Tor is the most popular browser when it comes to privacy and security. It is free software and its objective is to encrypt the connections through layers, like an onion. Allows access to .onion sites. However, until now to access those sites it was necessary to know if a page had a .onion version and what its address was. Now in Tor Browser version 9.5 browser users will be able to choose to use onion sites automatically every time the website makes them public.
Tor Browser 9.5 lets you promote .onion sites
This feature is currently only available for the desktop version . Tor is going to allow websites to promote their .onion version. In this way, users who visit the web will know that they have the .onion option enabled and can choose to use that option automatically every time they enter.
From the browser they indicate that for years some websites have invisibly used onion services with alternative services (alt-svc), and this is still an excellent option. However from now on there is also a subscription mechanism available for websites that want their users to know about their onion service which invites them to update their connection via the .onion address.
To do this, websites will have to add an additional heading showing the .onion location that contains the URL to their Tor site. This way it will be visible to users.
It should also be mentioned that Tor Browser 9.5 allows users with support to save the keys necessary to authenticate to Tor’s hidden services known as authenticated onion services.
The keys act as passwords required to request the hosted site at a specific .onion address to respond to incoming connection requests. This new version of the Tor browser allows users to save and manage their authentication tokens by entering the about: preferences # privacy section of the authentication configuration of Onion services.
Another aspect is that this latest version of Tor will show error pages so that users know why they have not been able to access a .onion site. Previously, Firefox errors were displayed when these sites could not be accessed.
From the Tor project they indicate that with this version they have wanted to improve communication with users. In this way they can more correctly indicate the reason for the service error, on the part of the client or on the part of the network. This can happen when trying to enter a .onion site.
Ultimately, Tor Browser 9.5 is going to allow websites to promote their .onion version. This will make it easier for users to enter automatically and have more knowledge about it. As we always say, it is interesting to have the latest versions and thus have the latest news and also correct possible errors.