- cross-posted to:
- itsfossnews@sh.itjust.works
- cross-posted to:
- itsfossnews@sh.itjust.works
cross-posted from: https://rss.ponder.cat/post/210914
Murena, the company behind Linux-powered smartphones and one of the key driving forces behind /e/OS, has introduced a new search engine in partnership with Qwant, the privacy-focused search provider known for its focus on protecting user data and delivering unbiased search results.
Can it join the ranks of the best privacy-oriented search engines? Let’s find out!
Murena Find: What to Expect?
Operating in “no tracking” mode by default, Murena Find is meant to deliver relevant search results without monitoring users’ online activity. It now serves as the default search engine on Murena smartphones running /e/OS 3.0, with a planned rollout on Murena Workspace in the near future.
Of course, Murena Find isn’t limited to Murena devices. I took it for a quick spin myself and was mostly content with the experience. I started with a basic text search of the term “It’s FOSS”, and it provided me with relevant results like our main page and the news page.
Murena Find All and News search pages.
Next, I searched for the term “Denmark replaces Microsoft” under the News tab. The first result was incorrect, but the following entries were relevant, featuring articles from well-known publications like ZDNet and TechRadar. (My own article didn’t show up, but that’s okay.)
The Shopping tab works as expected, with handy filters on the left and relevant product suggestions in the center of the page. The Settings menu, accessible via the gear icon in the top-right corner, is surprisingly handy.
It includes options to change the interface language, set the search region, filter adult content, switch between light and dark modes, show or hide news on the homepage, and choose whether outgoing links open in a new tab.
Images and Videos search on Murena Find.
📋Evil Larry’s got plans… and they’re not good. 😨
Searching for images and videos is good too. I looked up pics of Evil Larry, and sure enough, there he was, staring right into my soul. The image viewing interface is familiar, with options to visit the source website, share the image, view it fullscreen, or report it to Qwant for removal.
For videos, I searched for the 2025 Honda CBR650R, and I got relevant results, although they were all from YouTube. I then tried "Arch Linux", and the results were similar. It would be nice if Murena or Qwant could include PeerTube results in the mix.
Murena Find vs. Google on uBlock Origin.
To see how it stacks up against Google in terms of trackers, I used uBlock Origin on Firefox to compare the number of trackers detected on each site. As expected, Murena Find was the clear winner, with 9 trackers blocked, while Google had 30, with the count steadily increasing.
During the launch, Gaël Duval, CEO of Murena, had a few words to add:
We created Murena Find to give users a truly private and ethical alternative for web search with better results. By joining forces with Qwant, we’re combining advanced search capabilities with a firm commitment to data protection.
You can read the announcement blog to learn more.
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For a “privacy-focused” search engine that’s “operating in “no tracking” mode by default” I find “only” 9 trackers 9 too many TBH.
Was about to post the same. A privacy focused no tracking search engine should have zero of anything uBlock origin would block. If uBlock blocks trackers then it’s not “no tracking” nor “privacy-focused”.