Zen Browser: The Arc I've been waiting for
Background
About a year ago I was introduced to Arc browser. This funky remix of Chromium that moved all the tabs to the side and divided up login sessions into spaces. Long story short, I loved everything about this browser except for the fact that it was closed-source and based on Chrome.
Then it died. The company building it realized it wasn’t making any money and they killed it. Which turned out to be the best thing in the world. Arc browser was so beloved by the community that almost immediately an open-source, Firefox-based, clone of it entered development.
The Zen Browser
It has literally everything that was good about Arc, and it’s open-source!
Pinned Tabs and Folders
Unlike traditional browsers that have relatively ephemeral tabs that are meant to be closed, Zen prioritizes pinned tabs. These are meant for websites that you open often and want to have only a click away. You can even organize them into folders.
Window Management
Making a tab full-screen is as easy as hitting cmd-shift-c. If you have a Mac you know exactly how big of a deal that is. And by simply dragging a tab from the sidebar and onto the page you can easily split-screen your tabs completely in-app.
Spaces
Want to keep your work, school, and personal accounts separate? Spaces are the answer! Pinned tabs as well as login information and cookies can all be boxed into convenient spaces which can be switched between by clicking their icons at the bottom of the sidebar or by swiping horizontally on the sidebar.
Honestly, I love this the most for managing Google accounts. It’s really nice to always know I’m on the right Google account when I’m sending an email or searching for something.
Privacy and Stability
By far the biggest advantage that Zen has over Arc is the fact that it’s an open-source project. This means that it is entirely transparent. You can see exactly what it’s doing and you can even contribute to its development. When The Browser Company decided they were over Arc browser they just killed it with no remorse. Given the fact that this project is community-driven, as long as it’s still relevant and in use it will likely continue to be maintained and improved by the community.
Plus I get to use Ublock Origin and all my ghacks configs
Issues
The only significant issue is battery life. This thing has been a hog on the battery on my M1 MacBook Air.
Conclusion
If you’ve used Arc browser in the past and you liked it then this is a no-brainer. Just switch to Zen.
If you’re the kind of person who has a lot of tabs that they frequently visit and traditional bookmarks have proven to be messy and hard to keep track of then I think it’s worth giving Zen a try. I know a lot of students who enjoy it for that.
And lastly, if you just like good-looking apps and you want the prettiest browser on Mac then you should definitely give Zen a try.