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What's your preferred macOS browser, and why?

S

sleven

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 28, 2011
117
272
Hey all, I'm curious what your preferred macOS browser is. Google/gmail is always suggesting I convert to Chrome from Safari and I contemplate it; but I really love the integration with keychain in Safari.

If you've made the switch from Safari and have never looked back, what drew you to the other browser?

What is your experience with resource utilization? Have you felt any one browser performs better than another?

If using something other than Safari, how have you migrated from keychain, or is there something that will still allow the alternative browser to use keychain?

Look forward to hearing your thoughts.
 
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I use Chrome mainly, and Safari when Chrome doesn't want to work. I've always used Chrome, really ever since I've owned a computer. It ran great on my very first machine that I got in 7th grade (2017) and so I figured I should keep using it.

But that's not really telling you anything, so here's actually why I use Google Chrome:
  • During the pandemic, I had to use (well, I chose to use) a web-app that only worked on (and was only developed for) Chrome. Haven't used the app since, but I think that's still true.
  • Other sites, like (if I'm remembering correctly) the U.S. Copyright Office's registration page, the Common Application, and my high school's web portal, seem to be best viewed on Chrome.
  • The ability to select multiple tabs! Why can you not do this in Safari!! Or maybe you can, but I sure don't know how to...
  • So that I don't have to get nagging prompts to switch to Chrome
  • It's cross-platform (see below)
I'm sure there are other reasons, but those are just a few that I can think of at the moment. I did try using Firefox last summer, and I liked it—it consumed less RAM, used less CPU, and just was faster in general than Chrome, but I ended up switching back because all my data is on Chrome, not on Firefox (or Safari).

The other thing—I could care less about iCloud Keychain, I have some passwords stored in there, but not many. I really just like using my password manager, because it's cross-platform. And that's the other reason why I use Chrome, is because I can access all my browsing data even on Windows, if I ever use it (which is not often).
 
Safari for most things.
Brave for a few things.
Dissenter for a couple of things.
Opera for one thing.
Tor when I need it.
Orion, occasionally...

Hmmmm....
Chrome???
What's that...???
 
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I've used Chrome and Firefox full-time in the past. But I always returned to Safari for its simplicity and integration with other Apple devices. Now, I don't even have Chrome installed and have only had to open Firefox once or twice over the last few years.
 
I use Safari for websites that require a login and Firefox for everything else.
My Bookmarks Toolbar contains lots of folders which Firefox allows me to navigate much more quickly than Safari.
It's also much easier in Firefox to change the position of a bookmark within a folder.
I also appreciate that Firefox allows extensions that are not available for Safari.
 
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I can highly recommend Orion which is built on WebKit with a lot of the slick system and iCloud integrations and excellent performance you expect from Safari. It's a bit like Brave-meets-Safari but without any of the crypto cruft that comes with Brave. I still keep Brave as a secondary browser as well as Firefox.
 
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Safari is my first choice, because it has worked fine up to now. However, it seems to me (no stats on this) that more businesses are now choosing to develop their websites with only Chrome as the preferred browser. I visit three websites regularly that no longer fully function with Safari, but they used to.
 
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I personally can't stand Safari due to some aspects if its UI. Never use it (save for occasional testing).

I keep several browsers open for various tasks and content types.

Main browser is Edge. Vivaldi for WordPress website maintenance. Firefox, Chrome and Brave for various other stuff.

I find it easier to spread whatever I'm using internet for between several browsers rather than opening countless tabs and windows in a single browser.
 
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