Ungoogled Chromium: Enjoy Chrome Without Google Services, Much Faster and Private
Ungoogled Chromium is essentially Google Chromium, but without any dependency on Google web services. It offers some additional tweaks to improve privacy, control, and transparency, although many of these features need to be manually activated.
Unlike other Chromium-based browsers that come with their own unique features, Ungoogled Chromium stays as close as possible to the original Chromium experience.
It acts as a drop-in replacement, making it a seamless switch for those looking for enhanced privacy without a drastic change in their browsing habits.
Even without signing into a Google account, Chromium performs reasonably well in terms of security and privacy.
However, it still has some reliance on Google web services and includes binaries that can raise privacy concerns. Additionally, Google prioritizes ease of use and user-friendliness, often at the expense of transparency and control over how the browser operates behind the scenes.
Ungoogled Chromium tackles these issues by:
- Removing all background requests to any web services during both the building and running of the browser.
- Eliminating all code related to Google web services from the source.
- Replacing pre-compiled binaries with alternatives provided by the user whenever possible.
- Disabling features that limit user control and transparency.
- Introducing features that promote user control, though most of these require manual activation.
Benefits of Using Ungoogled Chromium:
- Increased Privacy: With all Google-specific elements removed, users can browse without worrying about background requests to Google services.
- More Control: The browser puts control back in the hands of users by requiring manual configuration, making it ideal for privacy-conscious individuals who want to customize their browsing experience.
- Transparency: By disabling pre-configured features and using open-source alternatives, Ungoogled Chromium ensures that you know exactly what’s running under the hood.
- No Compromises on Speed or Usability: You still get the fast and efficient browsing experience of Chromium without Google's involvement.
In short, Ungoogled Chromium is perfect for those who want a Chromium experience but with more control over their data, increased transparency, and no reliance on Google services.
Features
- Privacy Focused: Enjoy a browsing experience without reliance on Google services, keeping your data private and secure.
- No Google Account Required: Use the browser without needing to sign in to a Google account, giving you more control over your information.
- Minimal Background Requests: The browser eliminates background requests to Google web services, ensuring your activities remain private.
- User-Centric Control: Customize your browsing experience with features that require manual activation, allowing you to tailor the browser to your needs.
- Transparency: Gain insights into how the browser operates, as it removes features that hinder user understanding and control.
- Open-Source: Built on open-source principles, you can review the source code and contribute to its development, ensuring community involvement and trust.
- Custom Alternatives: Replace pre-compiled binaries with user-provided alternatives, enhancing flexibility and choice.
- Familiar Interface: Enjoy the familiar and intuitive Chromium interface, making it easy to switch from other browsers without a learning curve.
- Security Improvements: Benefit from enhanced security features that reduce vulnerabilities and protect your browsing experience.
- Regular Updates: Stay current with regular updates, ensuring you have the latest features and security improvements.
Why Choose Ungoogled Chromium?
With its focus on privacy, control, and transparency, Ungoogled Chromium offers a safe and customizable browsing experience without sacrificing usability.
The new browser is perfect for anyone looking to enhance their online security while still enjoying the familiar feel of Chrome!
Download
You can download it for Linux, Windows, macOS, either from the official binary or third-party community supported binaries.
The browser is also available for Linux distros as a Flatpak package.
- Arch Linux: Available in AUR & OBS
- Debian & Ubuntu: Available in OBS
- Fedora: Available in COPR as wojnilowicz/ungoogled-chromium. Also available in RPM Fusion as chromium-browser-privacy (outdated).
- Gentoo: Available in ::pf4public overlay as ungoogled-chromium and ungoogled-chromium-bin ebuilds
- OpenMandriva includes ungoogled-chromium as its main browser. The
chromiumpackage includes all ungoogling patches.
For macOS users, they can download it using Homebrew with the following command:
install --cask eloston-chromiumLicense
BSD-3-clause
Resources & Download
ungoogled-software
