94 ANDROID ADVISOR • ISSUE 50HOW TO
private or incognito mode, which promise to forget
any sites you’ve visited, but these are not quite as
safe as they might sound.
While the searches won’t be stored on your
device, they will still be visible to your Internet Service
Provider, the websites you visit, or your employers if
you’re using a work connection.
Also, any downloads you make remain in your
downloads folder after you’ve finished browsing, so
you’ll need to remove those manually.
If you only want to keep things private from other
members of your household then the private modes
are fine. If you want to keep things private to the
parties we’ve mentioned above then you’ll want to
use a VPN service as well. We’ll cover that below.
To enable the private mode on your browser follow
these instructions.Chrome
On Chrome you’ll find it in the upper right corner
with the icon of three dots. Tap this, then select
New incognito tab from the menu. The frame of the
browser will now be dark and you’ll see a little hat and
glasses icon in the status bar at the top.Edge
In Microsoft’s Edge browser you’ll need to tap the
three dots in the bottom right corner, then select New
InPrivate tab from the options that appear.Firefox Focus
While the normal Firefox browser has a private mode,