10 reasons I recommend the free Arc browser
The first in a series of recommendations: why I use Arc, the free browser that rethinks browsing, and what makes it different.
Before we start
I have decided to start a series of recommendations: articles about tools I use every day and enjoy working with. Sometimes, as here, there is a referral link, but rewards are almost never financial. In this case, if someone downloads the software through my link, I can unlock alternative app icons. Clearly, that cannot be the reason I recommend it, and I would hardly call it advertising.
A short history of web browsers
There was a time when going online meant, for most people, Internet Explorer. It came from an earlier project, whose history I will skip for brevity, and was preinstalled on what may still be the most widespread operating system, Microsoft Windows. Alternatives already existed, especially Netscape Navigator. But whether because Internet Explorer did not properly support standards, remember websites saying “Optimised for Internet Explorer”?, or because it was preinstalled, Netscape never managed to compete effectively. We are talking about a 99% market share in 1999.
Between the late 1990s and early 2000s, several alternatives arrived. Together with antitrust rulings, they began to erode Internet Explorer’s market share.
Opera was first released in 1995, but remained paid software until 2005. Among other things, it introduced tabbed browsing, now used by every browser.
Mozilla, released in 1998, was also the first major browser to be fully open source. Born from Netscape, it was an application suite including a browser. It was perhaps the first serious competitor to Internet Explorer, especially from 2003, when the suite split into separate applications such as Firefox for browsing and Thunderbird for email. This happened shortly after the Mozilla Foundation took over the project from AOL.
Safari arrived in 2003 as the default browser on Apple systems.
Google Chrome entered the market in 2008 and completely transformed it, thanks to its engine and commercial strength. Later, from 2013, its development moved on from WebKit. Internet Explorer had about 70% market share in 2008, but by 2012 it was well below 50%, with Chrome approaching 30% and taking share from every competitor.
Today
Many browsers now exist, partly because mobile devices have become dominant with their own browsers. On desktop, many newer browsers use the same engine as Chrome, helping avoid compatibility issues and allowing them to use Chrome extensions.
My recommendation
So which of these am I recommending? None of them. My choice comes from The Browser Company and is called Arc. It is also based on Chromium, maintaining compatibility with all Chrome extensions, which matters a great deal to me.
The reasons
- Open tabs sit in a sidebar rather than at the top. Computer monitors are almost always landscape, so I prefer browser controls to take space from the side rather than above the page.
- Managing multiple profiles is very easy. I have separate work and personal spaces, each with its own accounts and passwords, and switching is simple. Workspaces can also be shared to help teamwork.
- Advanced features include splitting the screen between two pages, useful for comparisons or keeping instructions beside the work itself.
- Themes, colours, views and many other details can be customised.
- Open tabs can be automatically categorised and grouped when you have many of them.
- You can copy a page’s link with unnecessary and tracking parameters removed automatically.
- Tabs and bookmarks can be dynamic. For example, I have a bookmarks “folder” containing all my open GitHub PRs.
- Excellent integration with Google applications such as Calendar, Gmail, Drive and Meet makes joining meetings easy. A few minutes before a meeting, its title and a “join” button appear above bookmarks, taking you straight to it if the event contains a link.
- Advanced AI features are available through a tool called Max.
- When downloading a file, you can choose to rename it to make it easier to find later.
Videos showing some features: