What They're Not Saying About The Arc Browser
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- Опубликовано: 14 июн 2024
- What's going on everybody!? Today we are talking about a new browser that was just released called Arc, created by the The Browser Company. We ponder how a for profit business with a closed source application plans to make money without selling our data.
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THE BROWSER COMPANY
arc.net/
thebrowser.company/
Referenced Video
• How will Arc browser m... 
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Admittedly I am an Arc fanboy. Love their vision. I agree with you, the worst slap in the face that could come is that they trespass on all their morals. That truly would be devastating
I am sure I am missing features since I have never used Arc, but to me it seems Vivaldi can do everything Arc can and more, from workspaces and profiles to web tiling. Also you can customize the UI to make it look exactly like Arc. It has a good mobile app to sync everything if you want.
I just switched to it and I am impressed. I like that if you have the know-how, you can even install scripts and use CSS to alter the UI. The biggest drawback is it not being open source, but it seems that is just for the UI part of the browser, and they give a lot more emphasis on privacy on their marketing compared to Arc, but that's just their word.
They promised an account wouldn't be necessary after the beta and now you can't even open the browser without creating one. They promised they can't see what you browse and your screenshots get sent unencrypted to them.
Any company that thrives by appealing to the emotion of their users, like The Browser Company does, is suspect. Companies are not and will never be people. Don't trust a company that tries to make you feel it's your friend. It can't be.
@@juann268 Even if they were a person, would you trust them? Their mode of operation is simply untrustworthy.
The pinned Tabs and favorites is actually not redundant at all! I use an Arc space for all my uni stuff and as the Favorites in this space I have the unis website, a file server and another uni managing app that i use on the daily. Then in my pinned tabs, I have folders corresponding to each of my modules with corresponding pages and links I use a lot. Really useful!
How different does it feel from using bookmark folders?
Microsoft Edge user here: I know is not 1 to 1 comparison, but similar thing. It DOES feel different and it's something that helps you "compartmentalize" the things / tools you need. For example. I have folders and websites inside those folders as favorites. This means I can go there directly or if I start typing on the URL bar, I get results from history and also favorites. But there is also Collections. Now, to be fair, Microsoft decided to grab Collections great idea and turn it into complete garbage making it now be something "online" as it seems and when you create one it feels like a pinterest ripoff with a lot of internet results that pop up and it opens a side panel instead of a flying top panel like before that was quick. NOTE: I just tried it again, they seem to have done away with that BS and gone back to the most standard use of Collections. Good. However if you don't have any, it will auto create templates like "reading list" and "cookbook" that you can delete but they come back, so can't really delete.
Anyway, the point is that you're not going through a "list menu" that sometimes has many items. You're going through "content containers" so say you want to remodel your house and have 5 or 10 websites about paint, you put them under "pain info" and go there.
Technically is the same feature (and trust me, if someone grinds microsoft for being stupidly redundant everywhere all the time, it's me), but when it comes to the usage "in your mind" it's different and helps organize things. Also I'm not sure if I can share collections, you used to be able to I THINK, which is different from just bookmarks. Being able to share a collection, albeit in the most stupid Microsoft way (copies all the items instead of sharing the "bulk" as an item), is useful.
Although I'm seeing now you can't really export to excel/word like the support page tells you. Clearly they have broken this good idea because as we know, they love to be effing stupid. But the main point is that having different ways of organizing certain thins while technically IS redundant, it could be helpful.
@@mostrengo
@@mostrengo Honestly, it's a game-changer. And a night and day difference in feel.
You can keep the Favorites tabs loaded, so you can have things like your email and calendar there. I don't know if it works on any web calendar, but I used it for work for a time, since we used Google Workspaces (or whatever it's called now) and when you have the calendar pinned, not only do you get badges and notifications in an out-of-the-way place, but when you mouse over that button, you get a mini agenda view.
I quit using regular bookmarks ages ago, because they always ended up "out of sight, out of mind" and inevitably went dead, forgotten about, etc. The sidebar + workspaces + folder combination allows you to focus your organization, without having to drill down a bunch of layers in a standard bookmarks menu. So, for example, I have a "work" workspace, and in it, I have different topic folders for different things that I need to reference throughout my workday, but I don't need them visible all the time, so I group them into folders for when I need them. Then, I have a "gaming" workspace for my game-related stuff. When I switch to that workspace, I don't see the work stuff, because it's all in its own, and I just have the game-related stuff.
