DuckDuckGo Working on Privacy-Focused Desktop Browser for Mac

[FloatingBones]

I'm curious if Apple will provide access to iCloud Private Relay to these third-party browsers in the future. That would certainly improve the security/privacy of a DuckDuckGo browser.

It makes sense for Apple to start with Private Relay as an exclusive offering to identify/fix any bugs in the offering, but they should promptly open the API for all browsers to use.

 

[Eorlas]

i dont quite understand, though. it claims to be about security and privacy, but the settings behind this are expected to already be such that the user doesn't have to do anything? so "just trust me" is the premise behind this?

 

[nt5672]

I would like to like DDG, but the search is terrible compared to Google. DDG should be getting their core competencies (search contents) working well first.

Now it could very well be that in the teenage market searching for Entertainment Tonight or the latest Kardashian's escapades it works well. I wouldn't know, I have real life things to do.

 

[sw1tcher]

Knowing nothing about it, why is Brave a scam?

Seconding this question?

How is brave a scam?

'Scam' is a big word, any evidence for your claim? source? otherwise fake news!

I think it may be this from last year

Privacy browser Brave busted for autocompleting URLs to versions it profits from

Chromium-based Brave stumbles in its efforts to shake up the browser business with cryptocurrency and privacy.

www.zdnet.com

Brave Browser Caught Redirecting Users Through Affiliate Links

Brave's CEO has apologized and promised it will never happen again.

www.pcmag.com

 

[LeadingHeat]

AdNauseam is the nuclear option. Simulates clicks on all ads to throw off their metrics. Google banned it from their store, but I think you can still install it, or it's also available for Firefox.

Costing these people so much money for ad clicks I love it 😂😂

 

[Acidsplat]

"OS-provided rendering engines" so the macOS version will be based on WebKit/Safari?

 

[iBreatheApple]

So I just switched back to safari and google on iOS after a complete switch to DDG and mobile browser for about a week. Googles relevancy/search results algorithm and the way it places things such as business, reviews, quick “smart answers” from websites that may contain the answer you’re looking for, and all that… it kinda made me throw my hands up and say “fine have my privacy/data.” DDGs user experience is very “2005” in terms of features and relevant information in any given search. It’s a shame because I cared enough about my data and privacy to make a complete change for a week, but I guess I don’t care about it enough to settle for something like current DDG. It’s a conflicting feeling.

 

[ThunderSkunk]

Thank god. We need this. Privacy- the top priority. Duck is a great browser when it comes to privacy.

No kidding. For all Apples prioritizing of privacy, Safari still has no option to do something as simple as delete your cookies except for whitelisted ones after a session closes. I think the necessity for that functionality became obvious in about 2010.

iBreathe, I too went back and forth, but for about a month, and over time found the Ducks to be good enough for what I need. Probably about once every six months I look for something that's just not coming up on the first page of DDG, so I go to googly.com and search for it. But otherwise, I've put LittleSnitch on to blocking almost everything relating to google, adsense & the rest of their pervasive spyware and don't miss it whatsoever.

Ferrari cars exist in the world too. They would get me into town faster and leave me with more time in my day for other things. They come at a cost of a second home and increasing the likelihood that I'd smash into a tree and die, but they are an option that would otherwise perform objectively better. However, with a broader perspective than the instant gratification of a fast car, I can just accept the 20% time penalty of this lazy old brick of a Prius eventually getting me to work in one piece for pennies on the dollar, and not be bothered every commute by what I might be "missing" by not having the Ferrari.

 

[melgross]

I hope it’s better than their iOS browser, which is horrible. That’s very difficult to use, and not because of the security, but because of terrible design. They tried to be different, but different isn’t always better, and in this case, it’s worse, much worse.

 

[n-evo]

What additional privacy benefits will this offer beyond Safari with Duck Duck Go?

 

[SFjohn]

I would like to like DDG, but the search is terrible compared to Google. DDG should be getting their core competencies (search contents) working well first.

Now it could very well be that in the teenage market searching for Entertainment Tonight or the latest Kardashian's escapades it works well. I wouldn't know, I have real life things to do.

