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Pmartel

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 1, 2015
29
7
Hi All;

Forgive me if this has been posted before

Since I have gone totally Mac, I've become a big lover of the Safari browser I absolutely refuse to use Chrome if I can avoided

What are your favourite alternatives to Safari
 
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VitoBotta

macrumors 6502a
Dec 2, 2020
849
332
Espoo, Finland
I am testing Orion browser https://browser.kagi.com/ (direct download link if you want to skip signing up for the beta: https://browser.kagi.com/downloads/Orion.dmg)

It's pretty fast, based on Safari's webkit engine, very privacy focused and supports both Chrome and Firefox extensions, although they are a work in progress (meaning that not all extensions work correctly yet).

The developers can be reached in the discord channel linked to in the faq page.

If you are not too worried about privacy, the latest Chrome 99 is even faster now. If you want something like Chrome but more privacy friendly and that uses fewer resources, Edge or Brave are good choices.
 

Kazgarth

macrumors 6502
Oct 18, 2020
317
831
If you are not too worried about privacy, the latest Chrome 99 is even faster now. If you want something like Chrome but more privacy friendly and that uses fewer resources, Edge or Brave are good choices.
The speed improvement is not limited to chrome. All chromium-based browsers now score above 300 in speedometer benchmark on M1 with chromium build 99.
 
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Spindel

macrumors 6502a
Oct 5, 2020
521
655
Let me repeat:

Chrome is not an alternative!

If you run a Mac the only alternatives are Safari and Firefox.

If you run any other OS Firefox is the only alternative.
 
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the8thark

macrumors 601
Apr 18, 2011
4,628
1,735
Brave, it feels a lot faster than either Safari or Chrome. It has a builtin ad blocker too.
There is also Tor for secure browsing. It is a little slower than Brave though but that is because it routes through a number of secure networks each individually encrypted along the way.
 

Traverse

macrumors 604
Mar 11, 2013
7,708
4,485
Here
I use a combination of Safari and Firefox. Safari is my main browser used 99% of the time. Firefox with no extensions and all the security/privacy settings ticked to max is used when I access my bank or other sensitive sites. I will also use Firefox on the occasion that a site will not render in Safari correctly due to my extensions/content blockers.
 

Pedro1223

macrumors newbie
Oct 21, 2021
7
10
Easy. Opera GX! Blazing fast and not a memory eater! (*coughs* Chrome *coughs*). I currently have around 50 tabs hanging in suspend aside from VS Code, Iterm2, preview, mail and notes opened and swap is 49Mb. :D
 
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DC41

macrumors regular
Feb 23, 2021
110
29
I use Firefox with their containers and loaded with "strict" policy enabled and antispyware extensions for my main browser. I use Safari occasionally if Firefox isn't displaying things correctly. And I have Edge installed devoid of extensions for those instances when pages just won't display correctly and I need a chromium based browser with no extensions in order for the page to function properly. I'm probably spitting into the wind privacy wise, but it works for me.

I wish Firefox would copy Brave's tab grouping function... very convenient.
 

DC41

macrumors regular
Feb 23, 2021
110
29
Until they get Sync fixed for iOS and iPadOS devices, Brave is a no-go for me. They've been alerted to the problem since last fall (with one thread having 160 replies). Nothing.
 

jackoverfull

macrumors regular
Dec 3, 2008
179
81
Berlin, Germany
I switched to opera a few years ago and am still pretty satisfied. It’s fast, the resource usage is way better than chrome, it doesn’t mine your data and the integration with services such as messenger, Twitter and WhatsApp is clever.
 

nigelbb

macrumors 65816
Dec 22, 2012
1,150
273
I mostly use Safari but use Edge for sites that don't work properly in Safari. I occasionally use Firefox. I found Opera to be functional but a terrible resource hog of both memory & CPU.

Edge is fast & slick.
 

Macintosh IIcx

macrumors 6502a
Jul 3, 2014
613
599
Denmark
Mostly Safari but since I have a MBP M1 (Max), I use Edge instead of Chrome for work related stuff like Outlook and Teams via the web browser. Also have Firefox but not using that as much.

Have to admit that I really like Edge - big surprise for me!
 

jackoverfull

macrumors regular
Dec 3, 2008
179
81
Berlin, Germany
Wow. What made Jony change his tune so abruptly just a few years later? Or was he maybe crossing his fingers out of Steve’s view, squeezing a Scott Forstall voodoo doll in his pocket, and just playing nice when he said this?

I mostly use Safari but use Edge for sites that don't work properly in Safari. I occasionally use Firefox.
I would never consider using a browser made by Microsoft (or google).
I found Opera to be functional but a terrible resource hog of both memory & CPU.
Not in my experience: it’s much more responsive than firefox or chromium on my 2012 MBP.
 

ianpick

macrumors newbie
Aug 11, 2021
16
3
Edge, believe it or not, even though it's Chromium based and thus rather similar to Chrome. I'm viewing this site in Edge, as a matter of fact.
+1 - while it may seem odd to run a Microsoft Browser on macOS, I find the performance is excellent. It's frequently updated (may or may not be a good thing depending on your perspective), profile sync works a treat, sleeps tabs to save resources & the O365 integration is super handy.
Screen Shot 2022-03-17 at 10.25.41 am.png
 
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iObama

macrumors 65816
Nov 16, 2008
1,084
2,523
I've been using the Orion beta recently and have been super impressed. Brave, Edge, Chrome, Firefox, etc. all do some pretty heavy data mining, and Safari recently has been super buggy on a lot of sites for me.
 

nigelbb

macrumors 65816
Dec 22, 2012
1,150
273
I've been using the Orion beta recently and have been super impressed. Brave, Edge, Chrome, Firefox, etc. all do some pretty heavy data mining, and Safari recently has been super buggy on a lot of sites for me.
I only downloaded Edge because I have encountered a number of sites recently that don't work properly with Safari. I have occasionally used Firefox or Chrome when I site didn't work with Safari but over the last few years that has been infrequent until a couple of months ago. There must be some new HTML thing that these sites are using that Safari doesn't like. What happened to developers testing their websites with multiple browsers before going live?
 
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