I've been building two separate privacy-focused browsers under the ROMbug name, each with a different philosophy.
ROMbug Earth is a browser with integrated VPN functionality. The goal is straightforward: encrypted browser traffic, predictable performance, and the ability to see where your connection is being routed.
ROMbug Onion is a separate browser built around the TOR network. Rather than focusing on speed, it prioritizes anonymity through multi-hop routing and identity separation.
I deliberately kept them as separate applications instead of combining both technologies into a single browser. VPN and TOR solve different problems, and I think users should choose the tool that best fits their needs rather than having one application try to do everything.
I'm interested in feedback from the HN community:
Should VPN and TOR remain separate products?
What privacy features do you wish browsers exposed that they currently hide?
Would you prefer transparency about your connection, or should privacy tools stay as simple as a single button?
The project is still under active development, so I'm primarily looking for technical feedback from developers, security researchers, and privacy enthusiasts.
ROMbug Earth is a browser with integrated VPN functionality. The goal is straightforward: encrypted browser traffic, predictable performance, and the ability to see where your connection is being routed.
ROMbug Onion is a separate browser built around the TOR network. Rather than focusing on speed, it prioritizes anonymity through multi-hop routing and identity separation.
I deliberately kept them as separate applications instead of combining both technologies into a single browser. VPN and TOR solve different problems, and I think users should choose the tool that best fits their needs rather than having one application try to do everything.
I'm interested in feedback from the HN community:
Should VPN and TOR remain separate products? What privacy features do you wish browsers exposed that they currently hide? Would you prefer transparency about your connection, or should privacy tools stay as simple as a single button?
The project is still under active development, so I'm primarily looking for technical feedback from developers, security researchers, and privacy enthusiasts.