“Can't even use the browser without paying.”
Independent automated assessment · 4 signal sources · 450 reviews scanned · analyzed 2026-10-04.
1.4 ★873,716 ratings
100M+Downloads
4+Age rating
—App size
Free · In-app purchasesIn-app purchases
About this app
Puffin Flash Browser is now subscription-based. In addition to the existing $1/month subscription, two new low-cost prepaid subscriptions are available at $0.25/week and $0.05/day. The exact price depends on tax, exchange rate, and Google's pricing policy in each country. Puffin's monthly postpaid subscription offers Android's standard 7-day free trial. Puffin's short-term prepaid subscriptions let users pay for Puffin only when they need it.
Adobe Flash Support: This is the legacy Puffin that supports Adobe Flash. Puffin can't upgrade its Chromium engine to the latest version because PPAPI (Pepper Plugin API), which Flash depended on, was removed from Chromium after Adobe ended Flash support in early 2021. Over time, the legacy Puffin is no longer a "general-purpose" web browser. Instead, it's a niche browser to extend the life of Flash.…
Preview
Real screenshots from the store listing.
Independent evidence report
Evidence and review signals
This is where the page changes from an app-store listing into an evidence report: findings, important reviews, pricing and a dated history.
Which version this describes
When we ran this analysis, and what the store lists now.
This analysis describes version 10.6.1.98088 of the app (the version number recorded inside the package we inspected), analyzed 2026-10-04 . The app may have changed since.
The store currently lists version 10.6.1.98088, updated 2026-09-15.
What we measured
Each line is a measurement published as a measurement, never a verdict.
Each line is a measurement, published as a measurement. Where we have not looked, the line says so rather than reading as a zero.
Developer replies to reviews
Replies to at least 1 review in 20
Price in the store description
States a price and a billing period
Cancelling, in the store description
Does not say how to cancel
Themes reported by reviewers
2 themes reported
Counted from the reviews we have read for this app. "No theme reported" means no theme reached our reporting threshold — it is not a finding that nothing is wrong with this app, and we do not say it is.
Five-star share of ratings
Under 65% five-star
Arithmetic on the stores' own published rating counts. It says nothing about why the ratings fall where they do.
In the package we scanned
From the package we downloaded and read — version 10.6.1.98088, scanned 2026-09-17.
Permissions Android classifies as dangerous
3–5 requested
Counted against the eighteen permissions listed in collect-package.ts. A dangerous permission is one Android asks the user to grant; requesting one is not itself a finding.
Analytics or tracking SDKs in the scanned package
None found
Advertising SDKs in the scanned package
None found
Counted as distinct SDKs in the package we scanned. One mediation bundle can contribute several, so this is not a count of advertisers.
Graded bands · predicate set 1.4 · how these are measured
What the analysis found
App-specific findings, grouped by what each one rests on. How they are graded lives on its own page.
Positive evidence 2
Things this app does right, published at the same strengths as the catch list.
No advertising SDKs
No advertising or mediation SDK of any kind was found in the package.
What we saw: No advertising or mediation SDK among the 1 SDK detected in the package
Developer says data deletion can be requested
The developer's data-safety disclosure on the store states that users can request deletion of their data, or the app's own text offers a way to delete the account. This restates what the developer declares; it is not a test of whether deletion works. Apple publishes no equivalent disclosure, so on an Apple-only listing only the app's own text can support it.
What we saw: The developer's store data-safety disclosure states that data deletion can be requested; we have not seen a deletion control in the app's own text
One source only — shown, not confirmed 2
A single kind of evidence. We publish these because withholding them would be the bigger distortion, and we do not treat any of them as a finding we stand behind.
Reported by users: Paywall blocks the basics
The core of the app — not extras — sits behind payment, or previously-free function moved behind a paywall.
What we saw: Paywall blocks the basics: raised by 9 distinct reviewers (2.0% of 450 reviews scanned)
Reported by users: Paywall with no way past it
A paywall screen ships with no dismiss, skip or 'maybe later' affordance anywhere in the package, so the app's own text offers no way in without paying.
What we saw: Paywall with no way past it: raised by 6 distinct reviewers (1.3% of 450 reviews scanned)
Highlighted reviews
Representative public review excerpts shown as user reports, not Appworthy audit evidence.
“oh hey it's just a whole scam now, can't even use the browser without a subscription. when it was usable it was barely functional.”
Assessment & version history
App changes and Appworthy events in one timeline.
Store listing updated to version 10.6.1.98088.
What this app sells
Useful store-disclosed pricing, kept below the app listing.
Items shown0
Lowest—
Highest—
Google Play does not publish per-purchase prices.