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Orion is a new WebKit-based browser for Mac

browser.kagi.com

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Re: Orion is a new WebKit-based browser for Mac

#51

Post by Ransid »

hunterb123 wrote: post #37
StevePerkins wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pros: * Supports both Chrome and Firefox extensions, vs. Brave supporting Chrome only. * Not so much with the skeezy crypto emphasis. Cons: * Brave has a multi-year head start, and has worked all the kinks out. Sync works, etc. * This is Apple-only. Brave works on every major device. I won’t be leaving Brave anytime soon. But competition is a good thing, and this beta is worth keeping an eye on.

I count Brave's emphasis on crypto as a pro and necessary for our hopefully one day ad-less future. If you block ads without allowing the ability to donate a token you are effectively stealing from site owners and causing the rise of paywalls and other restrictions on the internet.

"If you block ads without allowing the ability to donate a token you are effectively stealing from site owners and causing the rise of paywalls and other restrictions on the internet."

No

Re: Orion is a new WebKit-based browser for Mac

#52

Post by eddieh »

pavlov wrote: post #20

Anybody else remember the original Kagi.com? It was an early payment processor for independent software developers. I sold my first shareware license on Kagi. Probably less than ten people in total bought my screensaver, but it inspired me to switch careers to software. RIP OG Kagi!

Yes! I remember a bunch of shareware developers I respected used it. I chose to use eSellerate, because the fees were lower.

Re: Orion is a new WebKit-based browser for Mac

#53

Post by Applejinx »

wil421 wrote: post #32
rising-sky wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess you're not the target consumer, so none. The main selling points are privacy ("like no other") and cross-platform extensions, which don't matter to you

How does Safari not have privacy features? Or Firefox? Apple has very publicly been trying to block tracking on its platforms and has the resources that are comparable to nation states. The also publicly fought the FBI and, if the blogs are true, severely hindered FaceBooks tracking. Kagi is bootstrapped by a somewhat unknown founder presumably in Serbia or from Serbia. Serbia has not always been a friend of the West…

So is that actually Kagi again, or did some founder buy out the name and .com as one of the assets in the bankruptcy?

Re: Orion is a new WebKit-based browser for Mac

#54

Post by solarkraft »

dmitriid wrote: post #27
herodotus wrote: post #10

The sales pitch for this browser is really well done. What is lacking is information about who made this, and why we should trust their claims. Seems important too me if privacy is the main selling feature.

"Kagi - Better Web for our Children" Well... It's a pass from me. Anything claiming something is "think of the children" is at best facetious.

I was also thrown off by this line, but I interpret it as intending to improve the internet not through censorship, but promoting freedom (a long way into the future).

Re: Orion is a new WebKit-based browser for Mac

#55

Post by solarkraft »

Apocryphon wrote: post #47

How well does its autofill integrate with Keychain Services? I think that might be the only compelling reason to use Safari, that and maybe iCloud tabs.

I use a separate password manager (the plug-in is perfectly compatible, by the way), but it seems on par with Safari to me.

Re: Orion is a new WebKit-based browser for Mac

#56

Post by askonomm »

StevePerkins wrote: post #28
hirako2000 wrote: post #14

A comparison with Brave would be most welcome.

Pros: * Supports both Chrome and Firefox extensions, vs. Brave supporting Chrome only. * Not so much with the skeezy crypto emphasis. Cons: * Brave has a multi-year head start, and has worked all the kinks out. Sync works, etc. * This is Apple-only. Brave works on every major device. I won’t be leaving Brave anytime soon. But competition is a good thing, and this beta is worth keeping an eye on.

Saying that a purposely Apple-only product has a con that it is Apple-only is like saying a vanilla ice cream has a con that it is not chocolate.

Re: Orion is a new WebKit-based browser for Mac

#57

Post by micromacrofoot »

franga2000 wrote: post #34
micromacrofoot wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Strongly recommend ad blocking on the network level with something like a pihole, one of the best tech related things I've ever done

Network-level blockers are very crude and tend to cause errors that are hard to debug and fix. I get it if you have no other option and they work well enough with a very conservative blocklist, but in my experience a dedicated extension will block more ads, block them better (no blank spots in pages), break legitimate content less often and when it does be far easier to temporarily bypass.

I've tracked down the "legitimate content" a few times and these are usually trackers, just baked in so deeply they break the content too.

Re: Orion is a new WebKit-based browser for Mac

#58

Post by solarkraft »

jaflo wrote: post #45
franga2000 wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Will those features transfer to iOS though? Last time I checked truly custom browsers are not allowed there and extensions could be easily interpreted as running downloaded third party code, which is also a common excuse for Apple to throw apps off the store.

The FAQ says their iOS version does support extensions

Definitely not perfectly yet, but initial support is there for Chrome and Firefox extensions, though I also wonder how this will work with the app store policies.

Re: Orion is a new WebKit-based browser for Mac

#59

Post by dubya »

connor-brooks wrote: post #4

The one thing that is lacking from Safari is extensions. If this does what I believe then it will be my main browser. Safari adblocking sucks atm.

The adblocker Wipr has recently added something beyond the Content Blocker API with Wipr Extra. I only found it because I had forgotten to switch to AdGuard on my office Mac, and Wipr Extra showed up in an update. Lots of restrictions and caveats though about what it can and can't do. Some details at

https://giorgiocalderolla.com/wipr-faq.html#what-is-wipr-ext...

Re: Orion is a new WebKit-based browser for Mac

#60

Post by KitDuncan »

solarkraft wrote: post #40

I’ve been using it for a few months and i’d day it’s almost ready for public consumption. It’s essentially a better Safari, but (and this is what makes it the ONLY alternative to Firefox) with tree style tabs. Progress has been rapid and the interaction with the dev(s) has been great. I see a bright future ahead for this browser.

Have you tried the iOS app as well? Interested to hear your experience with it.
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