Astian has released Midori 11.9.3 for Android, and this update does more than fix a few minor bugs. It aims to make everyday browsing feel quicker and less cluttered, with faster page blocking and a lighter app.

The big change with this release is with regard to the ad blocker. We previously reported that Astian teased a built-in ad blocker to replace their old extension, and that’s now live on Android. Previously, the mobile app relied on a JavaScript bridge to run its privacy add-on, which caused noticeable background lag.

With 11.9.3, they threw that bridge out and rebuilt the ad blocker natively in Kotlin. Astian says this brings “better performance, a smaller app size, and faster processing speeds” right out of the gate. You can customize filter lists, set blocking levels, or turn on strict protection in settings.

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In our testing, the ad blocker worked as advertised. We even threw in a few YouTube video tests to see if it would block ads, and it did. This alone makes it better than Firefox’s new ad blocker that went live on iOS.

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The update is also pushing WebApps heavily, trying to offer a genuine alternative to standard phone software. Rather than filling your storage with dozens of chunky Play Store downloads, the app now bundles a catalog of lightweight web apps for services like Discord, Reddit, Telegram, and Spotify.

Astian points out that “there is no need to install heavy applications, as it is a web-based system that takes up very little space on the disk and the phone.” It makes a lot of sense for budget devices where onboard storage fills up quickly, and users can add their own web app shortcuts too.

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Background tab handling got some attention as well through tab hibernation, which quietly puts inactive pages to sleep so they stop chewing through your battery. That ties in nicely with the horizontal tab layout from earlier this month and the tab groups added back in August.

This is part of Astian’s wider effort to build an independent suite of browsing tools. The company recently launched a single account system linking its products and is working on a self-hosted sync service to replace Firefox Sync.

 
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PiunikaWeb’s Take

Rewriting the blocker in Kotlin is easily the smartest move Astian has made on Android this year. Running filters natively instead of routing everything through an extension bridge removes serious overhead, which should make older phones feel much less bogged down.

The WebApps catalog is a nice touch, even if convincing people to abandon dedicated native apps is always an uphill battle. Still, for anyone tired of constant storage warnings and background bloat, Midori is shaping up to be a genuinely practical alternative.

Midori 11.9.3 is available now on Astian’s official repository as well as on the Play Store.

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Dwayne Cubbins
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I cover fast-moving stories across apps, online platforms, and everyday tech — phones, wearables, consoles, and whatever else people are fighting with this week. Bugs, rollouts, scams, policy enforcement, and the occasional internet-culture rabbit hole are all fair game. My goal is simple — make confusing tech news readable. When I'm not working, I'm working out or chilling with my dog. Got a tip? You can find me on X @dcubbins.