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Orion Browser

browser.kagi.com

81–90 of 142 posts

Re: Orion Browser

#81

“Built on Webkit” At least it’s not Chromium. We don’t need Big G dictating the web.

Its kinda interesting seeing this built on top of Webkit and something like Bun built on top of its JavaScriptCore component

Re: Orion Browser

#82

If only Arc was native... uses so much memory. but the product is too good to switch to Orion.

I'm not really sure what you mean here. Arc uses the Blink engine, which is written in C++ (just like WebCore, the core of WebKit, is), and the rest of the browser is written in Swift.

Re: Orion Browser

#83

If only Arc was native... uses so much memory. but the product is too good to switch to Orion.

But Arc is native. They are building it in Swift. They have even taken on a mammoth task of building their windows version in Swift!

Re: Orion Browser

#84
post #14

It’s okay. I like the vertical tabs. Sadly, extensions are buggy and I can’t get Vue Dev Tools to run, which is needed for work. Kagi search is really nice though. Switched to usit exclusively.

macOS-native vertical tabs were a big win for me too, and like yourself, its WebExtensions API is a win over Safari OOTB but there are Chrome extensions I really rely on that don't work, some as a result of the differences between Webkit and Blink themselves, so I find myself drawn to Arc browser where I get, IMO, a much more robust UI where vertical tabs are the default and the command palette in place of an address…

To be fair, Safari also has MacOS-native vertical tabs, in tab groups, that sync group state across the full ecosystem, and do the "in window switching" when you change groups.

// I pay for Kagi, and use Orion for certain extensions.

Re: Orion Browser

#85
post #54

I tried using Orion but 1Password integration is still buggy and doesn’t properly work. Apparently 1Password has to do some whitelisting on their side that the browser is okay to be used, but they don’t do that so it has been stalling for a very long time ( https://1password.community/discussion/124112/support-for-or... ). It’s sad because 1Password is such an important thing that I need to properly work that it’s ma…

I use 1Password with Orion and it works (on iPhone btw)

On iOS I'd guess it's still Apple's web view which 1Password supports in order to work in non-Safari apps of many kinds.

Re: Orion Browser

#86
post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Aren't we all just browsing the web?

I consider myself more of a web browser pilot or captain

Do you call yourself a car driver pilot too ?

You're a web browser using a software to browse. The software has no agency: YOU are the browser of last order, IT is only an intermediary.

Like, who's driving the screw driver: you. You're the screw driver...

Humm doesnt work as well as I thought when I started. Fine, you're a screwdriver captain or whatever.

Re: Orion Browser

#87
post #23

I used Onion for a while, but moved back to Safari. Too many weird issues with playing video, and autofill with tons of contacts (4-5k?). Miss the build in ad blocking, and that it's chrome is thinner, and picture-in-picture without some random extension.

For Safari, consider 1Blocker with all the additional extensions enabled (a top option since ~2015) or AdGuard. To make life easier on the blocker (less energy consumption), consider NextDNS.io or AdGuard for DNS.

Re: Orion Browser

#88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I tried it for a bit but it didn’t seem materially better than DDG for my purposes. What do you like about it?

I like that I am the customer. Now they just need go make a twitter clone for $5/mo

That would be Micro.blog. (More or less.)

Re: Orion Browser

#89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For something as important as a web browser or operating system, I'd want it to be open source. In the FAQ it does say that they're opensourcing components and plan to opensource the browser eventually. This is all good. Long term though, I'd want it also to run on opensource operating systems. It doesn't exactly make sense to have an opensource browser on a closed source operating system. I use Firefox on macOS (+ L…

Arguably it does not need to be open source if it is zero-telemetry by default (if privacy is concern). Reference: https://browser.kagi.com/faq.html#ossprivacy

A piece of software will always be more trustworthy when it is free and open source than when it is closed source. A web browser interacts with so many servers that it would be very difficult to screen for all of the possible ways it could leak information to third parties if it were malicious. A FOSS browser has no such concerns since the code can be checked for malicious behavior. Any telemetry in FOSS can be either disabled in the software settings or stripped through forks (LibreWolf, Mull, Ungoogled Chromium).

With multiple cross-platform FOSS browsers already on the market, being FOSS is a baseline expectation for any new web browser that I hope Orion will eventually meet.

Re: Orion Browser

#90

If only Arc was native... uses so much memory. but the product is too good to switch to Orion.

I'm not really sure what you mean here. Arc uses the Blink engine, which is written in C++ (just like WebCore, the core of WebKit, is), and the rest of the browser is written in Swift.

"Native app" on Mac usually refers to an app following the Apple's HIG (Human Interface Guidelines), using OS native components and having integrations with native services (such as Keychain or iCloud).

The reference browser (produced by the OS manufacturer) on macOS is Safari. It sets a standard for what a 'native' browser following HIG should look and feel like.

You could also say that the reference web rendering engine on macOS is WebKit, which is not only made by Apple but is also the fastest, most resource efficient (probably what OP refers to) and comes with many native system integrations built-in.

In all these regards, Orion is indeed a native app on Mac and many other browsers are not.

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