Most default OEM (original equipment manufacturer) browsers are average at best. However, Samsung has put more effort into making Samsung Internet stand out against Chrome and the other third-party web browsers in the Play Store.

Samsung Internet isn't limited to the top Samsung Galaxy phones. Anyone can download it from the Google Play Store. If you plan to do so, read along to learn about the best Samsung Internet tips to up your web-browsing experience.

1. Customize open tabs style

Samsung Internet doesn't limit you to using the default tab switcher style. The company offers three options to view your open tabs: List, Stack, and Grid.

  1. Open Samsung Internet on your phone.
  2. Tap the Tabs menu at the bottom.
    open-tabs-menu
    open-more-menu-tabs
  3. Select the three-dot menu at the top and tap View as.
  4. Check the tabs preview and select a radio button below List, Stack, or Grid.
    select-view-as
    change-tab-style

2. Use group tabs

This is similar to a feature from Safari on iPhone. When dealing with dozens of tabs on your phone, no amount of style tweaks will save you from continuous scrolling in the tab switcher menu. Instead, create tab groups and neatly organize web pages.

  1. Launch Samsung Internet and open the Tabs menu.
  2. Tap the three-dot menu at the top and select Group tabs.
    open-tabs-menu
    select-group-tabs
  3. Select the radio button beside the tabs you want to add to a group.
  4. Tap the Group icon and add a relevant name.
  5. Tap the Create button. Samsung Internet creates a new group with selected web pages.
    select-group-icon

3. Check the privacy dashboard on Samsung Internet

Samsung Internet's privacy dashboard will surprise you with details like how many trackers follow you and collect your browsing history to offer targeted advertising. While browser cookies remember your interactions with a website, they are often used to track you. There's a reason your Amazon wishlist follows you everywhere on the web.

  1. Open Samsung Internet and select the More menu (it looks like a hamburger menu) at the bottom.
  2. Select Privacy.
    open-hamburger-menu
    open-privacy-menu
  3. Make sure Smart anti-tracking is enabled, and check other privacy add-ons designed to protect you from interruptions.
    privacy-dashboard

4. Change the address bar position

This is another function Samsung borrowed from Apple. Like Safari, you can customize the address bar position on Samsung Internet. By default, the address bar is at the top, which can be hard to reach for some. You can move the address bar position to the bottom for better accessibility.

  1. Tap the More menu in Samsung Internet and open Settings.
    open-hamburger-menu
    samsung-internet-settings
  2. Select Layout and menu.
  3. Tap the radio button below Bottom and move the address bar position.
    open-layout-menu
    layout-bottom

5. Enable dark mode

If you browse the web at night, Samsung Internet's dark mode can come in handy. When you enable dark mode, Samsung Internet darkens most elements on your screen. The practice improves your reading experience and battery life on phones with AMOLED displays.

  1. Open Samsung Internet settings (refer to the steps above).
  2. Select Webpage view and scrolling.
  3. Open Dark mode menu.
    open-website-view
    open-dark-mode
  4. Select Use Dark mode and set it to be enabled or match your phone's default theme.
    use-dark-mode

You can customize webpage brightness in dark mode as well. Samsung's implementation is more aggressive than other browsers, and it might sometimes leave you with hard-to-read broken web pages.

6. Disable the news feed

Samsung Internet's quick access menu comes with a useless news feed. You can disable it if you don't want to see it.

  1. Open Samsung Internet and tap the Edit button beside the Quick access menu.
  2. Select the radio button beside None, and you are good to go without any news articles on the homepage.
    select-edit-menu
    disable-news-feed

7. Enable Secret mode

Secret mode is Samsung's take on private or incognito mode offered in other browsers. Secret mode provides extra privacy protection by erasing cookies and browsing history for the websites you visit. You can lock the Secret mode with a password or biometrics.

  1. Go to the Tabs menu on Samsung Internet (refer to the first tip).
  2. Tap Turn on Secret mode and tap the Start button from the following menu.
    open-tabs-menu
    turn-on-secret-mode-1

When you save pages and bookmarks in Secret mode, the data is only visible in Secret mode.

8. Change the search engine in Samsung Internet

Samsung Internet uses Google as its default search engine. You can change it to Yahoo, Bing, or DuckDuckGo.

