Ah thought I saw a Helium browser mentioned recently on HN[0] and thought this was the same thing. So this is not the same as this Helium browser [1]?
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1. desktop-style extensions: natively install any extensions (like uBO) from the chrome web store, just toggle "desktop site" in the menu first.
2. privacy/security hardening: applies the full patch sets from Vanadium (with Helium's currently wip).
Means you get both browsers' excellent privacy features, like Vanadium's webrtc IP policy option that protects your real IP by default, and security improvements such as JIT being disabled by default, all while being a reasonably efficient FOSS app that can be installed on any (modern) android.
It's still in beta, and as I note in the README, it's not a replacement for the full OS-level security model you'd get from running the GrapheneOS Vanadium combo. However, goal was to combine privacy of Vanadium with the power of desktop extensions and Helium features, and make it accessible to a wider audience. (Passkeys from Bitwarden Mobile should also work straight away once merged in the list of FIDO2 privileged browsers)
Build scripts are in the repo if you want to compile it yourself. You can find pre-built releases there too.
Would love any feedback/support!
The cool part about Helium is that it's based on patches, rather than forking the full source code. I don't know how sustainable this is in the long term, but it's an interesting approach for sure.
1. Checkout Chromium's codebase.
2. Make a commit and see how long it takes.
3. Try to push it to any git hosting service.
And yes, being 10s vs 10000s devs in the same repo isn't fun.