Standard vs. Isolated tabs
Sign in to the same website with two accounts at the same time, and stop sites from connecting your sessions.
The problem isolation solves
When you sign in to a website, it gives your browser a small file called a cookie. Every time you come back, the browser sends the cookie and the site knows it is you. In a normal browser there is a single cookie jar shared by every tab. That is convenient, because you sign in once and stay signed in everywhere, but it has two side effects.
- You can only be one person per site. If you sign in to a second account, the new cookie replaces the old one and the first account is signed out.
- Everything you do is linked. Any site, along with any advertising or analytics service embedded in it, sees the same cookies and the same stored data in every tab, so it can tie all of your visits together.
The usual workarounds are clumsy: a private window that forgets everything when closed, a second browser app, or constantly signing out and back in. Vee builds the separation into the tabs themselves.
How each tab type works
| Standard tab | Isolated tab | |
|---|---|---|
| Cookies and logins | Shared with every other Standard tab | Private to this tab only |
| Saved site data and cache | Shared | Its own, kept separate |
| Runs as | Part of the main browser | Its own separate process on the phone |
| Browsing location | The main location you set | Can have its own location, different from every other tab |
| Feels like | A normal browser | A fresh browser that has never visited anything |
The key point is that an Isolated tab is not just a tab with a different label. Each one runs in its own process on your phone with its own cookie store and its own data folder. A site loaded in one Isolated tab simply cannot read what another tab stored, because the data is not in the same place.
Using two accounts on the same site
Say you want your personal and your work account on the same email or social site open side by side.
- Open a new tab and choose Isolated.
- Go to the site and sign in with your first account.
- Open another new tab, again choosing Isolated.
- Go to the same site. You will see the signed-out page, because this tab has its own empty cookie jar. Sign in with your second account.
- Use the tab switcher to move between them. Both stay signed in.
You can repeat this for as many accounts as you need. Isolated tabs keep their sign-ins when you switch away, so this works as a lasting setup and not only for a quick check.
Tip: keep your everyday sites in Standard tabs, where being signed in everywhere is convenient, and use Isolated tabs only for the second or third account. That gives you the best of both.
When to use which
Use a Standard tab for
- Everyday browsing where you want to stay signed in to your usual accounts.
- Sites that open sign-in pop-ups or send you back and forth between two domains, which expect a shared cookie jar.
Use an Isolated tab for
- A second account on any site.
- Looking something up without it appearing alongside your signed-in activity. Shopping and travel sites, for example, can change what they show you based on what they already know.
- Trying a site you do not trust yet. Whatever it stores stays inside that one tab.
- Testing your own website as a brand-new visitor would see it.
- Combining with a custom location, because each Isolated tab can keep its own location. Two tabs can show the same site as it appears in two different cities.
What isolation does not do
It is worth being precise about the limits, so you rely on isolation for the right things.
- It does not hide your IP address. Every tab still connects from the same internet connection. Sites can see the same public address in each tab. If you need to hide that, use a VPN alongside Vee.
- It does not stop you from identifying yourself. If you sign in to the same account in two Isolated tabs, the site knows both tabs are you.
- Device-level signals are shared. Things like screen size and phone model look the same from every tab.
Within those limits, isolation is a strong and simple tool. It is the same separation you would get from using several different browsers, without having to install them.
Vee Browser is free on Android and iPhone.
