HamsterBrow vs Shimmer Browser
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
HamsterBrow
This app offers a unique web browsing experience by allowing users to scroll pages using device tilt or screen swipes, controlled by a virtual hamster. It's ideal for hands-free reading, note-taking, or when physical interaction with the screen is difficult.
- Tilt-to-run scrolling
- Swipe-to-run scrolling
- Super-smooth 60fps scrolling
- Customizable hamster cursor and feedback
- Offline file saving (Pro)
- iCloud sync (Pro)
- Choice of virtual pets (Pro)
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A fully-featured web browser with advanced hamster-assisted auto-scrolling capabilities. Free your fingers and unleash hamster-power to scroll the browser, so you don’t have to! Particularly useful when you’re… … unable to swipe due to sticky fingers or wet hands. … wearing gloves. … holding on to public transport. … eating or drinking. … holding or feeding a baby. … reading and taking notes. … skimming through long documents or webpages. … using a device with a cracked screen that won’t swipe. … unable to touch the screen after having a manicure. … hugging your partner. Or you’re just feeling too lazy to swipe! FEATURES ***** Tilt-to-run mode ***** • The hamster responds to the device angle and orientation to scroll the page in the direction and speed you require. • Browse in any position: Continue to read lying down or upside down! • Great for reading webpages and documents while resting your fingers. ***** Swipe-to-run mode ***** • Use screen swipes and the on-screen control panel to command your hamster. • Easily stop and start, change the scroll direction and speed or page through websites automatically. • Great for relaxing, hands-free reading and for taking notes. ***** Super-smooth scrolling ***** • Experience finely-tuned, beautifully fluid and responsive 60fps hamster-powered scrolling. (120fps on supported devices) ***** Fully customizable ***** • Enable the hamster cursor, sound and haptic feedback (on supported devices) for a complete hamster-powered experience. • De-hamstify the browser if you have an unusual aversion to hamsters or for a more professional feel. ***** Unlock Advanced Features ***** Purchase the HamsterBrow Pro upgrade for more advanced features: • Offline Files: Save webpage snapshots and documents for offline hamster-powered viewing. • iCloud Sync: Sync bookmarks, history and offline files between your devices. • Choose a pet: Power the browser with a cat, dog, chicken, dinosaur, llamacorn and more! ***** Accessibility Integration ***** • Enable the iOS Switch Control accessibility feature with the scroll control panel to allow fully-accessible switch-controlled scrolling of websites. Download for all your devices, relax and enjoy the unique HamsterBrowsing experience today!
Shimmer Browser
This web browser offers customizable visual styles and a resizable sidebar for a personalized experience. It includes features to manage tabs, set time limits, block web annoyances, and organize saved links. Homescreen widgets provide quick access to selected tabs.
- Customizable visual styles
- Resizable sidebar
- Tab saving and organization
- Time limits on saved tabs
- Web annoyance blocking
- Homescreen widgets
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Introducing Shimmer Browser - The focus browser! Your style - 3 visual styles to choose from, resizable sidebar with a compact icon-only made, and all buttons are fully customisable. Arc-like - save tabs, organise them into folders, sync via iCloud. No more doom-scrolling - set time limits on saved tabs. Clutter-free - block annoyances on the web, quickly clean up unsaved tabs, or set them to auto-close! Tab triage - saved tabs detect links to other sites, and present them in tab triage with options to save for later. Tabs on your homescreen - add widgets to your homescreen and select the tabs they show. Give it a try! It’s free up to 4 tabs at once, so you can get a sense of the browsing experience. If you like it, you can unlock the full experience and help me add more features!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Shimmer Browser at 5.0 against HamsterBrow's 3.7. Shimmer Browser also leads on update cadence (every 6 days vs every 6 weeks) and review sentiment (50% vs 35%). HamsterBrow's advantage is ratings volume (43 vs 2) and iOS requirement (10.3 vs 26.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. HamsterBrow sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Shimmer Browser sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Shimmer Browser holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: HamsterBrow has 43 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 35% of HamsterBrow's written reviews are positive against 50% of Shimmer Browser's.
HamsterBrow ships an update every 6 weeks, Shimmer Browser every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | HamsterBrow | Shimmer Browser |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.7 (43 ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 35.0% of reviews | 50.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 43 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks | Every 6 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 10.3 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 59 MB | 45 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Christopher Tan | Jamie Froggatt |
Customer experience
HamsterBrow
Shimmer Browser
In-app purchases
HamsterBrow
- HamsterBrow Pro Upgrade$0.99
Shimmer Browser
- Small Tip$0.99
- Medium Tip$3.99
- More Tabs$7.99
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- Generous Tip$9.99








