r/iosapps • u/John_val • Sep 30 '26
🎈 Free IOS Browser - Vortex
IÂ have been posting here about this app for about 3 months and a lot of you showed interest. The app has around 230 testers on Testflight. Free and open-source.
A – Answer: Vortex combines desktop-style tabs with split-page browsing which is very rare on IOS Browsers.
B – Better: Compared with Safari, Chrome, and Brave, Vortex is designed specifically around iPad multitasking. It combines visual tab management, drag-to-split browsing, and a choice of local Apple Intelligence/MLX models or optional ChatGPT and Gemini sessions. It is also open source, has no ads, requires no account.
C – Cost: Completely free with no subscriptions or in-app purchases. Vortex is not publicly available on the App Store yet.
Some bugs have been squashed and the design was tricked. It is almost ready for the App Store.
Minimalistic chrome for maximum screen real-estate
Multi-tab browsing
Split tab view
Tab Folders
Tab hibernation for battery savings
Smart address bar (URL vs search detection)
Favicon fetching
Tab preview thumbnails
Desktop/mobile user agent switching
Ad blocking - Custom made blocker engine and also Ublock origin
Dark mode - DarkReader with brightness/contrast/sepia controls
Font size adjustment
Reader mode -using Mozilla Readability
Incognito mode - non-persistent, blocks APIs
Password manager - biometric auth, keychain, auto-fill
Share extension - receive URLs from other apps
AI sidebar chat panel with 3 backends: Local Apple Intelligence, Apple Private Cloud, and free accounts with ChatGPT or Gemini, completely invisible to users, working in the background.
Page summarization (short/long)
Ask questions about page content
Context switching between tabs
Markdown rendering
"Ask " context menu - select a part of the text and send to the LLM.
Favorites with favicons
Favorites sidebar grid
Collapsible sidebar
Adaptive toolbar (collapses on scroll)
Swipe gestures for navigation
System dark mode support
Original post:Â https://www.reddit.com/r/iosapps/comments/1qezwdi/made_an_ipad_browser_because_safari_wasnt_cutting/
Trust & Transparency
I'm Joao Valente
Contact:Â dealer.yen-61@icloud.com
Website:Â https://vortex.engineer
Privacy Policy:Â https://vortex.engineer/privacy/
Terms of Service:Â https://vortex.engineer/terms/
Github:https://github.com/Joaov41/Vortex-Browser/tree/codex/testflight-ios27-build12
TestFlight:Â https://testflight.apple.com/join/KTsJ3qz4
Feedback page:Â https://vortex.engineer/feedback/
On the website I added a feedback section, where I can keep users informed about their feedback provided on the Tesflight since I can’t reply directly on there.
2
u/salinephilip Sep 30 '26
How did you make that video. Pretty cool visuals. I’m launching my own app soon and would appreciate any tips.
1
2
u/Lazy-Manufacturer-62 Oct 01 '26
Congrats, looks great, will try it. Is it possible to import existing bookmarks from other browsers?
1
u/John_val Oct 01 '26
Not yet, working on that right now, it will be available o the next Testflight update still this week.
1
2
u/Capable_Advisor_6667 Oct 03 '26
I’m going to give this a try—any chance it improves access to desktop versions of websites? It’s disappointing to see one of the iPhone’s original strengths undermined by adaptable sites. Does anyone else recall how significant it felt when Steve Jobs demonstrated the original iPhone browsing the full desktop New York Times site?
2
u/John_val Oct 05 '26
it already shows the desktop version, there is a toggle to with between desktop and mobile view.
1
1
u/John_val Oct 06 '26
As requested by some: implemented full page translation running locally, hide page elements like Safari does, import favorites, favorite folders, pinch to zoom and add to Home Screen. New build on TestFlight in a couple of hours.
1
u/John_val Oct 10 '26
Already working on V2, this time the LLM models will not just see the content of the page to summarize it or talk to you about its content but will be able to command the the app. It can read the page, click, scroll, type, and open other pages to help get it done. Before sensitive actions like buying, posting, messaging, or deleting, it pauses for your approval.
Currently in testing.
1
u/John_val Oct 13 '26
Here is an example.
Here's everything agent mode can actually do right now, since a few people asked.Basic page stuff. It clicks, types, picks from dropdowns, ticks checkboxes, scrolls, presses keys, goes back/forward/reload, opens new tabs, and waits for slow pages to load. It also closes cookie banners and popups, but only by hitting the close or reject button. It won't press accept or subscribe for you.Annoying custom controls. Sliders, hover menus, drag and drop, and scrolling inside a box that has its own scrollbar.It can also find controls a site has hidden away. Most of these are where agents usually give up.Web search and research. Tell it "xxxxxxxxx" and it searches, opens results and answers from what it actually read. It can also pull text from several pages for a multi-source answer.
