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Ask HN: Is there a web browser, that's just a browser?
5 points by websap on May 26, 2023 | hide | past | favorite | 13 comments
Edge, Firefox, Brave and Chrome are now trying to become more than web browsers. They are trying to control the user experience by pushing ads, services, and their own agenda for how the web should be. Brave tries to do some odd crypto rubbish that I couldn't care about less.

I've now switched over to Safari, with content blockers, my password manager and 1 Blocker to block ads.

It seems like Apple is the only company that somewhat cares about user privacy, every other company would trade their users' data in for a quick buck.

Any other open source browsers that are just browsers?



A few but a search would no doubt turn up more:

Arc https://thebrowser.company/ - Perhaps not open source?

Orion https://browser.kagi.com/ - Mac only (built on webkit)

Vivaldi https://vivaldi.com/ - Chromium based

Opera https://www.opera.com/ - Chromium based

Ungoogled Chromium https://github.com/ungoogled-software/ungoogled-chromium


I was intrigued by Arc, until I tried it, and then the steady flow of spam emails started coming in. Now I’m horrified by it.


I'll take a look at Ungoogled Chromium , but the others seem sketchy.


I’m thinking about giving Orion another try after discovering focus mode and realizing my liking for vertical tabs (Safari’s compact mode isn’t great for multiple tabs).

There’s also OmniWeb, which apparently isn’t actively developed, but still receives test builds

https://omnistaging.omnigroup.com/omniweb/?pk_vid=f30b228392...

Pale Moon is back on MacOS

https://www.palemoon.org/download.shtml

You can try Qutebrowser

https://qutebrowser.org/

Or why not go totally bleeding edge and run the Servo test builds

https://servo.org/download/


Otter browser

https://github.com/OtterBrowser/otter-browser

Ungoogled Chromium

The Android version https://github.com/macchrome/droidchrome/releases comes with customizable adblock filters e.g. easylist, I don't care about cookies, EasyPrivacy etc. that I'm no longer forced to put up with Firefox's jank just for some decent adblocking on my phone anymore.


Why does it need to be Open source? The one you settled with (Safari) and seem to like the most is the only one that isn't of all the others you tried.


I prefer having a community auditing the security and safety practices. Its unfortunate but, Safari is the only web browser that isn't trying to capture all data.


I'd suggest surf[1]. It is as barebones as it gets and is extremely customizable.

I use it when I need a browser that I could focus while using.

- [1] https://surf.suckless.org


I second Ungoogled Chromium. It's the only browser that I've found which does not phone home. Also very light. Still works with Google services when you need it.


Bromite on Android.

Thorium on desktop, definitely the best and fastest Chromium derivative.

Cachy Browser is good if you are on an Arch based linux distro.


I think the same way as you, but opted for Firefox. uBlock Origin is the piece of software I consider most important on my computer and firefox seems like they are happy to support it.

There are a lot of "bespoke" options here, but if you want privacy for your mom, it's going to have to come from a mainstream source. Economies of scale is an important consideration.

I think it's worth considering that you're gonna have a hard time supporting 20 million+ lines of code without the overbearance of capitalist corruption.


If you're looking for lo-fi, try Lynx.


Ungoogled Chromium




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