And the difference between pinned and favorites (aside from the fact that you can put pinned ones into folders) is that the favorites go across workspaces for the things (like calendars and email) that you'd use all the time, while the pinned ones are exclusive to their workspace.
@@mostrengo pin tabs are customized bookmark for each workspace, favorites are global bookmark used for all workspace
Customizing websites can be useful for two things: 1) A web developer testing the site. 2) Screenshots taken after masking or removing certain elements.
And dark mode. Some of us care about our eyesight...
I tried Arc and I did fall in love with it for about a week. Then I started noticing how much memory it used. I still think it's a good browser but i no longer use it as my main. I just keep it installed on my machine in case.
I think Arc in and of itself is a really cool browser. I really like how nice it looks on MacOS.
The memory was why I switched to Firefox back in the day. We desperately need a new browser engine, but it's basically impossible now 😢
@@Yulenka- So far as I know, Arc is currently running on Chromium, BUT they're rewriting the app to Swift (MacOS/iOS programming language) and that counts for the Windows app as well. I suppose they'll rewrite it on Windows first because it's way more difficult, then they might reroll on both platforms at the same time. What this means is basically two things, for one - it's going off chromium so it's gonna be a standalone "model", for second it's gonna get a massive performance boost.
@@Bengista I don't think they're building a separate engine, that would be a massive undertaking. I see they're using WebKit on MacOS which is not Chromium (Chromium uses Blink), but it's very close as Blink is itself a fork of WebKit. There's only one other modern engine which is Gecko (Firefox), even Edge uses Blink now. Breaking that duopoly is very important but unfortunately Web Standards are way too complex now, implementing one from scratch would be a huge and very expensive multi-year investment which no company is apparently willing to make 😮💨
Coming back to this now, Arc has said they will be charging for access to the "Max" features soon, so I see this as a good way to support them relatively soon. I am excited by the prospect at being able to support them directly
Honestly im excited for arc on windows because of the way the browser handles tabs and stuff. I open TONS of tabs so being able to effortlessly organize them is the main draw for me as no other browser on windows has this level of depth with tab organization
Edge has this.
Brave has this. It's just vertical tabs with pinned tabs at the top, tab groups below, and everything else underneath. Brave lets you put tab groups anywhere you want, so it's actually more versatile.
Edge has the Chromium feature of "groups", same for any other Chromium based browser. Then Edge now has "workspaces" and I also think you can like save all the tabs and then reopen them for later.
I believe Brave has this too. And I know you can stack tabs (not just groups) on Vivaldi as well.
Edge, Brave and Vivaldi have that already. But to be honest, if Arc browser for Android is available, then I'll try using it
I agree with you, I'm weary about how their browser is still free. I'm thinking they'll release their pro version with AI and other features, similar to how Raycast has done. But that could be a challenge. At this point they're pretty much required to keep the app free, but they have to monetize it somehow. Like, how are they been paying for its development so far?
It wouldn't surprise me at all if they ended up coming out with some type of pro or "upgraded" version. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what they end up doing. From a video that I saw, the CEO seems adamant that they'll be able to make money with "Arc Teams" but I just don't see that pulling in much money at all. That's why it worries me that they will end up going over to the dark side and start selling data. Hey, but who knows? We'll just have to see.
@@blakehensley hopefully not
yes, I also think it won't go far.
if there are some few feature that become a trend.
google will just copy it later.
and how are they going to monetize it? if the user can zap a certain column then they can zap the ad placement too. and advertiser don't want that.
if there is one thing.. this browser feels like it can be a good quick website prototype design adjuster.
They just did
The fact you're forced to create an account really leads me to believe that they're making money by selling your data. Also, the fact they came out on MacOS only for a long time. Security just doesn't seem like a priority. At all
It’s definitely shady but I’m not sure if they’re exactly selling peoples data just yet. I went through the privacy policy and legally they have to tell you what they store and if they sell your data to 3rd party data brokers. If you look through Googles policies, you’ll see it in the fine print. I’m just not at all convinced that this company won’t do it in the future. Or even worse, they’ll probably just sell the browser off to a company just as bad as Google.
