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Which Browser are you using - 2025 edition

Which Browser are you using

  • Safari

    Votes: 69 54.8%

  • Chrome

    Votes: 12 9.5%

  • Firefox

    Votes: 26 20.6%

  • Other (please specify)

    Votes: 19 15.1%
  • Total voters
    126
As a matter of fact, on Tuesday of this week, I changed to Safari, and that only lasted one day!
So many of my work related websites would not load correctly. Then, a few of them, despite checking certain security boxes, no matter how many times I went to the website, I'd have to select said security boxes again.

Honestly, if my work related websites worked, I would have probably stayed with Safari. After all, I do like when I get a text code for certain website, I can merely autofill it via Safari. One cannot do that with Google Chrome.

So, back to Google Chrome. Not fussed about Google and a plethora of other companies sharing data. My goal is to make sure I have MFA/2FA, and other security measures in place to prevent a breach of sorts...
 
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I use Safari and haven't had any issues with it that I haven't had with other browsers. I use it on all my devices, iPad, iPhone and Mac mini. All part of the Apple eco system.
 
MacBH928 said:
what is the appeal of Opera?
Click to expand...
Nothing specific. I cycle through alternative browsers fairly regularly to try them out. I rarely use it, honestly. I'm considering switching my alternate to Edge given how well it did for me on Windows when I had a work-issued laptop.
 
This browser question now has me thinking of splitting thing up.

I could use Chrome for work, and then Safari for personal. I just need to fix my synch issue 😂
 
ifxf said:
Firefox is my choice although they keep sneaking in performance crushing changes like AI with nothing in Preferences UI to opt out.
Click to expand...
I'd completely missed this. It seems they're using a local "AI" – an LLM, I guess – to assist with naming tab groups. I don't use tab groups, but if I did, I'm not sure I'd need assistance in naming them. This seems like a pointless exercise. Is there more to it than this? And yeah, let me switch it off if I choose.

Edit: Seems this feature is rolling out gradually, and I don't have it. Also, apparently you can switch it off in the General/Tabs Settings.
 
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circatee said:
To confirm, shouldn't Safari bookmarks sync across devices?
I have it on in iCloud...
Click to expand...

it should but sometimes if your versions are out of sync it won't , like if you have latest ios but an old mac that doesn't get safari desktop updates anymore.


circatee said:
This browser question now has me thinking of splitting thing up.

I could use Chrome for work, and then Safari for personal. I just need to fix my synch issue 😂
Click to expand...

There is a feature in chrome browser called profiles. You can open 2 windows (2 profiles) and each would be completely separate from the other like running 2 browsers. I wouldn't advice using Chrome/Edge due to privacy and data collection issues but the choice is yours
 
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On traditional computers: Firefox ESR. Couldn't find a more versatile setup.
  • Profile support (personal + work, isolated profiles without switching users in the OS)
  • Loads of plugins (let's be honest, we can't keep them activated at the same time. uBlock should be built-in IMHO)
  • Almost every site supports it (if it doesn't, then I'll use Vivaldi and label the site as "broken")
  • Proxy settings independent from the OS
  • Privacy-aware
  • Standards-compliant (let's be fair, is there still a non-standards-compliant browser in 2025?)
  • Doesn't break too many plugins with updates (That's why ESR and not Rapid Release)
  • Syncs to almost all platforms (daily driver is an 2012 MBP, but I use Windows 10 and 11 on a regular basis, occasional Linux)
  • Good performance (just don't overdo it with plugins)
Not Safari because:
  • No updates on older macOS. A shame since it's so quick.
  • No more support for ad-blocker plugins, or other plugins got that matter.
  • Sure there's a Firefox plugin for Windows to sync to Firefox, but it doesn't play nice with Firefox ESR.
Tried Vivaldi as I liked the idea of a fully-contained browser + mail client for work-related stuff, but alas mail settings don't get synced. That defeats the whole purpose.

Heard about Brave, but still some controversies as to its ad-blocking management.

Briefly considered Edge on Windows for being, finally, a modern browser with sync capability and Chrome compatibility, but found it suspiciously insistent about its integration within Windows. Besides, it is not truly cross-platform.

