Startpage - Private Browser

Startpage might be my number one browser for iOS. I would always switch between Startpage, and DuckDuckGo, but when DuckDuckGo go added their “free and ALWAYS optional AI”. I migrated to Startpage again. Then Startpage added vanishing AI. So I vanished, but I never got around to uninstalling the app. I had forgotten that I even had it on my phone until I saw an update for it. So I updated it. Opened the app to see if they turned on AI again, and I couldn’t find the settings. So I thought “great now it is baked in”. So I go back to the App Store to see change logs, and that’s when I saw it. Vanishing AI. It was its own entity. No longer apart of the browser. I was so excited that I asked the nice people over at Startpage if they took out AI, And the reply verbatim: “We use to offer StartpageAI as part of the iOS app. We removed that due to extremely low usage, as well as many of our users saying that they did not want AI tied in to our core search product. So to be crystal clear: AI is truly gone from the iOS browser app.” So if you are looking for a no AI browser. Your search has ended. Other developers take note, and read the room. Kudos to the Startpage team. Thank you for listening to your users.

I would love it if you could change shortcut names (I found this interesting, since you can change bookmark names but not shortcut names). You can't arrange or edit items in the 3-dot menu (in my opinion, that would be a big upgrade, since there are some I would like to hide from that area, like the new tab (?). I'm kinda confused why that's even there considering there is a new tab button on the bar. Also, it would be a lot more convenient if the refresh button were on the bar instead of in the 3-dot menu; it would be easier to use. There is no setting to block fingerprinting; maybe it's done by default (?). If not, that would be a huge upgrade, and I would honestly like the ability to see which site is giving the most ads and trackers. This one is extremely nitpicky, but I would absolutely love it if I could manually customize the zoom feature and apply it to every site I ever visit instead of doing it every time I go on a different website I love love love the password manager and anonymous AI

So in all my years I've never actually written a review for an iPhone app before. This one made me stop and have to write. After getting increasingly frustrated with the adoption of generative ai everywhere in search engines, including DuckDuckGo and Ecosia which had previously been reliable, I did a lot of digging and found Startpage as my one search engine that preserved privacy 100%. I've been using it now for a while in Firefox on desktop and loving it! So imagine my surprise and wonder at discovering Startpage has a phone app that eliminates the need to run it in other browsers. After putting the app through its paces checking some of the most ad-ridden sites I know of, while it may not 100% block all ads, it DOES completely block all popups which makes browsing even something as bogged down as the fandom wiki a breeze. It outperforms the Firefox mobile app in this respect. It runs lightning fast, loads pages quickly, and has an easy to use interface. It also delivers search results that are FAR more accurate than Google without sponsored results shoved in first place. Some might think it bare bones, but for me, sick of every company shoving features in my face that I don't want? This app is PERFECT. Thank you, Startpage, genuinely.