Chrome vs Firefox

Privacy compared: the newest public version of each, scored by the same six rules. Firefox scores 64 and Chrome 63, so Firefox is 1 point ahead.

63of 100

Chromecom.android.chrome

version 154.0.8037.126

64of 100

Firefoxorg.mozilla.firefox

version 158.0.1 ahead by 1

Who is ahead on what

The longer bar is the better one on every axis; a score is the mean of its six axes. The arithmetic behind each is on the app's own card.

Axes: Firefox leads on 4 axes, Chrome on 1 axis; 1 axis is level.
Trackers: Chrome carries none, Firefox 4 trackers; fewer is better.
Dangerous permissions: Chrome may ask for 7 permissions, Firefox for 6 permissions.

The six axes

Each axis is one short rule applied to both apps, with the one thing that decided its number underneath.

Security Firefox +30

Chrome 40 2 security problems found.

Firefox 70 1 security problem found.

Tracking Chrome +59

Chrome 100 No tracking tools found; that does not prove there are none.

Firefox 41 4 tracking tools found.

Build hygiene Firefox +7

Chrome 62 The app passes 8 of 13 checks of how well it was built.

Firefox 69 The app passes 9 of 13 checks of how well it was built.

Packaging level

Chrome 100 The phone can use everything in the app.

Firefox 100 Unpacked, the base APK is 71 MB; 132 KB of it is unused files.

Access Firefox +8

Chrome 40 Asks for 6 of 11 kinds of permission; no special access.

Firefox 48 Asks for 5 of 11 kinds of permission; no special access.

Background Firefox +20

Chrome 34 Runs 5 kinds of background service and starts by itself after a restart.

Firefox 54 Runs 3 kinds of background service and starts by itself after a restart.

TrackersChrome 0 · Firefox 4

The advertising, analytics and attribution SDKs recognised in each app. What only one of them carries is what sets it apart.

Only in Chrome

none

In both

none

Only in Firefox

AdjustFirebase AnalyticsGoogle AdMobMozilla Telemetry

Dangerous permissionsChrome 7 · Firefox 6

The permissions Android asks the user about at run time: the camera, the microphone, the location, the contacts and the like. An app may need one for what it does; asking is not the same as using.

Only in Chrome

READ_CONTACTS

In both

ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATIONACCESS_FINE_LOCATIONCAMERAREAD_EXTERNAL_STORAGERECORD_AUDIOWRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE

Only in Firefox

none

Where this comes from

Both are the apps' public cards: what anyone may know of an app, from its newest public version - one Google Play installed, and out in the world. Each card has the score's lines and the earlier versions: Chrome, Firefox.