Tor Browser 12.0 Adds Apple Silicon Support and Android Improvements

The Tor Project has announced the release of Tor Browser version 12.0, which introduces support for Apple Silicon and several enhancements for the Android version.

The new Tor Browser 12.0 is based on Firefox 102, whereas the previous version (11.5) was built on Firefox 91. This means that all the security fixes, performance improvements, and code enhancements from the latest Firefox Extended Support Release (ESR) are now available in Tor as well.

Native Apple Silicon Support

One of the main new features in this browser version is built-in support for Apple Silicon, specifically devices with M1 and M2 chips. The developers promise that the main advantage of this native support will be improved performance of the Tor Browser on macOS systems.

Tor now uses a universal binary that combines x86-64 and ARM64 builds, automatically selecting the correct version for the platform it’s running on.

Android Version Improvements

The Android version of the browser, which previously suffered from delays in receiving updates and new features, is now catching up with the desktop version.

“Since the beginning of the year, our developers have been working hard to resume regular updates for Android, improve app stability, and synchronize with the Fenix (Firefox for Android) release cycle,” representatives of the Tor Project wrote. “The next step in our Android plan is to bring selected high-priority features, recently launched for desktop, to Android.”

Version 12.0 for Android finally introduces the HTTPS-only mode, which was already available on desktops since version 11.5. This feature allows the browser to automatically switch to the HTTPS version of websites when available.

Another important new feature added to the Android version is “prioritize .onion sites”, which will redirect visitors to the .onion version of a site if it is available.

Multi-Language Support

Finally, Tor Browser 12.0 now supports multiple languages in addition to English, using a language pack download system that replaces the previously used separate installers for different languages. This allows users to switch between languages at any time after installation or install multiple language packs and switch between them as needed.