Brows

A modern, minimal, Chrome-inspired open-source Android browser with multiple tabs, "open in new tab", NO incognito / private-browsing mode, and NO way to delete browsing history. History is recorded permanently in a local SQLite database.

This project was created to satisfy a very specific set of constraints:

Requirement	How this project meets it
Modern & minimal (Chrome-like)	Clean white UI with a pill-shaped omnibox (security icon + URL + refresh), a thin progress bar, a 5-button bottom toolbar, and a full-screen tab switcher grid. No heavy toolbars, no clutter.
Multiple tabs	Each tab owns its own WebView stacked in a FrameLayout; only the active tab is visible. Tap the tabs button (top-right, with count badge) to open a full-screen tab-switcher grid. Add/close tabs freely.
Open in new tab	Long-press any link → context menu: "Open in new tab", "Open in background tab", "Copy link", "Share link". target="_blank" links and window.open() also open a new tab via onCreateWindow.
No incognito mode	Android WebView's private-browsing constructor was deprecated in API 17 and removed. A plain WebView(this) always uses the normal shared profile. Every tab — including ones created by onCreateWindow — uses the same normal profile and records history identically. There is no "private tab" anywhere in the UI or data model.
No way to delete history	The HistoryDao exposes only insert and select operations. There is no @Delete method and no DELETE FROM SQL anywhere in the codebase. The UI has no "Clear history", "Clear data", or trash button anywhere. The history database file is never deleted or truncated.
Compilable on Windows	Pure Gradle + Kotlin project. Builds with gradlew.bat on any Windows 10/11 machine. No native toolchain needed.
Under 3 GB of storage	Project source: ~5 MB. JDK 17: ~300 MB. Android command-line tools + SDK platform 34 + build-tools: ~1 GB. Gradle distribution (auto-downloaded): ~150 MB. Total well under 2 GB.
Real, functional .APK	Produces a standard app-debug.apk / app-release-unsigned.apk that installs and runs on Android 7.0+ (API 24+).

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Why tabs don't break the "no incognito" guarantee

This is the key design question: if multi-window support is enabled (required for target="_blank" and window.open()), doesn't that allow private browsing?

No. Here's why:

1. Android WebView has no private-browsing constructor anymore (removed in API 17). Every WebView instance — no matter how it's created — uses the same normal shared profile. There is no API to request a private profile.
2. In onCreateWindow, we create a new normal WebView and attach the same HistoryRecordingWebViewClient to it. The new tab records history identically to every other tab.
3. There is no "private tab" / "incognito tab" option in the tab switcher, the overflow menu, or anywhere in the UI. The only way to open a new tab is via the "+" button, target="_blank", or "Open in new tab" — all of which create normal, history-recording tabs.

So multi-tab browsing is fully supported without compromising the core guarantee.

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Why not just modify Firefox or Chrome?

Both are too large to build inside a 3 GB storage budget on Windows:

• Firefox for Android (Fenix) — official docs require ≥ 40 GB of free disk space (firefox-source-docs.mozilla.org/setup/windows_build.html). The GeckoView engine + Rust toolchain + Gradle cache alone exceeds 3 GB before you even start compiling.
• Chromium / Chrome / Brave / Bromite / Cromite — the source checkout is ~30 GB and a full build needs ~100 GB+. Completely out of scope.
• Forking an existing WebView browser (e.g. SmartCookieWeb, Lightning) — possible, but those projects deliberately include a private-browsing mode. Removing every code path that touches it across a large existing codebase is error-prone, and you inherit all of their dependencies.

A custom WebView-based browser is the only approach that genuinely fits all five constraints. Android System WebView (preinstalled on every Android device since 7.0) provides the rendering engine — your app just provides the chrome, the URL bar, and the history database.

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Project structure

android-browser/
├── settings.gradle.kts          ← Gradle project config
├── build.gradle.kts             ← Top-level build (plugin versions)
├── gradle.properties            ← Gradle / AndroidX flags
├── gradle/
│   └── wrapper/
│       └── gradle-wrapper.properties   ← Pins Gradle 8.9
├── gradlew.bat                  ← Gradle wrapper for Windows
├── download-wrapper.bat         ← Fetches gradle-wrapper.jar (binary)
├── setup.bat                    ← One-time env check + local.properties
├── build-debug.bat              ← Builds app-debug.apk
├── build-release.bat            ← Builds app-release-unsigned.apk
├── local.properties.example     ← Copy to local.properties, edit SDK path
└── app/
    ├── build.gradle.kts         ← App module (deps: Room, Material, etc.)
    ├── proguard-rules.pro
    └── src/main/
        ├── AndroidManifest.xml
        ├── java/com/permanentbrowser/app/
        │   ├── BrowserApp.kt              ← Application class
        │   ├── MainActivity.kt            ← Tab manager + Chrome-like UI + link context menu
        │   ├── Tab.kt                     ← Tab data class (id, webView, title, url)
        │   ├── TabCardAdapter.kt          ← Adapter for the tab-switcher grid
        │   ├── WebViewClientImpl.kt       ← Records EVERY page (every tab) into history
        │   ├── WebChromeClientImpl.kt     ← onCreateWindow → new normal tab (no private mode)
        │   ├── HistoryEntry.kt            ← Room entity
        │   ├── HistoryDao.kt              ← APPEND-ONLY: insert + select only
        │   ├── HistoryDatabase.kt         ← Room database (no destructive migration)
        │   ├── HistoryActivity.kt         ← Read-only history viewer
        │   ├── HistoryAdapter.kt
        │   ├── Bookmark.kt                ← Room entity
        │   ├── BookmarkDao.kt             ← Bookmarks CAN be deleted (user-curated)
        │   ├── BookmarkDatabase.kt
        │   ├── BookmarksActivity.kt
        │   ├── BookmarkAdapter.kt
        │   ├── SettingsActivity.kt        ← Homepage, JS, popups (no "clear data")
        │   └── Prefs.kt                   ← SharedPreferences helper
        └── res/                           ← Layouts, strings, icons, themes

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How "no incognito" is enforced (defense in depth)

1. At the WebView API level. WebView(this) uses the normal profile. The old WebView(context, attrs, defStyleAttr, privateBrowsing) constructor was deprecated in API 17 and removed — there is no way to request a private browsing context from Android System WebView.