Privacy is not the same like security. Its actually often contrary.
I mean the browser is built on Swift and the design language is clearly built for MacOS
There's also Safari, which is also not on Chromium. It's only available on macOS.
Absolutely. Lately I've been reaching for my M1 Air over my laptop with Linux and I've been using Safari exclusively for the first time and I really don't mind it.
they can easily sell the "For Teams" thing by marketing it as a productivity tool, on top of whatever additional features they could add to an enterprise edition (current browsers provide practically no additional features for enterprise other than more control over what your employees do). you could get very creative with this, for example integrating productivity tools from other software into the browser itself, then the companies that buy it could cut costs from other tools.
I am watching it, but I can't use it yet. I can't pin my extensions, and it then adds several extra steps to use them. Some I use a lot, so it is super annoying to have to go find it ever time instead of just pin it to the tab.
You can pin your extensions :)
@@snowy8622 on PC? If so, how?
@@snowy8622 You're right! I figured it out. Click the to lines in the middle of the top of the screen, and click the pin symbol
Thank you!
Businesses pay for gmail, gcal, etc because the collaborative features make sense for teams
Thanks for saving me the hassle, doesn't make sense to me that I need to create an account to use a browser, what you say about Sigma and Sidekick, open to try fresher stuff than my current Brave/Firefox.
I actually hadn't heard about either of these browsers so I can't give an opinion on them but I'll have to check them out! Thanks for the recommendations
I literally don't know anyone who does use Google chrome with their google account. Want to access a bookmark you had on your laptop? Good luck doing that wuthiutusigning in and fetching that data
i love arc but the only down side am experiencing is how it drains my battery noticeably. unlike google chrome or other browsers.
When it comes to creating accounts im pretty sure thats because arc was a closed beta browser until recently, and the new windows beta is also closed so they need a way to give access, just my guess.
Regarding the Arc Mini, I mean, that's the greatest addition to my work-tools. Of course it only works if Arc is set as the default browser. Whenever I receive a PR in Slack, or a Jira ticket, or a Confluence wiki, I click on the link, it pops up a page in which I can review, transition the ticket, etc. If I need to do more, I press C+O and it converts the pop-up window into a full-blown tab. But most of the time I do my thing with the pop-up tab and press Esc.
9:05 Safari uses WebKit and thereby their own browser engine. That's why sometimes some tools/websites don't work on Safari but Chrome.
I'too find it kinda odd, that they build onto Chromium also because they have a heavy macOS/iOS focus. Normally macOS catered tools are more into Apple APIs..
Their design is cool but I also have hesitations to switch to a start-up's browser if it is 100% closed. The CEO telling us "we won't sell your data" gives me "Trust me bro" vibes and I can't really trust that xD
That’s a good point. It’s almost like he’s trying too hard to convince us that they wouldn’t ever do it.
Doesn't Chromium use WebKit?
@@bwc1976 chromium is a browser engine like webkit, so no
I can't agree more on "every single fking browser is better than Chrome"
Favorites are shared between all spaces with current profile (they're like sidebar tabs in Vivaldi and OperaGX for me), pinned tabs are like "normal" tabs in normal browser that are not shared between spaces and "normal" tabs are more like temporary tabs.
I think that all these features are awesome, and I wished Vivaldi had profiles, but it doesn't.
you are right. The most worrying thing is that they indeed have no way to make money without selling date. That enterprise route really makes zero sense. And now that theyve made not selling data part of their whole branding, i dont know how theyll survive.
I really don't either. I haven't kept on them since making this video and I haven't used Arc since then either. We'll have to just keep an eye on it.
I think they'll build some special collaboration features only for Arc Teams in the future which you'll have to pay for
Wasn’t that Netscape Gold?
Your company becomes valuable as long as you accumulate gathered user data. They have everything, including the full browsing history. "Encrypted at rest" but available for "select teams" to read if they want to. 10 years from now an investor can come along, cover them in cash and find a way to monetize all that accumulated data. It's the same thing Discord did. They technically can't sell your data, but the ways they can use it regarding third parties and "partners" is vague enough that they could effectively do it.
