Of course this comment section also warrants a mention of Zen Browser, another Arc alternative that's been going for a while already, is based on Firefox, and is available cross-platform: https://zen-browser.app
emaro 7 hours ago [-]
I don't get the appeal of the Arc-esque browsers. They look very clean in screenshots, but I tried both Arc and Zen and never got to feel productive with them. Can someone enlighten me?
structief 5 hours ago [-]
Several things work for me:
- switching between spaces switches my mental space too. I read and scan website differently based on what space I'm in. Like switching between tasks. Might be personal.
- "Little Arc" - just a window that opens in the view you're in, on any other app, and disappears after a set time, really is great for me to quickly look something up and have it be gone.
- Vertical tabs instead of bookmark folders work better for me as it opens the link "within" the folder, instead of a new tab
Not saying this is only available in Arc / Zen, but this is what makes it work for me.
mosselman 7 hours ago [-]
I am sort of working on the same thing. It is mostly for my own use so far, I might share it at some point.
What I’ve focused on besides the basic features of the arc sidebar is memory usage.
I am a tab power user, in Brave I had 370 tabs “open”. Each tab still takes resources when asleep though. But I use these tabs more as bookmarks. So they are asleep 99.99% of the time, if not more.
The browser I’ve been working on looks a lot like Crest because they both take Arc as a starting point. I am interested to see where they both move towards from there.
GameBuddy 8 hours ago [-]
Finally. Most important features that kept me from switching to chrome, brave or any other browser was:
1. The sidebar with tabs that shares the same state over multiple windows.
2. The preview windows that open directly where you open a link.
figmert 7 hours ago [-]
Zen browser has had this for least 9 months. It's great!
billynomates 7 hours ago [-]
If I've already been using Arc for a long time, is there any benefit of moving to Zen? Active development, I suppose?
vrganj 7 hours ago [-]
It's open source, and it's not part of the Chromium monopoly threatening the open web. As a direct result of that, you still have uBlock working without any compromises.
ahurmazda 3 hours ago [-]
Was a big fan of Zen. Alas! Lack of compat with Google workspace (eg sharing audio for a single tab on meet) meant it did not stick.
vrganj 7 hours ago [-]
So I also use and love Zen. That being said, the "every window's tab list is kept in sync" feature they introduced is... odd and really annoying imo.
ShinyLeftPad 6 hours ago [-]
Most of these features are in Firefox. Vertical tabs, tab groups/containers, split view, etc.
matzie 7 hours ago [-]
Also just wanna get in here and promote Zen, i love it. But the crest and design things here seem nice
slekker 8 hours ago [-]
The dual engine approach is interesting, never seen that
eddie1o 2 hours ago [-]
Yeah, that also cool that you can set webkit as default, it is indeed something for me. I prefer to use safari, but when a website misbehaves, I switch to chrome
SoKamil 7 hours ago [-]
The only other example I know is Edge with IE Compatibility Mode.
Klaster_1 6 hours ago [-]
Maxthon was dual engine too, Trident + Gecko first, then Trident + WebKit.
Of course this comment section also warrants a mention of Zen Browser, another Arc alternative that's been going for a while already, is based on Firefox, and is available cross-platform: https://zen-browser.app
- switching between spaces switches my mental space too. I read and scan website differently based on what space I'm in. Like switching between tasks. Might be personal.
- "Little Arc" - just a window that opens in the view you're in, on any other app, and disappears after a set time, really is great for me to quickly look something up and have it be gone.
- Vertical tabs instead of bookmark folders work better for me as it opens the link "within" the folder, instead of a new tab
Not saying this is only available in Arc / Zen, but this is what makes it work for me.
What I’ve focused on besides the basic features of the arc sidebar is memory usage.
I am a tab power user, in Brave I had 370 tabs “open”. Each tab still takes resources when asleep though. But I use these tabs more as bookmarks. So they are asleep 99.99% of the time, if not more.
The browser I’ve been working on looks a lot like Crest because they both take Arc as a starting point. I am interested to see where they both move towards from there.