2. At the window-creation level. Multi-window support is ON so that target="_blank" and window.open() create new tabs. But onCreateWindow always creates a normal-profile WebView with the same HistoryRecordingWebViewClient attached — there is no code path that creates a private browsing context, because the API for one no longer exists.

3. At the UI level. The overflow menu contains only: History, Bookmarks, Share, Settings. The bottom toolbar has: back, forward, home, bookmark, menu. The tab switcher has: tab cards, a "+" new-tab button, and a Done button. There is no "New private tab", no "Incognito", no "Clear data", no "Clear history" item anywhere in the app.

4. At the history-DAO level. HistoryDao has only @Insert and @Query (SELECT ...) methods. There is no @Delete, no @Update, and no DELETE FROM history SQL anywhere. Even if you added a button, there is no DAO method it could call.

5. At the database level. HistoryDatabase is built WITHOUT fallbackToDestructiveMigration(), so app updates never wipe history.

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How to build on Windows (under 3 GB)

Total disk budget

Component	Approx. size
This project source	~5 MB
JDK 17 (Temurin)	~300 MB
Android command-line tools	~150 MB
Android SDK Platform 34 + build-tools 34	~250 MB
Gradle 8.9 distribution (auto-downloaded on first build)	~150 MB
Gradle build cache + .gradle/	~200 MB
Final APK output	~8 MB
Total	~1.1 GB ✅

Step-by-step

1. Install JDK 17.

   • Download Temurin 17 from https://adoptium.net/temurin/releases/?version=17
   • Run the .msi installer.
   • Set JAVA_HOME to the JDK install folder, e.g. C:\Program Files\Eclipse Adoptium\jdk-17.0.11.9-hotspot
   • Open a NEW Command Prompt and verify: java -version

2. Install the Android SDK (command-line tools only, NOT full Studio).

   • Go to https://developer.android.com/studio#command-line-tools-only
   • Download the Windows ZIP (commandlinetools-win-...zip).
   • Create C:\Android\Sdk\cmdline-tools\ and extract the ZIP so that you have C:\Android\Sdk\cmdline-tools\latest\bin\sdkmanager.bat.
   • Open a Command Prompt and install the needed SDK packages:

     "C:\Android\Sdk\cmdline-tools\latest\bin\sdkmanager.bat" --sdk_root=C:\Android\Sdk "platform-tools" "platforms;android-34" "build-tools;34.0.0"

   • Accept the licenses when prompted.

3. Copy this project folder to your Windows machine, e.g. C:\PermanentBrowser\.

4. Run setup (one-time):

   cd C:\PermanentBrowser
   setup.bat

   This checks Java + the SDK, writes local.properties, and downloads the Gradle wrapper JAR.

5. Build a debug APK:

   build-debug.bat

   The APK appears at:

   C:\PermanentBrowser\app\build\outputs\apk\debug\app-debug.apk
   

6. Install on your phone (enable USB debugging in Developer Options first):

   "C:\Android\Sdk\platform-tools\adb.exe" install -r app\build\outputs\apk\debug\app-debug.apk

Building a release (signed) APK

A release APK must be signed before Android will install it.

REM 1. Create a keystore ONCE (remember the passwords you choose):
keytool -genkey -v -keystore permanent.keystore -alias permanent -keyalg RSA -keysize 2048 -validity 10000

REM 2. Build the release variant:
build-release.bat

REM 3. Sign the APK:
"C:\Android\Sdk\build-tools\34.0.0\apksigner.bat" sign --ks permanent.keystore --out app-release.apk app\build\outputs\apk\release\app-release-unsigned.apk

The signed app-release.apk is ready to install on any device.

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Verifying the "no deletion" guarantee

After installing and browsing a few pages:

1. Open the menu → History. Every page you visited is listed with a timestamp.
2. Long-press any entry. Nothing happens — there is no context menu, no "Delete" option, no trash icon.
3. Open the menu → Settings. There is no "Clear browsing data", no "Clear history", no "Clear cache" toggle.
4. Force-stop the app and reopen it. History is still there.
5. (Optional) Inspect the database on a rooted device or via adb:

   adb shell run-as com.permanentbrowser.app ls databases/
   adb shell run-as com.permanentbrowser.app sqlite3 databases/permanent_history.db "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM history;"

   The count only ever goes up.

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Customising

• Homepage: Settings → Homepage field.
• App name / icon: edit res/values/strings.xml and res/drawable/ic_launcher_foreground.xml.
• Block more: add a URL filter inside HistoryRecordingWebViewClient.
• Export history: add a new @Query to HistoryDao (read-only is fine) and an export button. Do not add a delete method — that would defeat the purpose of this browser.

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License

This source is released under the MIT License. See LICENSE if present, or treat it as MIT. The AndroidX / Material / Room / Kotlin dependencies retain their own licenses.