boppin
Suspended
Welcome to the club! Back when I was doing an internship at a PC company in the neighboring town, they used Chrome exclusively, and it was really fast. Today, it’s my default browser on my M4 Air and my Google Pixel smartphone.
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Chrome is Awful....
- Thread starter Miltz
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aespana
macrumors 6502
I use Firefox as my main browser since it is cross-platform and also because uBlock Origin but Chrome has always worked fine. No insane use of RAM, very good performance and very fast.
For work I use Chrome and again, all good
AlixSPQR
macrumors 65816
boppin
Suspended
eyoungren
macrumors Nehalem
On the contrary, I am seeing an undying and immovable love for Safari in this thread.
Perhaps it is my own hatred of Safari that is overshadowing it all. 😉
turbineseaplane
macrumors Penryn
chrono1081
macrumors G3
Yep. Chrome is easily the worst browser out there. I've said it for years and luckily many others are starting to realize and are switching (at work we finally ditched Chrome as the standard on the Windows machines).
The Clark
macrumors 65816
Care to elaborate? People tend to say this with no further reasoning provided.
ratspg
macrumors 68030
Abydos
macrumors 6502a
ok , I use three browsers normally on my desktop : safari, opera, and Firefox. on my phone its Firefox, and safari. opera because I usually get a server in Norway for some reason, and the adds are a hoot in Norwegian (which I don't speak), suit yourself but I can't comment on battery life since the desktop is tied to a power outlet.
chrono1081
macrumors G3
It's just a ****** overall experience.
It's resource management is inexcusable. It should never use as much resources as it does. It drains battery far faster than anything else out there. It doesn't play nice with tons of different web applications where every other browser works just fine.
Skwoodge
macrumors regular
I use Brave or Safari, but i've mostly migrated to Brave at this point.
Rendergroup
macrumors regular
Soondae
macrumors 6502
I only use Chrome sparangling mostly for Google APPs such as Maps and Translate. Google Maps is better in Thailand where I reside than Apple Maps. However Apple translate is improving I may need to start using it more. For my web site reading I like using Firefox, it is fast and easy to use. I also like the fact that Firefox supports my Keychron M3 mouse back button which Safari doesn't support I am on an M4 Mini with OS26. I find that back button a really nice feature of the Keychron mouse. Other than that Safari still remains my default browser in the OS and I really don't have many issues with it.
maflynn
macrumors Broadwell
I can't speak for anyone else, but for me, there's a number of factors
- Its rather bloated, opening numerous tabs has a negative consequence to system resources.
- Then there's the information it collects and sends back, I'm just not comfortable with how Google collects my information and sells it. I'm more privacy minded so I largely try to avoid companies that actively sell my data, and Google is the worst. Actually a case can be made that Microsoft is the worst given this information)
- Given they're largely a monopoly, they tend to behave in anti-consumer behavior
- Manifest V3 changes where they're actively working on blocking/preventing ad blocker plugins
- Every update, Chrome takes over certain file extensions, for example instead of letting PDFs be opened by Acrobat, Chrome takes them over and I have to constantly reset the default app back to Acrobat (this may be a Windows only phenomenon)
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Chrome is best viewed as a virtualised OS rather than a web browser. The resources it consumes are then more understandable. Sadly it doesn't matter which browser you use, web companies are always still profiling us. It is the devils bargain we all must pay for a 'free' and open web. Even the hobbyist age of Web1 at the turn of the century required ads to function. Adwords made their way into most blogs and Geocities sites.
DankeBrutus
macrumors regular
I really want to love Firefox on macOS. I recently switched back to Bitwarden for my primary password manager from Keepassium, so I felt freed to try out a different default browser on my Macs.
Firefox feels good to use, I have no issue with the UX. However, once I start playing a video, particularly using PiP, Firefox starts using more energy than Safari and drains my battery faster than I'd like. In fairness to Firefox it isn't as bad as Helium right now, but Safari barely budges when playing video whereas both Chromium and Firefox use 30%+ of my CPU just to play a video.
turbineseaplane
macrumors Penryn
That is super strange.
I've honestly never had such an issue.
I'm curious what Mac are you on?
On my M5 MBA 15", I can be on Firefox doing web stuff (including video) for hours and hours at a cafe and barely lose 30% of my battery.
That feels like something is off for some reason. I hope you can figure it out!
It sounds like maybe a codec issue or something.
retta283
macrumors 68040
I have noticed a lot of people complaining about this issue with Firefox over the years but I myself have never noticed it, on any Mac I've owned or on any Windows computer, where similar complaints exist. I also use UBlock Origin which is sometimes cited as being responsible for the issue, but still no problem. I've always wondered why I see so many people with the issue but never have it myself. My main Mac is still a 2012 27" iMac and I don't see much worse CPU usage than my M4 MBP.
kaioshade
macrumors regular
Every single browser falls short for me, but Chrome at least supports web standards for things I use, so It's the browser I end up putting up with the most.