  1. Open Samsung Internet settings (check the steps above).
  2. Select Address bar search.
  3. Tap your preferred search engine to browse the web.
    open-address-bar-search
    change-search-engine-samsung-internet

You can select Add search engine and check other options like Yandex, Seznam, Qwant, and others. If you only want to browse a specific query in another search engine, you can easily do so from the search bar.

Tap the search bar and select the default search engine icon. Select another search engine, and type your queries.

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change-search-engine-search-bar

9. Use Video assistant

If you plan to watch videos on Samsung Internet, you can't go wrong with this one. The built-in video assistant offers extra controls such as view full screen, view on TV, open pop-up player, and rotate screen in supported videos.

  1. Open Settings in Samsung Internet (check the steps in the third tip).
  2. Scroll to Useful features.
  3. Enable the Video assistant toggle, and the extra control appears.
    useful-features
    enable-video-assistant

The Video assistant also comes with intuitive gestures to improve your video experience. For instance, you can swipe up or down on the left side of the screen to change brightness, swipe up or down on the right side to play with media volume, double-tap on the right side to fast-forward a video by 10 seconds, and double-tap on the left side to rewind it.

10. Check your video history on Samsung Internet

Thanks to Samsung Internet's excellent video assistant, you might end up watching hundreds of videos in the browser. You can track your watching habits from the video history menu.

  1. Tap the More menu at the bottom and select History.
  2. Go to Video history and check your watched videos in the app.
    samsung-internet-history
    open-video-history

11. Change the text size

The default text size on a website might be too small or big for you. It's time to change the text size on a webpage.

  1. Select the more menu while browsing a webpage on Samsung Internet.
  2. Tap Text size.
    open-more-menu
    text-size-menu
  3. Use the slide to increase or decrease the text size.
    change-text-size

12. Install an ad blocker

Some websites might spoil your ideal web-browsing experience with lots of ads, so Samsung Internet supports several ad blockers.

  1. Open the More menu in Samsung Internet and select Ad blockers.
    open-more-menu
    open-adblocker-menu
  2. Tap the Download button beside an ad blocker and browse the web without being bombarded by ads.
    samsung-internet-adblocker

13. Change the Samsung Internet homepage

The default homepage in Samsung Internet is set to show web links powered by the Korean giant. These are links to partner websites, and most won't find them useful. You can change the Samsung Internet homepage to a custom page or the most visited pages. Here's what you need to do.

  1. Head to Samsung Internet Settings (check the steps above).
  2. Select Homepage.
  3. Tap the radio button beside Custom page.
    Samsung-Internet-tips-8
    Samsung-Internet-tips-4
  4. Enter the web address at the bottom.
    Samsung-Internet-tips-5

You can disable the privacy report and news feed on the homepage from the same menu.

14. Erase all your Samsung Internet data

If you don't want to leave any trace of your browsing history, bookmarks, or cache, you can erase all your Samsung Internet data with a single tap. Any data you synced to Samsung Pass or Samsung Cloud remains in those services.

  1. Navigate to Samsung Internet Settings (refer to the steps above).
  2. Scroll to Discontinue use of Samsung Internet.
  3. Confirm the same from the following menu.
    Samsung-Internet-tips-6
    Samsung-Internet-tips-7

15. Sync Samsung Internet bookmarks to your PC browser

Samsung Internet doesn't offer a desktop browser for the PC or Mac. You must install an extension from the web if you want to access your Samsung Internet bookmarks from Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge. First, you need to sync your Samsung Internet data with Samsung Cloud.

  1. Head to Samsung Internet Settings (check the steps above).
  2. Enable the Sync with Samsung Cloud toggle.
    Samsung-Internet-tips-3
  3. Open Google Chrome on the desktop and navigate to Samsung Internet on the Chrome Web Store.
  4. Click Add to Chrome.
    Samsung-Internet-tips-1
  5. Open the Samsung Internet extension and sign in with your Samsung account.
    Samsung-Internet-tips-2
  6. You can check your Samsung Internet bookmarks on the desktop.

Use Samsung Internet like a pro

Samsung has nailed the web browsing experience on Android. Before you switch from Google Chrome to Samsung Internet, glance over our Samsung Internet vs. Google Chrome post to learn about the differences between the two.