@@juann268 They should honestly just charge money for specific features
it's not well-optimized at all, in the web store the right side of the screen is cut off due to the tab placement
I would imagine being forced to sign up is probably a leftover from when it was an invite only browser, weird that its still here, maybe if they realise its dumb theyll get rid of it
I am a little skeptical also bizarre that they use chrome, but Arc isn't available for Windows yet. I have been using Sidekick also periodically. Does anyone have thoughts on Sidekick on an alternative to Arc or Sidekick? .
I've never actually heard of Sidekick. Is it another MacOS-Only browser?
In Windows, Edge does like 90% of the features people are hyping Arc for.
It doesn't have it's own notes feature per se... but it has the sidebar where you can open the web version of OneNote (notes on steroids). The only thing I can think of that Arc has is the "boost" ability to customize pages - which seems more of a novelty than useful.
Not knocking Arc... it looks pretty good. I'd definitely choose it over Chrome. But at the same time, I personally feel it's somewhat overhyped. Just my opinion.
@@stephencooper3583I mean Edge does have the sidebar and split screen feature but Arc had been around for a while before they did that.
Windows MacOS and Linux
Pretty good browser - good use of a sidebar and web app approach, also has sessions
Best features behind a paywall - split screen; multiple workspaces etc
Would be an interesting vid seeing as you've done such an awesome job discussing the pros and cons of arc 🤔
Thanks for your video. Awesome Vid!
I find boosts useful for turning on dark mode on a website that doesn’t have a dark mode.
Yeah that makes sense. Pro tip if you like dark mode, the extension Dark Reader is absolutely amazing 🤘
The big businesses will spend an ungodly amount of money if that means their data will not be leeched and sold to third parties, most likely they will get a contract that stipulated "the data my company generates will stay between you (arc) and me (company) and must not be shared to anyone else" or something like that
Pretty much every big business out there shares your data with third party vendors/data brokers. All you have to do is read over their privacy policy and it lays it all out for you.
As of the making of this video, Arc (The Browser Company), was supposedly big on customer data protection - I’m just curious where it goes in the future, especially seeing that they want to make money. There isn’t a browser out there today that doesn’t collect and share your data with some other entity (other than browsers such as LibreWolf, Tor, etc) and yes, you can turn it off but that’s besides the point.
Safari actually uses WebKit but we don’t talk about WebKit 🌚
Doesn't Chromium use WebKit?
Chromium uses Blink, which is a WebKit fork@@bwc1976
Safari Users chromium.
Saying someone is super lucky for not being american was a really bad take to interject into what i thought is supposed to be a video about a browser
Arc is raw, its is still unfinished, and chromium placeholder settings is a confirmation. But I adore Arc, it has spaces, good tab management. Also, it has PROFILES!? I have 3 accounts on Crowdin and every time I need to do something on other account I have to log out of current, log in in needed account or log in in private window if I'm using Vivaldi. With Arc, I can just create a profile for each account in Crowdin instead of having a separate browser for each account.
Most chromium based browsers have profiles in desktop
@@rjbse I didn't know that, Arc threw me it into the face. I have never seen such a thing on Vivaldi
honestly, I don't care at all about creating an account. I can put my alter name (balkan spy....) and a hide my email which I used... So what? I don't think it's a turnoff for most people.
I help off from Arc for a while, downloaded it a few times in the last year and never stuck to it. Then I tried the new iOS app last week and fell in love with that made it my default. Finally saw the mac app grew a bunch, made that my default as well, it's freakin intuitive compared to other stuff out there.
On another hand, I really think Arc will make money from companies (and hard core individuals) that would like to have a bunch of custom stuff they might implement, maybe the AI stuff and what not... I hope they make it, or if they don't at least make it open source and let the community keep it alive.
Hello Blake, What's your opinion on Epic Privacy Browser?
Honestly, I think there are better options out there such as Brave or Firefox. They say that they put privacy first, but they’re proprietary which means we can’t audit their code.
Thanks for your honest reply, @thelinuxfraud. Even the Brave code is not 100% open source, and not all endpoints are disclosed.
