Helium

Helium is an open-source web browser. It is a Chromium-based web browser designed to prioritize user privacy and remove the default software bloat often found in mainstream browsing applications. The software focuses on providing a clean user experience by eliminating unnecessary noise and background services that typically track user behavior.

The software is deployed as a desktop application. It is available as binaries for multiple platforms and is currently in beta, meaning users may encounter unexpected issues during operation. Users can install the browser via the official website, which automatically detects the compatible binary for the specific platform, or by downloading the releases directly from the GitHub repository.

Key features

• Chromium-based browser engine
• Privacy-first design
• Unbiased ad-blocking
• Split view functionality
• Native !bangs support
• Zero bloat by default
• Open-source packaging and tooling
• Multi-platform binary support

Helium is architected upon the ungoogled-chromium project, which serves as the foundation for its privacy-centric approach. To enhance its functionality, the project incorporates various patches sourced from other open-source Chromium browsers, all of which are organized within a dedicated patches directory in the source code. The development process primarily takes place on macOS, which is the recommended environment for community contributions, although Linux packaging includes scripts that allow for a similar development workflow on that platform.

Regarding licensing, all unique code, patches, and modified portions of imported code are licensed under GPL-3.0. Any content imported from external projects retains its original license, such as the BSD 3-Clause license for the unmodified code inherited from the ungoogled-chromium project. This hybrid licensing model ensures that the browser remains open and transparent while respecting the origins of its core components.

It serves as a lightweight browser for users seeking a Chromium experience without the integrated services and noise found in proprietary software.