Pixel, Nexus Handsets Now Get Non-Beta Samsung Internet Browser

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The Galaxy line of handsets already runs the Samsung Internet Browser, which the Korean firm developed for its Android devices. Non-Galaxy devices were only able to access the beta version of the app, but now, Samsung has completed the beta testing and released the latest stable version of its browser for Google’s Nexus and Pixel handsets.

How the Samsung Internet Browser is different

A common thread between Google Chrome and the Samsung Internet Browser is that both are based on Google’s open-source browser project commonly referred to as Chromium. However, the Korean company designed its app to look and perform differently than Chrome.

Samsung’s browser stands apart because it offers a large number of features that are not yet available on Chrome, bringing a completely new and unique kind of feel to users. The most lucrative and useful of those features is the floating Quick Menu button and privacy-focused search engine DuckDuckGo, notes PhoneArena. The former allows users to perform various tasks such as changing the text sizes of web pages, opening new tabs and sharing pages with ease, while the latter ensures safety and privacy for users.

Samsung has taken extra care to ensure shoppers’ safety, and hence, it has included a new Web Payments API. Users will also get suggestions for the best available Amazon deals, as the app integrates Amazon Shopping Assistant. Samsung’s app also integrates the Video Assistant to easily switch between various viewing modes while watching videos. The browser is not only fast but also supports a limited set of extensions, including an ad blocker which helps filter out ads.

Supports Galaxy, Nexus and Pixel handsets for now

Samsung has historically made its Android apps available on its own devices only, but it changed course when it made a beta version of the Samsung Internet Browser available to Nexus/Pixel devices as well on the Play Store. Now it has followed it up with a stable version. Along with the Nexus and Pixel handsets, it is compatible with Artem’s Huawei Ascend Mate 2, notes AndroidPolice.

Samsung released the beta version of the browser in March to test new features before making them publicly available. With the beta version of the browser, the Korean firm debuted a new feature for Physical Web support called CloseBy. The feature lists websites for points of interest in the user’s vicinity.

For now, the stable build of Samsung Internet Browser can be used on Pixel and Nexus handsets running Android 5.0. Users can easily download the browser from the Google Play Store or APKMirror. As of now, there is no information on when (or if) the Samsung Internet Browser will start supporting other Android devices.

In separate news, Samsung’s yet-to-be-launched Galaxy J5 (2017) has now popped up on German retail websites after being leaked in images and videos last month. Several German online retailers are now taking pre-orders for the handset, which has been priced at EUR 279.

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