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Do you like using non apple browsers on the Mac?

TechnoMonk said:
I have 66 tabs open on safari, I don’t see issues or stuttering or reloads.
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Again, might be something with my setup, to me is one clear example of how brittle the Safari experience is (page not rendering correctly is another issue. Or I could mention how bluetooth audio input does not work half of the time on Google Meet).

Browsers are gateways to much of what we do on computers these days, and safari is just not reliable enough.
 
Imagine having access to full Firefox, Librewolf, Brave etc. and still opting to use something like Safari. Guess that's how social media and data brokers have become the monsters they are today.
 
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Siliconguy said:
Safari lacks anything like Cookie auto-delete on Firefox. Firefox plus Privacy Badger matches Safari's anti-tracking ability. Firefox is still current on Sierra unlike Safari which Apple has dumped (along with all other security updates) long ago.

So Safari is fine on up to date machines, but as soon as Apple loses interest in an OS version Safari can't be used on a machine that actually has personal data on it.
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Why would anyone run an apple OS that old?
 
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innominato5090 said:
Again, might be something with my setup, to me is one clear example of how brittle the Safari experience is (page not rendering correctly is another issue. Or I could mention how bluetooth audio input does not work half of the time on Google Meet).

Browsers are gateways to much of what we do on computers these days, and safari is just not reliable enough.
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Looks like specific to your issue. Safari had been most reliable browser for me, outside of sites which need chrome or other browsers. I can’t imagine using chrome as primary browser.
 
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I have seen myself using Chrome and Edge for a few days just to go back to Safari. There was even a time when I just used Opera GX as well.

Safari will always stay on top.
 
I have been impressed with Edge on windows. As much I hated IE, Microsoft did a nice job with Edge. I use Edge/Firefox and chrome if needed on windows. On Ubuntu, it’s Firefox and Chrome.
 
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I like Edge, but either something is wrong with my install or I am not in control of my settings, as my new tab settings are reset every few weeks. I lose my custom background and all that news junk comes back... A few days ago my attempts to restore my background broke the whole thing, so now the background is the exact same color as the text. Great.

I loved Firefox for years, but I feel it has been on a marked decline in recent years. I still use it, but it's not something I'm thrilled about like I was 10-15 years ago. I will not use Chrome if I can help it.
 
retta283 said:
I like Edge, but either something is wrong with my install or I am not in control of my settings, as my new tab settings are reset every few weeks. I lose my custom background and all that news junk comes back... A few days ago my attempts to restore my background broke the whole thing, so now the background is the exact same color as the text. Great.

I loved Firefox for years, but I feel it has been on a marked decline in recent years. I still use it, but it's not something I'm thrilled about like I was 10-15 years ago. I will not use Chrome if I can help it.
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I have the same issue, thought it was specific to me. Didn’t really bother to look for fix as it isn’t a deal breaker for me. At least text and background are the same for me.
 
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I just use Safari. Works great for my needs. I sometimes used Chrome on the corporate PC. Didn’t use it often enough to evaluate it.
 
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I use Firefox exclusively for everything except web development (Chrome) and for the one site that doesn't work well with Firefox (for that I use Safari). Safari is way slower than Firefox, has significantly less extension compatibility, no support for tree style tabs, no support for a proper open source ad blocker like ublock origin, little to no extension support for advanced privacy stuff like auto cookie deletion, etc. the list goes on. Also Safari updates are tied to OS updates, I can't get new Safari features and security updates if I choose to run an older version of macOS. Given how completely dog manure the latest macOS versions have been I have to wait 1+ years before upgrading OS versions. E.g I will start thinking about upgrading to macOS 13 by the time they show off macOS 14 at WWDC.

The only thing Safari has going for it is iCloud support (shared tabs, tab groups). If Apple fix up all my listed problems I might consider switching to Safari because I like the iCloud feature set.
 
