AI Facets
Add-ons that reshape how a particular website looks and behaves, installed in a tap from the built-in marketplace.
What a Facet is
A website is built for everyone, so it is rarely built exactly the way you would like it. A Facet is a small add-on that runs on one particular website and changes it: adding a button the site is missing, hiding clutter, reorganizing a page or adding a helpful tool.
If you have used browser extensions or "userscripts" on a desktop computer, Facets are the same idea built into a mobile browser. Most phone browsers do not support extensions at all, which is a large part of why Facets exist.
Some Facets also use AI, for example to summarize, sort or help you write on the page they enhance. That is where the name comes from.
What Facets can do
- Add features a site does not offer, such as favorites lists, extra filters or a quicker way to do something you do every day.
- Remove friction: hide banners and pop-ups you do not need, or expand content that is collapsed by default.
- Remember things for you: a Facet can keep its own notes or lists on your device, which survive between visits.
- Work with your location: some Facets build on Vee's location control for sites that are heavily location-based.
A Facet runs only on the websites it was made for. One built for a particular site does nothing anywhere else.
Installing a Facet
- Open the menu and choose AI Facets.
- The Available tab lists Facets from the marketplace, each with a description of what it does and which site it works on.
- Tap one to install it. It moves to the Installed tab.
- Visit the website it is made for. The Facet loads automatically.
You can also browse the catalog on the web at the Facets Marketplace, which is handy for seeing what is available before you install anything.
The marketplace is curated. Facets are reviewed before they are offered to everyone, so the list is deliberately short rather than an unlimited catalog.
Turning a Facet's features on and off
Many Facets bundle several features. On the Installed tab, tap the gear icon next to a Facet to see a switch for each feature it offers. Turn off the ones you do not want; the rest keep working. If a feature has sub-features, switching off the parent switches off its children too.
A Facet that has no separate features shows a single Enabled switch, so you can pause it without uninstalling it.
How updates work
Installed Facets update themselves. Vee checks the marketplace when you open the app, now and then while you are using it, and when a new version is announced. When a newer version is available it is installed automatically. You do not have to do anything, and you are not asked to approve every small fix.
Updates only ever move forward. Vee installs a version only if it is strictly newer than the one you have, so you will never be moved back to an older build. Your feature switches and the Facet's saved data carry over to the new version.
Where Facets keep their data
Each Facet gets its own private storage on your phone, encrypted like the rest of Vee's data. One Facet cannot read another Facet's storage. That storage is separate from your browsing history, so Clear browsing data does not wipe your Facets' saved lists and notes. To reset a Facet's data, use the options on the AI Facets page, or uninstall the Facet.
Staying safe with add-ons
Any add-on that changes a website can, in principle, see that website's page. That is true of every browser extension ever made. A few habits keep you safe:
- Install only what you will use. Fewer add-ons means fewer moving parts.
- Read what a Facet says it does and which site it runs on before installing it.
- Uninstall Facets you no longer need from the Installed tab.
- Respect the websites you use. A Facet changes what you see on your own screen. It does not change a site's rules, and you are still bound by its terms.
Vee Browser is free on Android and iPhone.