Safari comes close to being usable, but Apple's insistence on gutting extensions, and lack of web standards support are deal breakers. And the absolutely asinine private window behavior it does.
Safari comes close to being usable, but Apple's insistence on gutting extensions, and lack of web standards support are deal breakers. And the absolutely asinine private window behavior it does.
A lot of strong opinions here. Browsers are tools and we all choose the tool we feel most comfortable with. Hating a browser seems a little over the top. I primarily use the native browser for the platform, with Firefox being my cross platform browser of choice, mainly because I avoid using Google tools where I can.
Google exists because it sells information about you to third parties so that they can advertise and push their products into your face. It may just be me, but I am not willing to use a tool that is paid for by using information about me to benefit itself. I would rather pay for the tool. Safari is paid for when you buy an Apple product and Apple do not survive by selling your data about your behavior to anyone with money (at least not yet). Firefox’s survival is a mystery to me, but it has worked well over many years and continues to provide an excellent service.
Any site that will only work on Chrome, I avoid like the plague and if it is an important company site, I use an unusual method called a telephone or email and may even cut my relationship with them if they insist on forcing me to install Chrome. I do not ‘hate’ Chrome, I just do not particularly like the way it works and am uncomfortable with the data it may be collecting about me. That is my personal prejudice.
It is all a personal choice and we each have our own requirements and perspectives. But let’s not ‘hate’ things which are inanimate lumps of code or hardware. Let’s just say we prefer other solutions that meet our requirements and prejudices better.
Google exists because it sells information about you to third parties so that they can advertise and push their products into your face. It may just be me, but I am not willing to use a tool that is paid for by using information about me to benefit itself. I would rather pay for the tool. Safari is paid for when you buy an Apple product and Apple do not survive by selling your data about your behavior to anyone with money (at least not yet). Firefox’s survival is a mystery to me, but it has worked well over many years and continues to provide an excellent service.
Any site that will only work on Chrome, I avoid like the plague and if it is an important company site, I use an unusual method called a telephone or email and may even cut my relationship with them if they insist on forcing me to install Chrome. I do not ‘hate’ Chrome, I just do not particularly like the way it works and am uncomfortable with the data it may be collecting about me. That is my personal prejudice.
It is all a personal choice and we each have our own requirements and perspectives. But let’s not ‘hate’ things which are inanimate lumps of code or hardware. Let’s just say we prefer other solutions that meet our requirements and prejudices better.
thebellnd
macrumors regular
One of the best things about Brave is the flawless YT ad blocking. Google can't seem to find a way to defeat it. But yeah, their built-in ad blocking seems to be similarly exceptional at avoiding AB detection interceptors in general.
eyoungren
macrumors Nehalem
Hating a browser largely stems from being unable to make it do what you want it to do. That results in frustration, which prolonged becomes hate. Kudos to you if that's not a problem because you never get frustrated.
As to Google, I hear this argument all the time. I will continue to use their services because they are useful to me. And I will continue to browse the web while blocking all the third party ads you say I'm getting hit with. I use an ad blocker and, with the exception of YouTube I haven't seen an ad in my primary browser in more than a decade.
Finally, Google has privacy settings. Maybe you or others don't trust those, maybe I shouldn't, but I've provided Google with a limited amount of info and tweaked all the privacy settings. Search my house on Google Maps. You'll find it's been blurred. Because I took the time to submit the address and make sure it was. I'm told I could do the same for Apple Maps.
As to Chrome, I'm not using it. Both Vivaldi and Microsoft Edge, which I use, allow Chrome addons, but they aren't Chrome. In this way, I get what I need/want but don't have to deal with Chrome itself.
Oh I get frustrated but hating inanimate objects does not result. 😂.
Yes it is seen as a common problem (I am one among millions) and I use an ad blocker and have a paid You Tube Premium subscription to avoid the ads. which is the only Google service I use. They still track you, of course, but I have tweaked my Google profile to make my watching habits as private as Google will let me.
Yes, I have tweaked Google privacy settings but I am still not very comfortable with them as I see things that can only be the result of them tracking. My house is also blocked on Google.
My search engine is Duck Duck Go, inline with my policy to avoid Google where I can.
In summary, my main point here was not that Google is bad (as I said, I chose not to use them except for You Tube Premium), but that people seem to get rather more than upset when things cannot be made to work the way they want them to work. I just move on and find a suitable compromise. I don't like ads or being tracked but I don't hate the apps and services that do track me and show me ads (they have to fund their work somehow, I just don't agree with the way they chose to do so), I just find an alternative solution.