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I use Safari on my MBA. I was slowly getting into using Firefox and Brave on my 2012 iMac with Catalina but it looks like it died yesterday so that's done. R.I.P my old friend.
 
I use Safari on iOS devices, but on Macs I can't stick with it — lots of sites don't work right, half my extensions don't work, and I don't like how it looks.
Edge for stability, Arc for experimenting, occasionally Orion for a more capable version of Apple's vision of a browser.
 
I won't use Safari for one single reason - it KILLS my productivity. I have EVERYTHING bookmarked. Use probably 50 different bookmarks on a daily basis. They're all organized in folders. All the folders are in the Favorites Bar beneath the URL. Sometimes I'll only want to open 3 or 4 (maybe 5) bookmarks from a folder (WAY more bookmarks in each folder than I want to open all at once, so can't do a 'open in tab group', or 'open all'... can't make a new folder just with the ones I want because that changes all the time).

Anyway, on Google Chrome I click the folder, it expands, and in a split second I can Command+Click however many bookmarks and they open in new tabs...

Safari will NOT let me do this!!! Every time I click one, the folder closes. Sometimes I'm 2-3 folders deep... and I have to re-navigate all the way back in, click another one... it friggin closes again... so on so forth.

If there's some way I'm doing this wrong PLEASE let me know... I've posted (on Reddit/Mac) about it before and not a single person posted with a solution...
 
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Firefox, ever since they stopped updating Camino (which was a pretty sweet little browser). Better than Chrome for privacy, better than Safari for customization and extension and anything web development-adjacent. Oh, and it has Container Tabs.

I open Safari about once a month for sites that don’t work on FF at all or that would require me to reverse all the privacy/security config in FF.
 
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splitpea said:
Firefox, ever since they stopped updating Camino (which was a pretty sweet little browser). Better than Chrome for privacy, better than Safari for customization and extension and anything web development-adjacent. Oh, and it has Container Tabs.

I open Safari about once a month for sites that don’t work on FF at all or that would require me to reverse all the privacy/security config in FF.
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omg yes I forgot about container tabs, very useful. They are one of my top Firefox features. I have a container just for YouTube because it's the only google service I use on the web.
 
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I don't think I've ever visited a website that doesn't work at all with Safari.

Because of that, I solely use Safari.

I also don't like that most 3rd party web browsers (e.g. Chrome and Edge) installs launch agents that sits in the background 24/7 looking for software updates.
 
jwolf6589 said:
I dont know about you but I hate it when I am forced to use a non apple browser on the Mac such as Chrome or Firefox. Some websites don't work properly with Safari and in these situations I need to use one. I also hate using non apple based email clients and much prefer using apple Mail. MS outlook does have its advantages but in reality it's a better product on Windows. You?
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I use many apps on many operating systems…personally I don’t mind. But I do see family struggling with having to go to Chrome for this website, and Safari for another, Outlook for work, Mac Mail for private, etc etc. I hear you!
 
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johannnn said:
I also don't like that most 3rd party web browsers (e.g. Chrome and Edge) installs launch agents that sits in the background 24/7 looking for software updates.
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Just remember that this is because there is a constant need of security measures to be implemented. I'd prefer that they are patched ASAP rather than Apple deciding the whole OS needs to be updated every once in a while (Safari always tend to be added to those).
 
Safari doesn't do well on tabbed bookmarks that you open dozens of pages at 1 time or have many browser add-ons.

I use Safari for online purchases as I feel it is more secure and easier to fill in personal datails on websites.

It also helps with OTP.
 
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Switched to Firefox a few months ago, with uBlock Origin, Privacy Badger and HTTPS Everywhere installed for privacy and a few other extensions just for general day-to-day improvements which Safari lacks.

Chrome for work bits sadly because we're locked in the Google Docs/Meets ecosystem and it just works much more smoothly, but I don't do anything on there except work stuff and only log in through my work account, which also helps me keep my private life separate from work stuff.

Safari still occasionally, mainly when I want to use Apple Pay.
 
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