Amazon’s free official web browser
Silk Browser is a 100% free Amazon-proprietary mobile application for Android and Kindle Fire devices that use split-browser architecture to increase loading speeds. It operates on its cloud system and uses machine-learning algorithms to ensure a smooth experience.
Silky smooth performance
You might enjoy your native mobile browser, such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, or another, more niche alternative. Compared to all these options, Silk operates the same but performs faster. The primary reason for its speed is that it uses its cloud to render the largest part of the web pages.
This approach also reduces the cache size on your device, saving storage space. Finally, its performance doesn’t have latency issues. You won’t face any time lag between a command and its execution since Amazon’s cloud is always open.
Tailored suggestions
Apart from providing a much smoother performance, Silk’s connection to the cloud personalizes your experience. Its machine learning predictive technologies develop your profile. With time, the guesses of which pages you’ll access get increasingly accurate, speeding up performance even further.
Plus, this feature increases convenience, as you get access to tailored content. Making a profile makes each browser visit more personalized than the last.
Privacy and security
All this speed and convenience through the cloud raises issues of security and privacy, though. While Amazon claims it keeps the gathered information anonymous, there’s no guarantee that third-parties can access it with the right authorization.
Plus, you’re never directly interacting with websites, but with Amazon’s cloud. So, the company gets your login information, passcodes, images, and everything else you enter into the apps you’re accessing.
Luckily, you can switch off the cloud features and use Silk as a regular browser. Doing so eliminates the processing power advantages that are the program’s primary selling points, though.
Our take
Overall, apart from the questionable security issues, the Silk Browser is a catch. It runs seamlessly, consumes less bandwidth, and saves your storage space, making it a fast, smooth web browser.
Should you download it?
Yes, if you want to browse using your Kindle Fire device or connect to the Fire TV. However, skip it if you’re worried about privacy.
