Why are so many mobile browsers at least 100, if not 200 megabytes in size? Even Firefox Focus which is supposed to be small and, you know, focussed is 85MB big.

The smallest browser I could find was the /e/ Foundation's built-in browser for /e/OS. It's 12MB.

It's kind of between Firefox and Focus in terms of features so why are all other browsers so big? Is there a small version of Firefox for Android?

Edit: I just looked up the /e/ Browser repo on their GitLab and the browser appears to be bigger than the 12MB displayed in App Info. It's about 70MB, so pretty comparable to the other browsers. I was so confused by the size difference but that's cleared up now.

Improvements

App Lounge

• Categories allows to discover way more apps
• If users have to use a Google account, they're advised to use a Google account without any important data

Calendar

• Account added via Calendar can be used within a couple of minute

Translations

• Gallery, Music, Advanced Privacy

Software updates

• We merged bug fixes and security updates from LineageOS 19.1 source code

FP4 Firmware

• Bumped firmware with the May update (FP4.SP29.B.069.20230510)

Bug fixes

Third party app support

• We addressed some issues with in-app Maps display
• We resolved an issue with a large number of markers on the map
• We addressed some issues about network location

App Lounge

• We improved performances when downloading multiple apps.
• "Anonymous connection failed" message no longer appears when there is no internet connection.
• We fixed some UI glitches
• We resolved some crashes

Mail

• Yahoo mail support has been reinstated in /e/OS Mail.
• We fixed some UI glitches

Calendar

• Reminder notifications now appear only as set by the user.

Network

• La Poste's APN is now set properly by default.

Contacts

• It now opens the correct maps app for location details.
• Labels associated with a contact are now displayed correctly in the contact preview.

Dialer

• All contacts properties are now correctly exported to vCard format.

Advanced Privacy

• Newly installed application now appear instantly

/e/OS Notes

• We resolved some crashes

Account Manager

• We resolved some crashes

File Synchronization

• Audio recordings are now properly synced to the cloud.

/e/OS Settings

• We resolved some crashes
• We fixed some UI glitches

Gallery

• We resolved UI regression

FP3

• Safetynet working again on this device

FP4

• Safetynet working again on this device

Security fixes

This /e/OS v1.13 includes the Android security patches available until June.

A few family members use Google for their mobile payment. They are aware of the implications but all alternatives I found are crypto based and not usable for everyday transactions.

Any recommendations?

Improvements

General

• Fix battery drain issue on multiple devices
• Upgrade of Teracube 2e (2020) to Android 11

MicroG

• switching to MapLibre instead of MapBox

Mail

• Upgrade on version 6.703 from upstream

App Lounge

• App lounge automatically detects the source (Gplay/Open Source) of installed app during updates

Camera

• Pictures are now saved by default in a folded called Camera

eDrive

• Update of Icelandic translation

First Time Setup Wizard

• Turn off OEM unlocking during initial setup if bootloader is locked
• We've added the ability to skip the wizard

Bug Fixes

App Lounge

• Fix updates were interrupted when authentification was expired.

eDrive

• We've fixed a broken widget on blisslauncher

Gallery

• Fix some crashes

Advanced Privacy

• Fixed open Advanced Privacy from settings
• Fix toggle for IP spoofing

App Lounge

• Fix No updates available appearing when there are some updates

eDrive

• Fix account switching issue

This version of /e/OS includes the Android Security Patches available until May.

Does anyone read this?