Since currently Lemmy is mostly made up of nerds, I'd like to know what browsers you use and why? You could just upvote the comment with your browser of choice if you don't want to explain.
An established foundation with good interests and goals running it (unfortunately it's not quite that clear cut - but the best, closest). The source of free software development. Extensive feature set. Robustness.
I haven't seen the need to use a fork, and like and prefer the idea of using and supporting the one that's investing in the engine development - even if it's largely only through free use. (Using forks does not support them this way.)
When briefly using chrome dev tools I've always preferred and went back to Firefox dev tools for web development.
Sharing my data with an independent org like Mozilla feels much better and safer than with Google. The services are free software and could be replaced if it ever need be. Still, Mozilla is big enough to expect stability across time.
Tech wise there's not much difference between the three big players Firefox, Chrome, and Edge.
If it weren't Firefox I'd feel more comfortable with Edge than Chrome.
If Firefox isn't available, the next best choice would probably be de-googled Chromium (note that Chromium is not necessarily fully de-googled by default) or Safari. Edge is just Chrome plus Microsoft.
Firefox. I used to be an avid Chrome user, but the domination of Chromium-based browsers (Chrome, Edge, Brave, Opera, Vivaldi, etc) is scary. It essentially gives Google control over what happens on the internet. So I switched to Firefox and it's been a great browser ever since
Very good choice for a mobile browser based on Firefox. I've been using Iceraven on my phone for some years now and it's definitely better than default mobile Firefox. I'm sure you'll like it.
Firefox. It's better, IMO, to follow a process of how to manually harden it because then you know how to allow exclusions to the hardening when things go wrong.
Firefox. I've always used Firefox except for services that don't support it (like GeForce Now, which I do have Chrome installed for). I'd say my main reason for sticking with it is wanting to support a more "open web" concept. I also use it on mobile in order to get adblock there and appreciate the browser sync.
Firefox with a load of plugins. Mostly adblockers, cookie blockers, and one that automatically runs through the dark patterns that are cookie prompts and rejects all the cookies it can.
Take a look at vinegar / baking soda as an extension for safari. It replaces the non-standard video players on websites like YouTube with a plain HTML5 player. Much smoother and you get all the iOS / macOS features like scrubbing and PiP. Plus it blocks ads as well!
It's the only browser which can give me certain very simple behaviours. For example, noise the bookmark toolbar a lot. And I want bookmarks from that toolbar to automatically open in a new tab when I left-click on them. Firefox can give me that, whereas Chrome and most Chromium-based browsers don't even give me the option. I have to middle-click or ctrl-click, otherwise that bookmark mercilessly opens over my current tab. Could I teach myself a new habit (middle-click instead of left-click in the bookmark bar)? Sure. Should I have to?
The only Chromium browser that was able to give me this behaviour is Vivaldi, and that had a whole lot of other problems.
The other killer Firefox feature is tab containers. Wouldn't want to go another day without them.
Firefox at the moment, but every so often I get fed up with its performance and switch to Chrome. Won't happen anytime soon at the moment, due to the Mv3 shit they are pulling off though
Many years ago that was kind of the case for me but, if you're finding Firefox less performant than Chrome these days, it's most certainly an add-on or, if on Linux, a snap issue, or you're doing some pretty insane stuff specifically designed to take advantage of Chrome-only features.
I've been using Firefox as my main browser since it was called Phoenix. When I was 17 back in 2004 I put up flyers in my hometown to advertise its release. I'm never switching browsers.
Same here! Before that, I used initially Netscape, then Konqueror on KDE, whose engine KHTML became the foundation of Safari/Webkit and thereby 90% of all browsers nowadays and only started in 2006 or so to exclusively use Firefox.
I used FF for a long time then chrome because of how much was deved for it. Now I'm trying to switch back to FF, but getting out of the chrome eco system is such a pain in the ass
Arc (only on Mac for now), still not completely mature but I hope they improve performance and stability in the future, as the core ideas are pretty great
Their spaces, pinned tabs and splitted views really make for a great experience
I don't use many extensions, but those two are useful.
