Kinetic Browser

A privacy-first Android browser for the decentralized web
Built on GeckoView · Powered by a native Rust P2P node · Resolves .kin domains

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What is Kinetic?

Kinetic is an Android browser that bridges the standard internet and the Kinetic decentralized network — a peer-to-peer system with its own domain namespace (.kin). It gives users a single browser that works seamlessly across both worlds, with no compromise on speed, privacy, or control.

Unlike conventional browsers, Kinetic runs a native Rust P2P daemon directly on-device. There are no centralized DNS servers, no third-party resolvers, and no telemetry.

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Features

🌐 Dual-Web Browsing

• Resolves standard internet URLs via GeckoView (full Gecko web engine, same as Firefox)
• Natively resolves .kin domains through the on-device P2P node — no external DNS
• Supports kin:// custom URI scheme for direct deep linking into the network

🦀 On-Device Rust P2P Node

• A full Kinetic network node runs in-process using Rust via JNI
• Connects directly to the Kinetic peer-to-peer network on app start
• Handles .kin name resolution, network sync, and DHT participation locally
• No centralized servers, no cloud dependency, no telemetry

🔒 Privacy by Default

• No tracking, no analytics, no crash reporting sent to any server
• DuckDuckGo set as default search engine
• Google available as an opt-in toggle on the home screen
• Built with minSdk = 33 (Android 13+) — modern security model only

🏠 Smart Home Page (home.kin)

• Served locally by an embedded HTTP server — loads instantly with zero network requests
• One-tap search engine switching (DuckDuckGo ↔ Google) directly on the home screen
• Quick shortcuts: Bookmarks, History, Downloads, Kinetic Network Explorer
• .kin network discovery cards: atlas.kin, blog.kin, chat.kin, forum.kin

📑 Tab Management

• Full multi-tab switcher with live rendered tab screenshots
• Swipe-to-close and one-tap tab switching
• Active tab highlighted with accent border

🔍 Smart Omnibox

• Unified search + URL bar with intelligent suggestion engine
• Suggestions sourced from: search engine, bookmarks, history, clipboard, and .kin domain hints
• Clipboard URL auto-detection with one-tap open banner

📥 Downloads

• Integrated download manager using Android DownloadManager
• Downloads saved to standard Downloads folder
• Download progress tracked natively

🔖 Bookmarks & History

• Full bookmark management: add, view, delete
• Persistent browsing history with search
• Both stored in SharedPreferences — no external database dependency

🎨 Adaptive Launcher Icon

• Material You dynamic theming (Android 13+) via adaptive icon monochrome layer
• Custom 2D dual-tone vector mark: Kinetic Purple #7C3AED + Electric Violet #8B5CF6 + Cyan #06B6D4
• Ships as arm64-v8a, armeabi-v7a, and x86_64 separate APKs — no bloated universal bundle

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Architecture

kinetic-android/
├── app/          # Main application (Kotlin)
│   ├── MainActivity.kt          # Browser UI, tab management, omnibox, downloads
│   ├── KineticApplication.kt    # GeckoRuntime + KineticNode initialisation
│   ├── KineticLocalServer.kt    # Embedded HTTP server for home.kin
│   ├── SuggestionProvider.kt    # Omnibox suggestions (search, history, bookmarks, .kin)
│   ├── BrowserStorage.kt        # Bookmark and history persistence
│   └── NetworkRegistryService.kt # .kin registry sync from P2P node
│
├── ui/           # Android library — GeckoView dependency bridge
│
├── p2p/          # Android library — Rust JNI bridge
│   └── src/main/rust/           # Kinetic P2P daemon (Rust)
│       └── Cargo.toml           # kinetic-core, kinetic-network, kinetic-storage, libp2p
│
└── vendor/kinetic/              # Kinetic protocol crates (git submodule)
    ├── kinetic-core/
    ├── kinetic-network/
    ├── kinetic-storage/
    ├── kinetic-kid/
    ├── kinetic-types/
    ├── kinetic-verify/
    └── kinetic-vdfrs/

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Tech Stack

Layer	Technology
Web Engine	GeckoView 153 (same engine as Firefox)
Language	Kotlin (app) + Rust (P2P daemon)
P2P Networking	libp2p 0.53, QUIC, TLS 1.3
JNI Bridge	Rust jni crate via cargo-ndk
UI	Native Android Views — no Compose, no React Native
Storage	SharedPreferences (bookmarks, history, settings)
Build	Gradle 9.6 + Kotlin DSL + cargo-ndk

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Building from Source

Prerequisites

• Android Studio Hedgehog or later
• Android NDK 26.1.10909125
• Rust toolchain with cargo-ndk:

  rustup target add aarch64-linux-android
  cargo install cargo-ndk

Clone

git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/your-org/kinetic-android.git
cd kinetic-android

Debug Build

./gradlew assembleDebug

Release Build (Per-Architecture APKs)

./gradlew assembleRelease

Output APKs:

• app/build/outputs/apk/release/app-arm64-v8a-release.apk — Modern phones (recommended)
• app/build/outputs/apk/release/app-armeabi-v7a-release.apk — Legacy 32-bit devices
• app/build/outputs/apk/release/app-x86_64-release.apk — Emulators / ChromeOS

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Installing

Recommended: Download app-arm64-v8a-release.apk from Releases.

Works on any Android 13+ phone (Samsung, Pixel, Nothing, OnePlus, etc.)

Enable Install from Unknown Sources in your Android settings, then open the APK.

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Release Size

APK	Architecture	Size
app-arm64-v8a-release.apk	64-bit ARM (modern phones)	~195 MB
app-armeabi-v7a-release.apk	32-bit ARM (older phones)	~150 MB
app-x86_64-release.apk	x86_64 (emulators)	~206 MB

The APK is large because it bundles GeckoView — the full Firefox web engine — to ensure complete web compatibility. No network download occurs at install time.

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Permissions

Permission	Reason
INTERNET	Web browsing and P2P network connectivity
CAMERA	Web camera access for sites that request it
RECORD_AUDIO	Web microphone access for sites that request it
ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION	Web geolocation for sites that request it
POST_NOTIFICATIONS	Download completion notifications

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License

MIT License — see LICENSE for details.

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Built with 🦀 Rust and ❤️ for the decentralized web