Switching Browsers: A pain in the butt
I used to have a budget laptop and we all know the effect of Google Chrome hogging up RAM during the old days on budget laptops. That is why I opted for alternatives. Due to this, I still don’t use Chrome to this day as my primary browser. Yes, I have upgraded my setup. Yes, Google has upgraded Chrome which runs better than its predecessors. Yes I still opted for alternatives.
First it was the Opera environments. They had relatively quicker response time and everything and was convenient for usage as well. As a web developer I didn’t quite like the entire debugging process of my projects. Then came the new and improved Edge browser which was very very helpful with the vertical tab bars (if you don’t know about it). I was recommended this by a friend of mine who insisted I must try this.
It made sure the actual browser window is large enough to operate on easily and the tabs are at a place of ease to the eyes. But this was a short run as well, as I slowly began to face problems debugging my applications due to whatever reasons. But I was still not considering moving to Chrome anytime soon. Then another friend came up to me and told me about this new browser exclusive to MacOS (for now at least) which is a browser name Arc, by The Browser Company. I initially hesitated at first and though I would try it later but he said it is an invite only list for now and had an extra invite. So I jumped into it. And well well, I thank my friend for this discovery.
Some of the best things that I like about Arc as of now.
- As a developer, it is seen as a bad habit if you use the mouse over keyboard for any task. (Personally, I don’t think so) But still the difference in milliseconds this can make is massive and you sometimes feel like a god using only your keyboard for all your tasks. It has almost everything setup for that. You can configure your shortcuts to your ease.
2. You have the whole screen to work with.
Well that is a screenshot of the Arc Browser window. Big enough? You have the entire screen to work with with no vertical tab popping up like in Edge or Top bar like in chrome. It is at your ease. Of course I liked the vertical tabs in Edge. The best thing is I can still have the same on Arc as well.
Switching Browsers: A pin in the butt
I used to have a budget laptop and we all know the effect of Google Chrome hogging up RAM during the old days on budget laptops. That is why I opted for alternatives. Due to this, I still don’t use Chrome to this day as my primary browser. Yes, I have upgraded my setup. Yes, Google has upgraded Chrome which runs better than its predecessors. Yes I still opted for alternatives.
First it was the Opera environments. They had relatively quicker response time and everything and was convenient for usage as well. As a web developer I didn’t quite like the entire debugging process of my projects. Then came the new and improved Edge browser which was very very helpful with the vertical tab bars (if you don’t know about it). I was recommended this by a friend of mine who insisted I must try this.
It made sure the actual browser window is large enough to operate on easily and the tabs are at a place of ease to the eyes. But this was a short run as well, as I slowly began to face problems debugging my applications due to whatever reasons. But I was still not considering moving to Chrome anytime soon. Then another friend came up to me and told me about this new browser exclusive to MacOS (for now at least) which is a browser name Arc, by The Browser Company. I initially hesitated at first and though I would try it later but he said it is an invite only list for now and had an extra invite. So I jumped into it. And well well, I thank my friend for this discovery.
Some of the best things that I like about Arc as of now.
- As a developer, it is seen as a bad habit if you use the mouse over keyboard for any task. (Personally, I don’t think so) But still the difference in milliseconds this can make is massive and you sometimes feel like a god using only your keyboard for all your tasks. It has almost everything setup for that. You can configure your shortcuts to your ease.
2. You have the whole screen to work with.
Well that is a screenshot of the Arc Browser window. Big enough? You have the entire screen to work with with no vertical tab popping up like in Edge or Top bar like in chrome. It is at your ease. Of course I liked the vertical tabs in Edge. The best thing is I can still have the same on Arc as well.
Well best of all the worlds out there. You can pin the sidebar or unpin it your preference.
3. There are three categories of tabs for you to differentiate your open workspace to.
The top one is the favorites, which is essentially the sites that always want open and want quick notifications from. I have gmail accounts setup there so that I can quickly know if any new mail is there. This will stay as a big box so that you definitely don’t miss.
The middle one is the fixated link which stay there unless and until you close and remove them. I usually have youtube for playing songs or some reference link that I need to constantly visit for the week of work like trello boards and stuff.
The last one are the normal links that you are opening. But the interesting part is that the links open in the last section close up after 12 hours of inactivity but the top 2 remain there. Basically temporary sites that you opened up are close automatically. Awesome right?
4. Easel or Notes. Arc provided a new feature which is Easel.
You can create an easel and share it with anyone.
https://arc.net/e/2249C436-B446-4C0F-BE87-AF10EF0C779D.
That is the one that I created.
You can do the same with notes as well.
https://arc.net/p/42C65276-BE0E-416D-A145-52362FEFDF18
5. Little Arc. Did you have moments when you click on a link somewhere and it switched to your browser but you just wanted a preview on the same window. No? Well I very much hated when it just switched my window to the one with the browser. With Little Arc, when you click on link, it opens them up in the same window as a Little Arc browser which of course you can push to the main browser. But this little touch just helps out too much.
Arc opens up Little Arc for you. (By the way, Epic Games gives away free games every week, you should grab them).
6. Easy Access to Files
The pointer shows a box where you can click on the bottom left of the browser which show you preview of the latest files that you have downloaded. Pretty cool right. You won’t have to open your file browser -> go the destination -> drag-drop your files now. Besides this, you have access to the library on your side panel where you can see the recent files, files, documents, easel/notes and all
Yes, they thought of everything.
7. Split Views is a feature of windows that I really loved. Having two different application instances run side by side. Having your own browser implement this is so awesome.
You can split some links to work side by side. That is pretty fun to use. Even more fun when you have wider screens. You can have more than 2 as well.
The wider the screen, better as well.
8. Spaces. Well this is not a new feature as almost all of use are familiar with workspace accounts and whatever they are named across different browsers and stuff. You can create separate spaces for you to categorize the links that you open.
There are more features hidden inside the browser but these are the top ones that I bumped into and what my friend guided me through. I’ll post another one if I find new features that I want to tell people about.
The sad part is you can’t join easily. You need to an invite to download it or join the wait list.
Thank you for taking the time to read my article. I hope it was enjoyable for you. If you liked it, be sure to follow me for more great content!