Chrome never felt trustworthy to me. The parent company is too nosy about everything users do and tries too hard to be everywhere at once. Revelations about the parent company still tracking users despite them disabling this setting. Even back in 2004, when Gmail was revealed to read emails, I already had my doubts. If they did that then, why should I trust them with a browser now, use it as a 2nd factor, store my financial data, etc?

On iPhone: Safari. Because with only 16GB storage I had to make a choice and couldn't install hundred of MB of Firefox.

@MacBH928 Love your avatar! Ever thought about making it a sticker?
 
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On my mac mini: Firefox
On my MBP: Firefox primary, Safari for accessing work Gmail account
On my iPad and iPhone: Safari

I've been using Netscape/Firefox since 1999 and use Thunderbird for email.
 
Cubytus said:
On traditional computers: Firefox ESR. Couldn't find a more versatile setup.
  • Profile support (personal + work, isolated profiles without switching users in the OS)
  • Loads of plugins (let's be honest, we can't keep them activated at the same time. uBlock should be built-in IMHO)
  • Almost every site supports it (if it doesn't, then I'll use Vivaldi and label the site as "broken")
  • Proxy settings independent from the OS
  • Privacy-aware
  • Standards-compliant (let's be fair, is there still a non-standards-compliant browser in 2025?)
  • Doesn't break too many plugins with updates (That's why ESR and not Rapid Release)
  • Syncs to almost all platforms (daily driver is an 2012 MBP, but I use Windows 10 and 11 on a regular basis, occasional Linux)
  • Good performance (just don't overdo it with plugins)
Not Safari because:
  • No updates on older macOS. A shame since it's so quick.
  • No more support for ad-blocker plugins, or other plugins got that matter.
  • Sure there's a Firefox plugin for Windows to sync to Firefox, but it doesn't play nice with Firefox ESR.
Tried Vivaldi as I liked the idea of a fully-contained browser + mail client for work-related stuff, but alas mail settings don't get synced. That defeats the whole purpose.

Heard about Brave, but still some controversies as to its ad-blocking management.

Briefly considered Edge on Windows for being, finally, a modern browser with sync capability and Chrome compatibility, but found it suspiciously insistent about its integration within Windows. Besides, it is not truly cross-platform.

Chrome never felt trustworthy to me. The parent company is too nosy about everything users do and tries too hard to be everywhere at once. Revelations about the parent company still tracking users despite them disabling this setting. Even back in 2004, when Gmail was revealed to read emails, I already had my doubts. If they did that then, why should I trust them with a browser now, use it as a 2nd factor, store my financial data, etc?

On iPhone: Safari. Because with only 16GB storage I had to make a choice and couldn't install hundred of MB of Firefox.

@MacBH928 Love your avatar! Ever thought about making it a sticker?
Click to expand...

Recently, I've been moving towards Firefox from Chrome more, since Firefox ESR has longer support and compatibility for legacy versions of MacOS and Windows.

Also, I have Mac/Windows/iOS devices that are out of support, and Chrome has announced they are disabling Sync on browsers that are more than 4 years old. So, I import all my favorites/history/passwords from Chrome to Firefox, and I can still access the updated info by using Firefox on these older devices. With Firefox Sync it saves everything in the cloud.

Chrome Sync will be sunset on versions of Chrome that are more than four years old​

" Starting in early 2025, Chrome Sync (using and saving data in your Google Account) will stop working on versions of Chrome that are more than four years old. If you are on a version of Chrome that is older than four years old, you may begin to see the error message “Update Chrome to start sync” or "Update Chrome to keep using the Chrome data in your Google Account”. "
 
On all of my modern devices, I go with Brave. A few years ago before that, I was always using Vivaldi.
 
MacBH928 said:
why you left vivaldi?
Click to expand...
With Vivaldi, my favorite thing by far was always the UI feeling kind of quirky and easily-customized like I would have expected from Presto-based Opera, which makes sense considering who founded Vivaldi in the first place. But aside from that, I started to feel like it was getting increasingly more bloated with features I didn't really need, turning Vivaldi into more of its own operating system. I eventually left Vivaldi when I felt like trying something a little more lightweight, and I started to get more into crypto overall, so Brave seemed like a nice fit for me after that.
 
Still rocking Safari with an occasional use of DuckDuckGo. I have Firefox and Chrome installed, but rarely launch them.
 
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