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Privately browse the internet from your iPhone or Android with this app
We like to share tips with you on new apps that come to our attention, especially if they protect your data and create a safer environment for using your computers and smartphones. This one’s not new to the market by any means — it’s been around since 2009 — and it works on both iPhones and Android-powered smartphones.
The app is called Ghostery, and it allows you to search and use the internet as a phantom, leaving no trace behind. Ghostery, according to the developer’s website, never shares your data with third parties.
We like the app because it’s fast, simple to use and, best of all, it’s free.
How Ghostery works
Ghostery’s default search engine is DuckDuckGo, which we’ve written about several times on Komando.com. Go to Settings and select Complementary Search, and you’ll see that the app also works with Amazon, Bing, Google, Twitter and Wikipedia. If you’re looking for total privacy, though, stick with DuckDuckGo. It never tracks you and serves ads based on your keyword search terms, not based on data it’s collected about you.
To use Ghost Search, type in what you are searching for in the search bar, and Ghostery composes a list of the top three websites that correlate with what you are searching.
The Ghostery app also has a Smart Tab option. Just open a new tab, and you will find a variety of items from trusted sources along with links to commonly visited websites. You can also use the built-in password manager with support from FaceID on iOS and fingerprint scanners, for even more privacy protection.
The app features an ad blocker, which is great on a mobile device because ads can slow down content load times. Click Overview, and you’ll see how many ads were blocked on a page.
More things to do with Ghostery
If you don’t have unlimited data usage through your wireless carrier, Ghostery allows you to load images only over Wi-Fi, and you can opt to keep auto-play videos from playing. iOS users have the option to download YouTube videos for later viewing.
You can download Ghostery on the Google Play store and the App Store. You can also increase privacy on your internet browser with the Ghostery extension available for most popular web browsers including Firefox, Chrome, and Safari.
If you love Ghostery for your phone, you might want to check out the browser extension for your computer or laptop. We tested it out on Chrome, and it worked nicely as an ad blocker. Just remember to whitelist Komando.com. We love our sponsors, and without them, we wouldn’t be able to bring you this helpful content!
Related: Best Google search alternatives
Google is the go-to site for billions of searches every day, but you have options. Kim covers several of those options in this half-hour episode of Komando on Demand.
Tags: Amazon, Apple iPhone, Google, web browsers
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