I’ve been using the DDG search engine for the past year and it’s as good or better than Google’s.

 

[Populus]

Great! But I’ll keep using DDG on Safari with an ad-blocker as my winner combination.

 

[coolfactor]

I keep trying to use DuckDuckGo as my primary search engine, but the results just never quite meet my needs.

 

[doboy]

Love their mobile browser and use it all the time.

 

[Mac Fly (film)]

Meanwhile Siri is what eleven years old and still doesn’t understand “duck duck go” as a verb. I mean, tbf I only gave this feedback to Apple seven times.

Augmented reality is coming and Siri cannot process basic commands and iPad doesn’t have Weather or Calculator or Dictionary apps. But hey, can’t wait for that electric car I cannot afford in 2026.

 

[hydropsyche]

Hopefully not a scam like Brave. DDG's website is legit.

What's the scam?

 

[satchmo]

A startup called Neeva sounds like an interesting concept...but I'm not sure it'll fly given there's a nominal fee involved. I heard the founders (former Google employees) on a podcast and they don't have any illusions of unseating Google. They believe if they even get a few percentage of users, it will amount to a windfall in what is a multi-billion dollar industry.

Neeva - Search powered by AI

Did you know 40% of search results are ads? Created by ex-Google execs, Neeva only shows you real results. No ads or affiliate links ever.

neeva.com

 

[Bandaman]

Interested to see what additional benefits the browser will provide to make adoption worthwhile. Took me a bit to get use to having this as my default search engine, but I still use Chrome (plus a bunch of extensions for privacy) as my default browser.

There’s literally zero point in using DDG as your search engine if Chrome is your browser. No matter what extensions you are using, Google is tracking everything you do.

 

[EdT]

I like the idea of DDG but the searches themselves are worse than Google or Safari for me and I’m not really happy with them. I think Safari actually uses Google by default anyway.

I was looking for a replacement part, a ceiling fan blade for a 6 blade Westinghouse ceiling fan. Every search found all sorts of 3, 4 and 5 bladed replacements, but not any 6 bladed ones, and the top results weren’t even Westinghouse products. The hole pattern is different for these blades than the 3, 4 and 5 blade replacements. Put in the fans part number and put a “+” both next to it and the word “replacement” and I get the same search results that I got with just searching “replacement ceiling fan blades” Putting the part number got me matches for the correct Westinghouse fan but not parts, it got me links to sellers of that fan.

I am looking for a search engine that if it doesn’t find what I specified tells me just that- no matches found. And I don’t want to wade through a full page or more of matches marked “Ad” as they usually aren’t the correct brand and frequently
aren’t even the correct product, they just matched another common word I used in the search terms as I keep trying to specify what I am looking for by changing the search terms when I get false matches. ”No match” is a useful answer if I can believe the search. But I can’t.

 

[svish]

This will be a really good browser hopefully. Looking forward to trying this real soon.

 

[Username: Required]

Firefox has Focus browser for iOS/iPadOS, I wish it’s available for desktop too

 

[0924487]

Not to hijack the duckduckgo thread, but any recommendations on chrome extensions for privacy?

uBlockOrigion is the best.

 

[DaveP]

Pro-tip: add !g or g! at the end of a DuckDuckGo search to get Google search results (actually there are thousands of "bang" options: https://duckduckgo.com/bang).

DDG is great for general searching/"easy" searching. However, as a software developer, for most more detailed technical searches I end up using Google. But, anything that can minimize my Google usage is a plus. It's also harder for Google to advertise to me knowing that I'm a developer vs I'm looking for a particular model car, and new siding for my house, and winter boots, and have a plumbing leak, etc. etc.

 

[bd700pilot]

I’ve understood that Safari on iOS and macOS has for several versions now, already included the DDG functionality built in. Isn’t that what the Safari Privacy report is basing its data on? Safari is already blocking trackers. The only thing it’s missing is ability to not remember any history outside of Private browsing mode which I never use anyway. What I really with Safari had was ability to delete history and caches but without deleting cookies necessary for some of my financial sites etc.

 

[_Spinn_]

Cool! I really like using the DDG browser on my iPhone.