Gear vs Via Browser
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Gear
A modern, privacy-focused web browser designed for enthusiasts. It offers powerful extension support, on-device AI features, and advanced tools for enhanced productivity and a personalized browsing experience.
- Powerful extension engine
- Unlimited AI features
- Adaptive dark mode
- Intelligent translator
- Built-in content filter
- Professional developer tools
- Immersive reader mode
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"A new browser with a nice design and advanced features that will appeal to enthusiasts." - LifeHacker Gear is a modern browser built with powerful web extensions, on-device intelligence, minimal design, and strong privacy protection to provide an exclusive browsing experience and empower productivity. # Powerful Extension Engine The first web browser to support both Web Extension and UserScript, designed for high performance and seamlessly integrated with the browser, providing unlimited possibilities. # Unlimited AI Features Powered by an on-device large language model, the AI features enhance the browsing experience with groundbreaking privacy protection. # Adaptive Dark Mode An advanced intelligent algorithm delivers a refined dark mode with improved visual comfort and better power efficiency. # Intelligent Translator Translate web pages with an intelligent engine optimized for accuracy and natural fluency. # Built-in Content Filter 250,000+ deeply optimized rules to block ads and trackers for faster loading speed and privacy protection. # Professional Developer Tools Inspect elements, view resources, analyze performance, and debug with a complete set of on-device developer tools. # Immersive Reader Mode Listen, translate, or summarize content with a clean, immersive reading experience. # Flexible Gear Player A modern media player with Picture-in-Picture, subtitles, and AirPlay support. # Designed for the latest iOS Features Supports the latest iOS features, including default browser, Widgets, Handoff, Spotlight search, and more. -------- If you have any recommendations for Gear, please contact us at contact@gear4.app. # Official website https://gear4.app # Social Media X.com: @GearBrowser Facebook: facebook.com/GearBrowser Reddit: reddit.com/r/GearBrowser/ # Privacy Policy https://gear4.app/privacy # Terms of Service https://gear4.app/tos
Via Browser
A minimalist and lightweight web browser designed for speed and minimal memory usage. It offers extensive customization options, ad blocking, and essential browsing features for a clutter-free experience.
- Quiet browsing experience
- Low memory usage
- Minimalist design
- Customizable interface
- Ad blocking
- Night mode
- Request desktop site
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• Quiet Browser Via browser won’t push news and other things to you. No bother to your device. • Mini Browser Via browser use much less memory usage on your device. Keep your device as fast as new. • Lite Browser Via browser is designed for Minimalism. Best choice for geek user and who enjoy lite products. • Customized Browser You can easily customize Via browser. This is your own web browser. • Fast Browser Via browser is smooth for your device. And we optimized a lot for fast browsing. Here are some features of Via browser • iCloud sync • Ad blocking • User-script support • Night mode • Request desktop site • Translate • Find in page • Multi search engine support • Saving webpages • ... Enjoy your time with Via Browser.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Via Browser at none against Gear's 3. Via Browser also leads on review sentiment (84% vs 56%) and rating (4.4 vs 4.0). Gear's advantage is update cadence (every 5 days vs every 3 months). On price, ratings volume, ads and device support 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. Gear sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Via Browser asks for nothing beyond the download.
Via Browser holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 252 and 162 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 56% of Gear's written reviews are positive against 84% of Via Browser's.
Gear ships an update every 5 days, Via Browser every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 27, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Gear | Via Browser |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.0 (252 ratings) | 4.4 (162 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 55.6% of reviews | 83.8% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 252 — better | 162 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 days — better | Every 3 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.5 | 11.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 55 MB | 5 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Binary Gear LLC | 亚锋 涂 |
Customer experience
Gear
Via Browser
User reviews
Gear
From 252 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Powerful features
- 🔒 Secure browsing
- 👍 Minimalist design
- 👍 Customizable dark mode
- 🚀 Efficient performance
Room to improve
- 🐛 Compatibility issues with extensions
- 🔒 Paid subscription for core features
- 🐛 Crashes and stability problems
- 🐛 Slow page loading
- 🐛 Confusing user interface
Via Browser
From 162 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Extremely fast and lightweight browser
- 💾 Minimal storage footprint (4.8MB)
- ⚙️ Advanced customization options (CSS/JS injection, ad-blocking rules)
- 🔒 Strong privacy controls and data management
- 🎯 Clean, minimalist UI design
Room to improve
- ❌ Sync functionality completely broken across devices
- 🐛 Bookmarks disappear after several days of use
- 💾 Excessive cache accumulation (200MB+ after minimal use)
- 🔧 iOS version lacks many Android features
- ⚠️ Website compatibility issues (iCloud, some sites block access)
Bugs and requests
Gear
Reported bugs
4 issues- Extensions not working
- Inability to open certain websites
- Inconsistent dark mode behavior
- Difficulty managing bookmarks and history
Requested features
5 requests- Add support for more extensions and userscripts
- Improve tab management and browsing experience
- Provide more customization options
- Optimize performance and stability
- Offer a one-time purchase option instead of subscription
Via Browser
Reported bugs
12 issues- Sync not working between devices
- Bookmarks disappearing after days of use
- Cache not clearing properly, excessive memory usage
- Settings URL field resets on app restart
- Userscripts install but don't execute
Show 7 moreShow fewer
- Desktop site request not functioning reliably
- iCloud website compatibility error
- Untitled sleep tabs making navigation difficult
- Text file downloads open instead of saving
- Status bar not appearing consistently
- Meta theme color not respected for dark/light mode
- Memory usage increases dramatically with minimal browsing
Requested features
17 requests- Set as default browser
- Cross-device bookmark synchronization
- Resource sniffer/traffic inspection tool
- QR code scanner functionality
- Userscript/Tampermonkey full support
Show 12 moreShow fewer
- Configuration import/export functionality
- Video download capability
- Background video playback
- Bookmark drag-and-drop reordering
- Floating action buttons and gesture customization
- Search engine switcher in search bar
- iCloud Keychain and passkey support
- Weather and homepage customization widgets
- Zoom functionality
- Russian language support
- JavaScript disable toggle
- Redirect blocking feature
In-app purchases
Gear
- Monthly Pro Subscription1 Month trial$2.991 Month
- Semi-annually Pro Subscription7 Days trial$14.996 Months
- Yearly Subscription1 Year trial$19.991 Year
Via Browser
No in-app purchases
