!caveat! This is outdated information - I am no longer using ARC as my daily driver…
What is one word that you use to describe the experience with your browser?
Mine would be the variations of the word: messy
ARC from the Browser Company of New York. It is a re-imagination of the browser given how people actually use a browser nowadays. Its intention seemed to be an all inclusive browsing operating system, serving all of your web needs. It has this amazing sidebar (named “Command bar”) that just makes sense when you navigate and organize your web apps and content. ARC browser group tabs together in a single window using Spaces, which finally means that I can have one singular browser window open at all times instead of 5. Most importantly, ARC browser assists me with using the web, instead of fighting against me, thus it has replaced Edge and Chrome as my new daily driver.
Why should I care about browsers?
The browser is the most used application on people’s computers and the portal to the internet. It’s why Google made Chrome - to direct people to their site, and why Microsoft, upon realizing their mistake, is now trying to win market share back from Chrome. Yet, I don’t think there has been a good fresh take on a new browser until the ARC.
If the ARC browser does win over people’s hearts with its new way of surfing the web, then it will serve to decide the new defaults and new ecosystem of the internet world.
Boosts on the left split, Easel on the right split
Apart from the major quality of life changes that ARC browser brings to the table, I see two specific features
- Boosts which allows users to modify web pages, or
- Easel a scratch book using live content snippets,
that could potentially change how people use websites and how websites are built. Websites can better allow itself to be modified by Boosts, to be personalized easily; in fact there’s already an ecosystem of ARC Boosts available. Websites could also be optimizing themselves to be added as a snippet to Easel, so that they occupy and grab attention better amongst other snippets on the page.
Here’s how I think the ARC browser can be improved:
- Easels can easily be supercharged if each Easel page can be sharable as a link, just like Figma or Google docs. Easels that can be shared amongst friends would be amazing - how often do we share a bunch of Amazon product links to a friend just to have them open every link up just to see the images, price and description, when it can be just a link to a board with LIVE snippets of all the above information?
- Lack of account & syncing across devices. A substantial majority of people use browsers as the main way of storing passwords across their mobile device and computers. Similarly with the notes feature that ARC browsers currently have - if users can’t have a basic shopping list available easily across their phone and their computer, then it’s hard for them to start using the notes feature.
Right now, I’m just simply excited about a new way to surf the web, and to say goodbye to having too many opened windows and tabs.