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Epic Browser is a well-liked privacy-centric internet browser constructed on the Chromium codebase and launched in 2010. It’s owned by an Indian software program firm referred to as Hidden Reflex, based by Alok Bhardwaj.
Together with tons of privateness options, its largest USP is its easy and approachable interface that makes it simple to make use of for most individuals.
On this evaluate, we’ll cowl Epic’s options, privateness insurance policies, and professionals and cons intimately — know the whole lot it’s important to earlier than you determine if it is the best browser for you.
Epic Browser: Options
Epic is all the time in non-public shopping mode, which suggests exiting the browser deletes all browser information. The browser is predicated on Chromium, which the builders declare to have sanitized by eradicating Google’s monitoring code.
Third-party cookie monitoring is disabled by default, and its builders declare the browser is effectively outfitted to guard towards every kind of fingerprinting methods.
Epic’ headline options are its uBlock-based ad-blocker, and the encrypted proxy that encrypts and routes visitors between your laptop and the web, masking your location for added privateness. The proxy has nodes in seven nations together with the US, the UK, Canada, Singapore, Germany, France, and the Netherlands.
The Epic browser comes with a “Reader” mode that permits you to convert internet pages into plain textual content, making it simpler so that you can skim by way of the paragraphs. Plus, this mode is not cluttered with pointless advertisements or photographs, both. This function is ideal for you if you would like your focus solely on the written textual content with no distractions by any means.
Along with Windows and macOS, the browser can also be accessible for Android and iOS gadgets. The Android model of the browser affords some extra features, such because the “Audio Queue” function that’ll use Android text-to-speech operate to learn out the textual content on queued webpages.
Epic Browser: Privateness
The very first thing Epic Browser does to maintain your on-line actions non-public just isn’t retailer your shopping information.
What’s extra, all third-party cookies, annoying advertisements, and even fingerprinting makes an attempt by hackers are blocked — Epic ensures you get a clear and clutter-free surroundings to work with day-after-day.
Moreover, it comes with a built-in encrypted proxy that hides your IP deal with from everybody, making it unattainable for anybody to trace you.
The browser makes use of two search engines like google and yahoo, with the default being Yahoo. Whereas the browser encrypts all search queries to Yahoo, the search engine, and some different Yahoo web sites, bypass each its proxy and ad-blocker.
If that spooks you, use the browser’s EpicSearch search engine that strips all of your private info earlier than passing in your search question to a search engine. Nonetheless, EpicSearch comes with a price ticket and prices $2.50/month.
Epic Browser: Ease of use
The browser’s interface is the usual fare. There’s a outstanding search bar in the course of the display. Like Brave, Epic visualizes privateness protections by displaying stats in regards to the variety of trackers and fingerprinting makes an attempt it has blocked.
Not like different browsers, Epic doesn’t ship with a set of favourite web sites of its personal, and as a substitute provides you the choice to plug those you go to most frequently.
Under the search bar, you get hyperlinks to some widespread browser features. There’s one which’ll take you to the browser’s privateness and safety settings, and one other to allow/disable Epic’s advert blocker, and encrypted proxy extensions. You’ll additionally be capable to change to the paid EpicSearch search engine from the dashboard itself.
For those who’ve enabled the 2 Epic extensions (advert blocker, and encrypted proxy), you’ll get buttons to regulate their habits subsequent to the deal with bar. As an illustration, you need to use the encrypted proxy’s icon to vary the nation.
Subsequent to those plugin buttons, you’ve got a button to toggle the aspect panel that may both show your bookmarks, or studying listing of saved articles and internet pages that you may learn later or when offline.
Epic Browser: Rivals
Epic appears to be competing on two standards — usability and privateness. When it comes to usability, it isn’t a lot completely different from its friends. Due to the browser’s Chromium-base, you shouldn’t face any points switching to it from one other browser.
When it comes to privateness and person safety, Epic is up there with one of the best. Its encrypted proxy function is free to make use of and offers you the choice to change between 7 completely different nations. Opera’s VPN is free to make use of as effectively, however doesn’t supply as many nations. Equally, Edge too has a free VPN, however it comes with a month-to-month utilization cap.
Equally, identical to Courageous, Vivaldi, and Opera, Epic too ships with a built-in advert blocker, and has a number of protections to thwart makes an attempt to fingerprint you.
Nonetheless, moreover the ad-blocker and encrypted proxy, Epic doesn’t have any extensions of its personal. As a substitute it falls again on its Chromium-base to say compatibility with just about the entire extensions of the Chrome Internet Retailer.
Epic additionally lacks efficiency settings like the power to place inactive tabs to sleep that you just get with most of the prime browsers akin to Chrome, Edge and Firefox. It additionally doesn’t have any AI-powered assistants which might be turning into a norm in mainstream browsers.
Epic Browser: Last verdict
Attempt Epic if on-line safety is paramount. It’s one of many few browsers with a built-in encrypted proxy that hides your IP address. Turning on this function will make it unattainable to your ISP, authorities officers, and even hackers to comply with you across the web.
The Epic browser can also be fairly simple to make use of and comes with a navigable interface.
New customers received’t should muck about its settings to benefit from its privacy-centric options, which is a particular plus.
Nonetheless, it’s additionally vital to do not forget that the browser lacks a few of the options that we’ve got come to anticipate from modern-day internet browsers, akin to an AI-powered assistant. However for those who can stay with out these comfort options, Epic is an effective possibility for privateness acutely aware customers.