Why I Chose to Open Source Aloha: My Commitment to Privacy and Collaboration

My name is Andrew Frost Moroz, and I’m the creator of Aloha Browser, an alternative to mainstream browsers with advanced security and privacy features.

Last month, privacy-first Aloha Browser, a project I’ve nurtured since its inception in 2015, reached a significant milestone. We made the pivotal decision to open-source our core code, a move that has sparked curiosity and excitement within the tech community. I want to share the motivations behind this decision, the benefits it brings, and what I envision for the future.

When I first launched Aloha, I believed that the internet should be a space where fundamental human right to privacy is respected. From day one, I wanted to contribute to a community of like-minded developers. However, we decided to take this step now, rather than earlier, because we wanted to establish our reputation as an innovative team in the fiercely competitive web-browsing industry. We’ve been competing with tech giants as a small but determined team, working on the product from Cyprus in the Mediterranean.  To make a name in the industry, we needed to build a product that would catch the community’s attention before going open source. And believe me, it has. Some of those giants have even taken inspiration from Aloha Browser. As they say, “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.”

Another reason we didn’t open the code earlier aligns with the nature of mobile apps. Unlike desktop applications, using mobile code open source is not straightforward. Users need developer accounts on platforms like Apple or Android, and they must possess the technical skills to install the app. This limitation meant that the potential user base for our mobile code was quite small. Additionally, mobile app code is usually changed after upload into the app store cloud, making it difficult to verify signatures  to make sure that it hasn’t been changed from the open source one.

So, we wanted to ensure that when we opened our code, we would have a robust, world-class product to share. After years of development, I’m proud to say that we’ve reached that point, and we’re now offering 30GB of our complex Aloha Core code to the community. Today, Aloha is seeing approximately 10 million active monthly users and more than 250 million downloads.

Aloha Browser is quite unique among privacy web browsers in that even though it is free to use, it does not collect, share, sell, or monetize any user data in any way. The company’s business model is instead built on some of its users buying premium VPN and AI subscription services.

Bullet-Proof Privacy

I’ve often been asked how we can claim our product is private if it’s not open source. To address this, we’ve undergone rigorous audits by industry experts, specifically Leviathan Security Group, to validate our commitment to data privacy.  We go the extra mile for privacy by never using any   third party elements that could compromise privacy in any way. Even or the open-source elements that we use, our team of developers verifies their safety daily to ensure there are no trackers. All other proprietary browser elements and features are designed in-house. We believe that our proactive approach to security will allow us to identify and fix vulnerabilities faster than any malicious actor could exploit them.

Frank Heidt, Chief Executive Officer of Seattle-headquartered Leviathan Security Group, which audits Aloha’s privacy and security solutions, recently stated: “For the past three years, we have been regularly auditing the company’s solutions and can confidently assert that they meet the highest security standards and effectively protect users from vulnerabilities. For two decades, Leviathan has audited tens of thousands of technical solutions for the world's largest companies for whom security and privacy are paramount for conducting business.”

Meet Aloha Core

Since 2015, we’ve built many cutting-edge features and eventually developed a desktop version of the Aloha browser. And now, we have open-sourced 30GB of Aloha Core, a unique cross-platform product (MacOS, iOS, Android, Windows) that offers significant benefits to the developer community. We didn’t find any other open-source projects with a comparable level of innovation and frequent updates.

Aloha Core includes some open-source components, such as rendering and JavaScript engines, but the majority of the code is developed by our own team. As I said before we rigorously vet these open-source components daily to ensure they are free of trackers. The process of cleaning up our code was extensive and meticulous. It may sound simple—just removing some parts—but in practice, it involved painstakingly uncovering and eliminating hidden elements from code written by exceptionally skilled developers, almost like performing a delicate surgical procedure.

My favorite example is grammar and spell checkers. You might ask why we would bother to remove such seemingly harmless features. The truth is, every word you type in a general (non-private) browser is sent to the vendor’s servers, and it's unclear what happens next with that text. It could be your passport number, your mother’s maiden name, or anything else.

Another example, telemetry data is always sent to browser developers. In the Aloha browser, we specifically ask if a user is okay with that. Other browsers do it by default, and users have no clue about it. We're talking about data showing how often a user visits each website, how many bookmarks they have, how many tabs are open, what URLs are there, their entire history, everything.

The remaining  of our library is entirely our own development. This proprietary software is streamlined and efficient, providing developers with much greater flexibility compared to using something like Chromium. With Aloha Core, developers can build their own browser with a branded user interface, free from all that nonsense that violates data privacy.

The Aloha Core Library Architecture

In a nutshell, Aloha Core is a derivative from Chromium code base, cleaned and double checked, allowing developers to use web engine as a library. That means, developers can now render the page off-screen for various purposes. Like, creating a powerful testing tool or integrating an isolated web view into their apps.

Aloha Core is a cross-platform library, currently working on Windows, macOS, Android and iOS.

In Open Source I Trust

On a personal level, I am motivated by a desire to create the best product possible, not to dominate the market. I believe in the power of competition to drive innovation. By sharing our code, I hope to inspire others and foster a collaborative spirit within the developer community. We currently have a dedicated team of about 50 people on one hand and gigabytes of code on the other. Working with such a vast codebase is challenging, and we welcome contributions from other developers who share our vision. Together, I hope we can build amazing products and keep Aloha Browser alive and up-to-date with all bugs fixed and vulnerabilities mitigated, ready for new threats and cyber-attacks.

Moreover, I envision teams of developers utilizing our code to create their own browsers or even enhance existing applications. The versatility of Aloha Core allows for a wide range of applications, from building browsers to integrating web functionalities directly into mobile apps. This flexibility is something we’re excited to share with the community.

One example could be a mobile app that uses a webpage as a user interface. You might be surprised to learn that there are plenty of such apps, as companies decided not to create mobile functionality from scratch. A lot of time, if you're ordering something online via the shops' mobile app, for instance, you're actually doing it via their webpage. Right now, a company that owns that mobile app has only one option—to show it on Safari Web View if the app is installed on an iPhone. Now, a company can use our Aloha Core code and build this functionality into their native mobile app with ease. That means there’s no need to open the website through Safari if it doesn’t render properly.

AI Assistant for Developers Is Coming

Looking ahead, we’re not stopping here. We’re developing tools, including an AI assistant, to help navigate our code more efficiently. This tool will guide developers directly to the relevant sections of code, significantly reducing the time required to implement changes or new features.

In conclusion, opening our code is just the beginning of a new chapter for privacy-first Aloha Browser. I am excited about the possibilities this move creates for collaboration and innovation in the realm of privacy-focused web browsing. Together, we can build something extraordinary.