Couple neat features that would make a good firefox extension. Lol
I like your accent. and I really love that it's aesthetic and stuff. I wanted to install and use it haha, I will after some days.
I’ll give Arc that, it sure looks nice.
Thank you. Will pass on Arc due to you video. Every body seems to hype it up but you pointed out some issues I am not willing to put up with. Greetings from Germany
Customizing websites via ublock is a thing. Like removing shorts from youtube.
Hello Mr Blake which is your opinions on Techlore and Privacy guides
I don’t personally watch him but anyone trying to teach privacy/security is good in my book.
@@blakehensley Thanks sir for responding to my question
Brevity is the soul of coding and comms
Wow, Blake, you're not a fraud anymore! Pun intended... 🙃
I know I had to get myself out of that niche box 😂 now I just have to figure out how to change my name on all my accounts lol
I use and really like the Samsung browser. I've tried so many browsers but I really like that one It's just got everything I really like and want.
Hey at the end of the day, you have to use what works for you. I've always been a proponent for using the best tool for the job. Is the Samsung browser only on mobile? Or is there a desktop version as well?
@@blakehensley Yes, there is one for PC. It's cross platform.
*Arc is the proof you can make a worse browser than Internet Explorer and Chrome combined.*
I use Edge on Linux. 😊
Josh want to be an influencer so hard...
No linux version :-(
Arc is Chromium under the hood. This video is on RUclips.
dont see the sense of using any of these browsers that have to depend on chrome.
If you're not going to use Firefox than any of the other Chromium based browsers are *probably* better than Chrome itself.
What company thinks coming out with a browser first and only for MacOS is a good idea? Do they not want it to catch on? I guess if it's been out for a year and still doesn't have a Windows version, there's no chance in heck that it'll ever be out for Linux.
Yeah, I didn’t mention it in the video but being MacOS exclusive was kind of a bad call. The beta has been out since last year but the official point release just came out at the end of July. I would assume that there won’t be a Linux version but if I’m being honest, I don’t think Linux enthusiasts would touch this thing even if there was.
They’re making it in Swift and explained why they did it in a keynote. That’d be why.
Why are there so many duplicate comments. What's going on here?
Safari also doesn't use Chromium.
What does Arc say about this ?
Surprisingly they have not made any comment
if it's free and it's a startup ? maybe you re not the product as of yet ?
I use sidekick as an arc alternative on my windows computer and Arc on my Mac. I found sidekick on accident lol
sound on this video is to bad to listen, pitty 😞
Edge is the fastest.
Another chromium fork, forced signup, closed source, dubious business model... L to think this browser will be viable
I sent you a message on Patreon...
the founder is some trust fund kid right with good connections?
He’s on the board of Patreon, don’t know much beyond that
I guess you don’t know how Firefox makes money…..
Mozilla is a nonprofit
Seriously, dude? You did a "What They're Not Saying About"? We're idle at a civilisation.
For someone who uses such good punctuation, I’m surprised that you misspelled civilization.
@@blakehensley Alternative spelling of civilization.
@@blakehensley Civilisation, is the British spelling of the word 'civilization'.
Profile management on arc is a joke.
Yeah I used it for roughly 3 days and haven’t touched it since this video
@@blakehensley I don’t know what they were thinking. Profiles should be the central organizing unit not spaces. If I have two profiles one for work and one for personal, there is no conceivable reason why spaces and tabs should be shared between them.
Nothing wrong if you like using Google Chrome btw
No, not technically. Except that they’re the worst company at exploiting you for your data and while nobody really cares about it, I’m still gonna recommend that people stop using it.
@@blakehensley🤓
you have to sign in cause its a beta lmao
It's hard to hear your modified "I am a cool rebel guy" voice. Could you speak normally?
Nah I’m too cool for that
@@blakehensley Probably too young as well. At least you know how it is.
The irony, my friend. The irony.@@Kiev-en-3-jours
@@blakehensley 😑
Someone is jealous. I like Blake’s voice, style, and intelligence.
Arc is garbage.
Arc is complete garbage and I would never use it in a million years.
What’s garbage about it? I’ve never used it