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Is there any real benefit to any other browser than Safari?

Technerd108

Technerd108

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Oct 24, 2021
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I have read various reasons why people use Chrome and Firefox, etc.

I am not a fan of google snooping on everything I do. Firefox is good but not great.

I am asking if there is any specific benefit like better battery life, better 120hz display integration, better privacy, better speed, better resource handling, etc.

This is a serious thread and I am genuinely curious to people's feedback.
 
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I only use Safari when I need OTP for online payments. If ever my Firefox browser gets compromised by visiting a compromised website then I am sure that Safari isnt.

I love Firefox's plugins.

I also love the fact that Firefox can handle opening a tabbed bookmark of nearly a hundred sites at one click. Safari struggles in this
 
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Forgive my ignorance but on a security note does Mac OS integrated firewall work the same with Firefox or Safari? Does using a 3rd party browser add any security vulnerabilities that you know of?

Thanks for your response.
 
I use Chrome because:

1. I'm a developer and I have to use Chrome because it has far better dev tools than Safari
2. I'm too used to the Chrome UI to change

Funny enough, I use Safari on my iPhone. It's not really ideal in terms of browsing syncing for me.
 
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Technerd108 said:
I have read various reasons why people use Chrome and Firefox, etc.

I am not a fan of google snooping on everything I do. Firefox is good but not great.

I am asking if there is any specific benefit like better battery life, better 120hz display integration, better privacy, better speed, better resource handling, etc.

This is a serious thread and I am genuinely curious to people's feedback.
Click to expand...
Sometime stuff doesn’t work in safari, so much so that the site actually tells you to complete the process in Firefox or chrome. Aside that I believe that (particularly if you use iOS devices as well) using safari offers more benefits that the others can offer, particularly with sync and the Apple ecosystem. It’s not a bad browser privacy wise either; anti - fingerprint tech uses the ‘all browsers the same’ approach, and private rely is deftly good at hiding your internet habits from your isp and Apple. Firefox has long been the king of privacy, and is likely to continue to be for a mac only experience- but if you’re invested in the entire eco system I think safari is the best one-stop-shop.
 
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I tend to always use Safari on all my Apple devices, however I do have Firefox installed to cover for the occasional extension that either is not available or does not work properly in Safari.
 
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I don't use Safari on Mac, it lacks many of the extensions that I need and even some that it has (adblockers) don't work reliably enough. I use Chrome and have no issues with privacy. I just reject cookies whenever I can. On iPad instead I use Safari as Chrome is not well optimized there.
Speed-wise, on M1 they are similar. On my old 2013 air however Chrome is much faster than Safari.
 
I use Safari on all my personal devices and for all my personal bookmarks and stuff. Chrome for work and work bookmarks. It has nothing to do with functionality, but rather keeping my work and personal links separate. I even have Chrome for iOS so I can use the workflows I'm used to if I need to check a work item from my iPhone.

As far as Chrome specifically--yes, I've found that it is a battery hog and I would never use it if I didn't work plugged in most of the time.
 
I primarily use Safari on my Mini and iPad because they sync pretty well. Like others have said, though, I always keep another browser (Chrome or Edge) for those times when Safari just can't handle a site.
 
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Safari simply for the integration and privacy (private relay is nice to have). But a lot of my work websites don't work on Safari and watching video in Safari (e.g. Twitch, YouTube) for extended periods is broken and eats up the memory to the point I get a warning from MacOS after about an hour or so.
 
Any browser that supports uBlock Origin, Twitch Purple, ability to customize scroll bar color to be OLED friendly, has top notch security, just works, etc. so usually Chrome, Edge or Firefox.
 
Since I use a lot of different computers and they're not all Mac's, the browser sync is a feature I love, and that means Firefox or chrome. I hardly ever use Safari.
 
I use Safari predominantly nowadays. However, there are some websites that do not want to cooperate with Safari, and that's when I use Chrome. If I have to use Google Suite for collaborative projects, then I will use Chrome.

For example, my school uses the Desire to Learn platform. If I use Safari, sometimes quiz questions will not display diagrams, even with no extensions. With Chrome, it's fine.
 
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I use both Firefox and Safari on a daily basis. Firefox is superior on my MBP. It's faster, doesn't lag on certain websites and provides excellent security especially for a non-supported OS. I use Safari on my iPhone with no issues.
 
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JPack said:
Safari doesn’t allow for many extensions like uBlock Origin. Other Safari ad blockers aren’t open source like uBlock. Firefox is much better in that respect and a lot of people have switched since Safari 13.
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On my MBP I‘m using Firefox + uBlock for YouTube and Safari for everything else: Safari + Adguard somehow breaks YouTube completely, and so far I haven’t found a way around it.

Would love to use Safari full-time for the battery life benefits, but I may just switch to FireFox full time if I can’t get it sorted. Anyone here had better luck?
 
A lot of sites don't work properly on Safari. This is especially true for sites that include forms and such, as well as some governmental and financial sites.
 
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ahurst said:
On my MBP I‘m using Firefox + uBlock for YouTube and Safari for everything else: Safari + Adguard somehow breaks YouTube completely, and so far I haven’t found a way around it.

Would love to use Safari full-time for the battery life benefits, but I may just switch to FireFox full time if I can’t get it sorted. Anyone here had better luck?
Click to expand...
I use Adguard on Safari and it is a little weird but still works, you have to wait a few seconds at the beginning of a video before you can skip the ad but once you do you don’t receive anymore.
 
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