you’re never directly interacting with websites, but with Amazon’s cloud. So, the company gets your login information, passcodes, images, and everything else you enter into the apps you’re accessing.
Luckily, you can switch off the cloud features and use Silk as a regular browser. Doing so eliminates the processing power advantages that are the program’s primary selling points, though.
Our take
Overall, apart from the questionable security issues, the Silk Browser is a catch. It runs seamlessly, consumes less bandwidth, and saves your storage space, making it a fast, smooth web browser.
Should you download it?
Yes, if you want to browse using your Kindle Fire device or connect to the Fire TV. However, skip it if you’re worried about privacy.
The Amazon Fire Tablet Web Browser: A Full User Guide
Highs
Silk Web Browser In September 2018 Event
- Connects to Kindle and Fire TV
- Above-average performance speeds
- Saves storage space
Silk Browserfor Android
80.5.3.3987.162.10