I like Keepa to track prices on Amazon and set alerts for deals. It's nice since it embeds a chart directly within Amazon product pages. I haven't reviewed their privacy policy for a while though (last time was a few years ago) so I don't know how much data they collect and for what purpose.
Chrome is tied too closely to Google. I don’t trust Google with my data because their business model is all about monetizing anything you give them. It’s also always been bloated and slow on the Mac.
It’s a shame because when Edge first came out, it was great. Now it’s a bloated dumping ground of privacy-invading featuritis.
Brave recently had a bunch of privacy/monetization controversies that put me off of it as well.
That leaves me with Firefox and Safari.
Vivaldi seems interesting, but so far I haven’t seen any performance differences between it and Safari. Thought I’d give it a try to see how well it worked on an older Mac, but it was missing webp support there, just like Safari.
Yea the OG one was really good and used that for many years. haven't tried the new one, but afaik they got bought by some Chinese company around the time they switched to chromium
Moved from Edge to Firefox and back to Edge a few days later. FF "works" but I prefer the less clicks requiring Edge UI. The faster bookmarking, the better vertical tabs (though you can kind of get it to work with verticalFox css). Edge loads faster and handling drag and drop of tabs and better website translation. FF also had performance issues on some websites. Another is, Edge bookmark icon remembers my click, while FF UI always resets.
I use a combination of desktop and android and FF android really isn't good with it's UI, it would require many more clicks to save 10 bookmarks inside my desktop folders and much longer to sync them. While on Edge it was two touch and instant sync.
I'd say FF is fine for 99% if the people but I was looking for something else. I did this just a few days ago.
You are literally the first person I have ever seen that prefers edge over any other browser. I knew there were some of you out there somewhere... Thanks for sharing your experience.
Yeah I used that. It was okay. I prefer the way how I can drag and drop the tabs in Edge. Sidebery didn't seam to habe that option. Also when you were on bookmarks you couldn't open a folder with one click (Middle mouse button). It also didn't automatically switch back to tabs from bookmarks when opening more than an individual bookmark. Saving bookmarks also didn't remember the folder. It's tiny stuff that made me go back to Edge.
Recently moved from Librewolf to Floorp (also based on Firefox). It is at least worth checking out I’d say, especially if you’re on Vivaldi specifically because you can’t find something which competes in customisation, workspaces, and sidebars and all.
Vivaldi. For me, in terms of usability, it's the closest thing to Opera (and by "Opera" I mean the browser that it was before moving to Blink/Chromium).
Librefox (a Firefox fork) or if I really just don't want to use that for sites like fandom, I can always rely on the text based Links browser to save the day.
Orion (when it works 99% of the time) on my Mac. It’s pretty much all the benefits of Safari plus the ability to run some Firefox/Chrome extensions. I know it’s not FOSS yet, but they at least claim to be working on it. Firefox for the other websites that don’t work on Orion (very rare), and Chrome for the others that don’t work well at all on Orion/Firefox (almost never). I’m planning on deleting Chrome overall soon.
I’m on MacOS, and I tend to mostly use 3 for different reasons.
Safari has been my goto for battery, but Firefox has caught up. I may hop over in MacOS 14. My big sticking point has been integration with Apple’s keychain software, and that should change during the next major OS update.
Chrome for stupid g suite products that disable features for other browsers (aka, Google’s video chat)
Want to get into Nyxt. Hackable in common lisp! But for me on Guix it crashes within 5 minutes of use. Damn I need to fix it.
eww. (built into emacs). Used to google issues during terminal distro installations. Also good for simple blogs and github readme's, but I plan to replace that with a feed reader and a proper forge explorer package.
But as a depressed gamer, I've been sticking to firefox so far.
I usually stick to the browser that comes bundled with the OS. On my computer, I use Microsoft Edge, and on my phone I use Chrome. I'm just very lazy to download a different browser, I'm not biased at all. If I start using Linux, I'll be using Firefox (idk if different Linux distros bundle different browsers). If I ever switch to iOS or macOS, I'd use Safari.
I think I'm automatically being hated now for using a browser made by a company that sells my data to advertisers.
Brave on laptop and on phone. I tried to switch to Firefox recently but too many little things bugged me. I still have Firefox on my phone for when something doesn't work in Brave (like free movies on Southwest flights).