Comment on If you didn't get an invite for Arc on Windows, give Firefox + Sidebery a try

• Sylocule@lemmy.one ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Yep, same. FF has been my go to browser for years

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  • undercrust@lemmy.ca ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Genuinely don’t comprehend why anyone uses anything other than Firefox. FF + uBlock makes the internet so much better

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    • abhibeckert@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Arc has uBlock installed by default. ;-)

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      • garrett@lemm.ee ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

        It certainly is a differentiator: uBlock Origin already works best on Firefox. github.com/…/uBlock-Origin-works-best-on-Firefox

        And when Manifest v3 is fully enforced in Chromium (current date is slated to be July 2024), then the more restricted uBlock Origin Lite would need to be used instead.

        (I’m not sure if Arc will fully adopt v3, but they might not have a choice at some point in time.)

        The Lite version still works well considering all the restrictions, but has a lot of limitations: github.com/uBlockOrigin/uBlock-issues/issues/338#…

        • Filter lists update only when the extension updates (no fetching up to date lists from servers)

        • Many filters are dropped at conversion time due to MV3’s limited filter syntax
        • No crafting your own filters (thus no element picker)
        • No strict-blocked pages
        • No per-site switches
        • No dynamic filtering
        • No importing external lists

        TL;DR: The way uBlock Origin works on Firefox right now is already better, but if Arc has to go along with Manifest v3 in Chromium in a few months, then it’ll be even more of a differentiator.

        It also looks like they’re even thinking about rolling out their own tracker blocker (instead of using uBlock Origin) as a result of the Manifest v3 changes:

        www.reddit.com/r/ArcBrowser/wiki/index/#wiki_how_…

        twitter.com/joshm/status/1728926780600508716

        We’re rolling our own native @arcinternet Ad & Tracker Blocker in 2024 (since Chrome is restricting them)…

        Any creative ideas for how we can go above and beyond, and reimagine the category?

        Remove GDPR/Cookie Consents? What else?

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    • pathief@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Can Firefox cast a full page yet to Chromecast yet?

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• abhibeckert@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Arc has a lot of unique features, but these are three that fundamentally change how you use a computer:

  Arc syncs tabs between windows. This allows new workflows that just are not possible at all in any other browser. I have five windows open right now, all showing the same set of tabs (which are split into groups, so not all tabs are showing the same group… but some are the same group, for example I opened Sideberry in a new tab in the same group, but I’m reading it in another window).

  Arc automatically closes tabs for you. That definitely takes getting used to, but once you do get used to it, it’s awesome.

  Finally, there are no bookmarks in Arc. Instead of bookmarks you can “pin” any tab which essentially disables auto-close for that tab. Unlike a bookmark, a tab doesn’t contain a fixed URL. For example i have a Lemmy tab, which by default is the homepage but it could also be this discussion temporarily, then go back to being the homepage again later today.

  Those three are tied together in a carefully thought out user interface, with a bunch of other nice little touches like the way audio/video is handled if you’re not in the tab that’s playing media right now.

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  • orclev@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Hmm, while that’s very interesting, and I’m glad that works for you, nearly all of those things sound terrible to me, particularly that last point. Still all those behaviors seem achievable in Firefox using addons if that’s actually what you wanted. The most trivial one is obviously auto-closing old tabs. There’s already I believe a couple extensions that do exactly that. Syncing tabs between windows would also be pretty trivial, and FF already has the option to sync open tabs and windows between devices. The tab groups thing sounds a bit like profiles in Firefox although not quite. That one would probably require the most work to replicate.

    At the end of the day though, any Chromium based browser is really just Chrome with different porcelain on top. Ultimately Google is still calling the shots there and Arc better be careful hitching their wagon to them. That could go very badly for them if they ever do become a big enough thorn in Google’s side.

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    • BearOfaTime@lemm.ee ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Yea, I’m not sold. Arc needs some better copy to convince me to try a browser based on Chrome that has such weird behaviour that I can’t see any benefit to my usage.

      On top of that, they want an email address to download.

      Um, no, fuck you and your tracking.

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  • Deceptichum@kbin.social ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    That sounds shit.

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