I abandoned Chrome in favor of this quack-tastic web browser

I have been a Google Chrome consumer since roughly round 2011. The net browser, which took the world by storm again in 2008, was as soon as lauded for its speedy efficiency, its light-weight code, and its minimalistic design. At a time when Microsoft’s Internet Explorer felt like a bloated anti-trust-laden mess, Chrome was an absolute breath of contemporary air.

Within the years since, loads has occurred: the massive tech tables have turned, and now Google finds itself in a monopolistic place with Chrome, which immediately is the most well-liked and ubiquitous web browser of all of them. The underlying open-source Chromium codebase that powers Chrome has been adopted by nearly each different mainstream browser available on the market, save for Apple Safari, Mozilla Firefox, and Tor. Even Microsoft has since turned its again on proprietary net rendering, opting to embrace Chromium with its Edge browser.

On a foundational stage, Chromium has unequivocally gained the web. Immediately, non-Google net browsers that leverage Chromium tech embody Microsoft Edge, Opera, Vivaldi, Arc, Courageous, and Samsung Web. Merely put, if an internet browser is not Chromium-based, it dangers compatibility and rendering points throughout web sites and on-line providers.

With Chrome, Google may personal the most well-liked Chromium browser on planet earth ( at least for the time being), however I’ve grown more and more bitter on the product as an entire. Apart from being a serious reminiscence hog, Google’s less-than-stellar monitor file on consumer privateness makes me nervous — that is doubly true within the age of Giant Language Fashions (LLMs) and different AI methods that scrape consumer knowledge for coaching functions.

When Google formally deprecated the Manifest V2 browser framework again in October 2024 (and thus, breaking support for my favourite advert blocker, uBlock Origin), I knew it was time for me to interrupt up with Chrome out of precept. After procrastinating for a number of months, I lastly took the plunge final week by putting in DuckDuckGo — a Chromium browser with a concentrate on consumer privateness. I have been utilizing DuckDuckGo for a number of days now, and regardless of not natively supporting uBlock Origin, there’s lots to like about this quack-tastic piece of software program.

Switching net browsers is a ache

Fortunately, I bought a one-way ticket to DuckDuckGo

A part of the explanation Chrome stays such a domineering drive within the trade is that it is simply plain inconvenient to change from one browser to a different. Again when the browser first launched in 2008, it was straightforward sufficient to change away from Web Explorer. As of late, with most of us counting on our net browser to synchronize bookmarks, historical past, tab teams, plug-ins, passwords, fee strategies, and extra, leaping ship is way extra of a problem.

As anticipated, switching from Chrome to DuckDuckGo proved to be a little bit of a headache — at the least within the instant moments after switching. It was straightforward sufficient to import bookmarks and passwords, with the browser prompting me to take action throughout setup. However organising my fee credentials, extensions, autofill outcomes and extra took some further elbow grease. I went forward and downloaded the DuckDuckGo app throughout all of my gadgets, together with my Android phone, my iMac, and my Windows PC. Fortunately, the browser is totally cross-platform and totally capable of sync content material from one OS to a different.

With no intentions of switching again to Chrome anytime quickly, it truly felt considerably cathartic to ‘begin contemporary’ with DuckDuckGo, and I took the chance to axe long-neglected bookmarks, passwords for accounts that not exist, and extra. As soon as I ultimately signed into all my go-to providers like Spotify, Netflix, Canva, Proton, and extra, I used to be formally off to the races.

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Privateness issues

DuckDuckGo is the way in which to go so far as privateness is anxious

Loads of net browsers, Chromium-based or in any other case, purport to take consumer privateness significantly, in a not-so-subtle jab on the five-hundred-pound chromatic search behemoth itself. Within the case of DuckDuckGo, the browser claims to dam monitoring adverts, third-party trackers, cookie requests, and pop-ups, which is a pleasant begin. It additionally proudly claims to have the ability to play YouTube movies with out focused adverts, and it leans by itself in-house DuckDuckGo search engine for ‘looking privately by default.’

I’ve solely been a DuckDuckGoer for a couple of quick days, however the browser seems to be working as meant up to now. To maintain me knowledgeable, it robotically surfaces all blocked trackers as I browse, which I recognize. By tapping on the small defend icon discovered close to the search field, I can see a breakdown of which blockers have been nullified, whereas additionally confirming net web page encryption and certificates standing.

By far, my favourite DuckDuckGo characteristic is the power to delete all searching knowledge and shut all tabs by clicking or tapping on a single flame icon — a characteristic that the browser refers to as Fireplace Button. This successfully serves as an all-encompassing nuke, and it is immensely satisfying to make use of. Different extra superior safety features embody International Privateness Management (GPC), safety from hyperlink monitoring, and an Routinely Implement Encryption setting for forcing HTTPS throughout a lot of the web.

DuckDuckGo is not good — it is nonetheless tied to the Chromium rendering engine and due to this fact partially on the mercy of Google, in any case. That being mentioned, I have been having fun with my waterfowl-filled net searching expertise over the previous a number of days, and I haven’t got any instant want to leap again onto Chrome. As an Android consumer, I am nonetheless closely invested within the Google ecosystem, and I can not see myself closing my Google Account anytime quickly. However, now that the dam is damaged and Chrome itself has misplaced its grip on me and my internet browsing wants, I am joyful as a clam (or, er…, a duck).

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