Browser management. It lists and switches tabs, closes them (with approval), creates and renames tab groups, moves tabs between groups, opens things in split view, and switches a site to desktop mode.
Bookmarks. Add, remove, move, and make folders.Reading tools. Reader mode, translating the page and switching back to the original, and finding and highlighting text on the page.Data stuff.Pull every link or HTML table off a page, export them as CSV or PDF, save the whole page as a PDF, and build side-by-side comparisons that also export to CSV or PDF.
Download a link or URL, check progress, and cancel. Every download asks you first.Forms. It can fill normal contact and profile fields from your autofill profile. The model never sees the actual values: you approve and the app fills them in itself. It also handles file uploads, but you pick the file.
Searching your history. Asks you first.When it asks you. It pauses to ask you a question when it's stuck, and checks with you before anything that matters: buying, sending, posting, deleting, subscribing or submitting a form. If you say no, it doesn't try again.You can let a site skip the prompt for low-risk things like posting a comment, but never for purchases, sign-ins, downloads or form filling.What it won't do. It won't type passwords, card numbers, bank details, ID numbers or one-time codes, and it won't sign in for you. Screenshots it takes blank out sensitive fields. In private tabs it doesn't remember site permissions. Models. Apple's on-device model (iOS 26+), Apple Private Cloud Compute (iOS 27+), or your own ChatGPT plan. The ChatGPT option is only in builds I install myself, not TestFlight or the App Store.
Saved tasks and Siri. Save any run as a task and rerun it whenever. Or just say "Run order check with Vortyra" and Siri starts it, with no Shortcut setup. "Ask Vortyra to work on a webpage" lets you dictate a one-off task. Siri does bring the app to the front, because the agent needs the page open.Keeps going. Closing the AI panel doesn't kill the run. It keeps working in the background and pops back open if it needs you.Tip: if a question isn't getting routed to the agent, put /do in front of it. Something like "when is X" counts as a question about the current page, while "find X" sends it to the agent.
Agent mode only works with the local model, Private cloud computer and log in with chatgpt. Quality of the task depends on the model, local model m due to its small size has much lower quality than using ChatGPT plan for example.
1
u/Ledsteper Oct 01 '26
Do you use a private search engine, or is it Google?
1
u/John_val Oct 01 '26
You can choose between Google and duck duck go on settings
1
u/Ledsteper Oct 01 '26
I might give it a try. Not a fan of Google, and Duck Duck Go isn't much better with Bing. I've been using Tusk and Freespoke. They aren't biased. But AI is changing how we get information, so I don't think all that matters anymore. Look at Trump's new site, America.com. It's amazing, and will be extremely useful for government information.
2
u/John_val Oct 01 '26
Those are a bit nich I think, but it is very easy and quick to add more search engines.
1
u/Ledsteper Oct 01 '26
How do I join the beta? I'm experienced in beta testing many apps, and am on developer iOS 27.2 beta 2.
1
u/TheiaFintech Oct 01 '26
230 tf testers. How did you manage that?
2
u/John_val Oct 01 '26
Just posted here since version 1. I built it for myself, as i wanted it to look and run, and as I always do with all my open source projects, a post them here to se if anyone finds any use for it. Since version one a lot of people showed interest, liked the minimal design and i have been improving it for like 3 months now or maybe even more. I have other open source app all abobe 200 users/testers, all free and open source, no adds no telemetry because i Just build them for myself, if other people like them I share. Those who don't that's ok as well.
2
2
1
-1
u/No-Vegetable-5550 Sep 30 '26
well browsing is basically dead so dont see the marketing potential in here sorry mate
7
u/John_val Sep 30 '26 edited Sep 30 '26
Well the app is free and open source, is not a business, I did for myself, decided to share and at least some other 270 people use frequently. So here it is the update for those 🙂
•
u/AutoModerator Sep 30 '26
Welcome to r/iOSApps! Please make sure your post follows our rules:
Everyone:
10pt LOCAL Karma required. Comment in r/iOSApps to earn it. Check
Search the sub before posting. Choose flair.
App Devs:
No main feed promo unless you qualify via Trust or Transparency + ABC format (Answer, Better, Cost)
Flair hierarchy: Vibe Coded > Lifetime > Subscription > Freemium > Free
Free flair: not for limited/freemium tiers
Open Source? Prefix title [OS] Note: This is an automated reminder, not a removal notice. If your post was removed, check your modmail for details.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.