Questions and answers
Short, direct answers about what Safir is and how it behaves.
What is Safir?
Safir is a free web browser for Android. It blocks ads, trackers and short-video feeds, filters harmful content, and shows prayer times, the Hijri date and an ayah of the day on its home page. The download is about 2 MB.
Is Safir free? Does it show ads?
Safir is free and has no ads of its own. It has no account, no subscription and no analytics.
What data does Safir collect?
None. The developer receives no data from the app and runs no server that the app reports to. Your history, bookmarks, notes and settings are stored on your phone and are removed when you uninstall the app.
Do I have to use the prayer features?
No. Prayer times, the Hijri date and the ayah of the day can each be switched off in Settings. What remains is a light, private browser with ad blocking and content filters.
How are prayer times calculated?
On your phone, from the city you choose or from your location. Safir offers 13 calculation methods and picks the usual one for your region; you can change it in Settings. No internet connection is needed.
Does Safir track my location?
No. If you tap "Use my location", Safir asks Android for your location once and uses it only to calculate prayer times on your device. It is not sent anywhere. You can choose a city from a list instead and never grant the permission.
How does the Shorts and Reels blocker work?
Safir hides short-video feeds such as YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels and Facebook Reels on those sites, while the rest of the site keeps working. You can also set a daily time limit for social media. Both can be changed in Settings.
Can I set Safir up for my children?
Yes. Turn on the content filter, SafeSearch and the Shorts blocker, then set a parental PIN so the settings cannot be changed without it. No filter catches everything, so it works best alongside your own supervision.
Why is Safir so small?
It uses the web engine already on your phone (Android System WebView) instead of shipping its own, and avoids large libraries. That keeps the download at about 2 MB and makes it quick to start on mid-range phones.
Which phones does Safir work on?
Phones and tablets running Android 8.0 or later. An iPhone version is planned but not available yet.
A site does not work properly. What can I do?
Open the shields panel from the address bar and allow that site. Blocking is then switched off for it and stays on everywhere else.
Can I move my bookmarks and notes to a new phone?
Yes. Settings has an encrypted backup that saves your data to a file protected by a password you choose. Copy the file to the new phone and restore it there.
Something else? Write to support@manarahlab.com.