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Launch HN: SigmaOS (YC S21) – A MacOS web browser designed for faster work

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Re: Launch HN: SigmaOS (YC S21) – A MacOS web browser designed for faster work

#111

Post by smoldesu »

MahyadGhassemi wrote: post #39
elpax wrote: post #14

I literally never post comments on HN but what is this product. Is this $15/month browser for MacOS ? Fancy browser with grouped tabs, split-screen and sharing but still just browser. I think I'm just too poor to understand. I hope that your product will succeed because then I will know that in this world you can sell ice to an eskimo.

Thanks for taking the time to make us the first post to post a comment about. The one thing to keep mind is this a browser designed for professionals more than personal use. Example would be WhatsApp vs Slack. Granted some people use even WhatsApp for work, but at companies and within teams Slack is used more because of the structure it gives. Now yes there is a freemium version of Slack but to get the most out of it…

The difference is that Slack actually gives you things when you pay: they host your company's photos, chats, and everything else. SigmaOS is literally flipping zero-margin utility, and I have a hard time imagining a "professional" who feels the need to pay $15/month for something they already use for free (and cannot be used on their other devices). Slack is cheaper, cross-platform, and actually provides some form of value.

Re: Launch HN: SigmaOS (YC S21) – A MacOS web browser designed for faster work

#112

Post by sauravmitra »

itisit wrote: post #95

Serious question: what are you doing (or can you do) to prevent your company from getting sherlocked out of existence?

Sorry, I didn't quite get the question.

Are you referring to another company copying our features?

Re: Launch HN: SigmaOS (YC S21) – A MacOS web browser designed for faster work

#113

Post by jayparth »

tusharpandey13 wrote: post #73

Honestly, this just seems like a cheap rip-off of Vivaldi. All of the features(yes, all of them) are already present in Vivaldi, including the split screen, tree style tabs, sync, global search, full keyboard support. Slapping some UI makeup on top of an already existing product does not warrant a hefty fee of $15 in my view. Also, I don't see any proof that my data is secure. For all I know, you guys will sell off m…

I wonder what it is about hacker news that brings out this incessant negativity in people. Have you considered that:

- This product might only be a couple of months old and they have bigger plans for it over the next year?

- The founders don't have all the answers and they're learning just as much as we are right now?

- Even though YOU might not see enough value to warrant the price tag, there might be people (or businesses) who do?

Maybe you just can't empathize because you haven't build something from 0 -> 1 yet. I am the same age as you but I have failed building a couple of things before, where it looks like you have had a bunch of jobs. I don't cast scorn on people who are early on building things, because I've been in their shoes. Maybe you're right and there's nothing here. Or maybe in two years, their browser is miles ahead of the extension you're referring to.

> tell me one thing that this browser achieves that isn't already available through free, open-source, trustworthy extensions whose code I can see and audit.

They don't have to tell you anything. Go use your browser extension. You aren't the market.

Re: Launch HN: SigmaOS (YC S21) – A MacOS web browser designed for faster work

#115

Post by sauravmitra »

prakashqwerty wrote: post #107

I liked the idea.it seems to have potential,considering the raise of bloatware browser tools in day to day life of an dev. but what makes me skeptical about it is, i don't see any user reviews about your product. whenever you are making bold claim about your product, it's existing /early users must verify it is true,which creates trust when potential customers sees it. Have you beta tested your product?

Thanks!

So we launched into private beta in May, and have been iterating every week ever since. We have a Slack community you can join to talk to our current users as well :)

Can I ask where you'd want to see user reviews?

Re: Launch HN: SigmaOS (YC S21) – A MacOS web browser designed for faster work

#116

Post by smoldesu »

jayparth wrote: post #113
tusharpandey13 wrote: post #73

Honestly, this just seems like a cheap rip-off of Vivaldi. All of the features(yes, all of them) are already present in Vivaldi, including the split screen, tree style tabs, sync, global search, full keyboard support. Slapping some UI makeup on top of an already existing product does not warrant a hefty fee of $15 in my view. Also, I don't see any proof that my data is secure. For all I know, you guys will sell off m…

I wonder what it is about hacker news that brings out this incessant negativity in people. Have you considered that: - This product might only be a couple of months old and they have bigger plans for it over the next year? - The founders don't have all the answers and they're learning just as much as we are right now? - Even though YOU might not see enough value to warrant the price tag, there might be people (or bus…

Maybe they shouldn't charge $15/month for a product that's incomplete. The only reason I'm not the target audience here is because I won't use a subscription-based browser, much less one that has fewer features than my current browser. I respect people who build software, but you have to get pricing right if you want people to care.

> I wonder what it is about hacker news that brings out this incessant negativity in people.

It's an incubator site. We're here to offer our advice on upcoming products, and many people post their products explicitly to hear what they might be doing wrong. It's a trial-by-fire, but rapid iteration will almost always yield a better product.

Re: Launch HN: SigmaOS (YC S21) – A MacOS web browser designed for faster work

#117

Post by neilalexander »

sauravmitra wrote: post #23
0x62 wrote: post #16

Absolutely no chance I'm paying $15/mo for a browser without: - Extensions - Adblock - No support for CMD+W (?)

Good points! We're working on extensions and Adblock right now, so should be out soon! For CMD-W, we're trying to change how you think about pages to something you "mark as done" as opposed to just "close", and changing the shortcut helps make that change for users. Try it out and let me know if you think it's necessary to support CMD-W :)

> For CMD-W, we're trying to change how you think about pages to something you "mark as done" as opposed to just "close", and changing the shortcut helps make that change for users.

Please don't force users to un-learn years of what they already know. It doesn't matter if you call it "closing" a page or "marking it as done" but _please_ make well-known keyboard shortcuts do roughly what a user would expect.

Re: Launch HN: SigmaOS (YC S21) – A MacOS web browser designed for faster work

#118

Post by smoldesu »

sauravmitra wrote: post #63
Cthulhu_ wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> and that we will never monetise our users' data. This is already telling; you're admitting that you gather user's data. Is there a clear consent form for that in place? Does your application and your company's data handling conform to GDPR rules?

We actually don’t gather our users’ data. But if you want to sync your data across devices, you’d have to upload your data (though we’re trying to move to iCloud for this so we don’t have to keep it). Our privacy policy is available on our website and on the app before you login/signup, and we make sure to handle the data according to GDPR rules (though parts of GDPR are a bit lax, so I’d like to say better), conside…

iCloud synchronization is a security risk at my organization, are there options to sync using secure clouds?

Re: Launch HN: SigmaOS (YC S21) – A MacOS web browser designed for faster work

#119

Post by nhooyr »

smoldesu wrote: post #108
mynameisvlad wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Apart from the snooze and done features, tell me one thing that this browser achieves that isn't already available through free, open-source, trustworthy extensions whose code I can see and audit. Is there a Spotlight/Alfred extension for Chrome/ium/Firefox? I haven't seen that UX in a browser yet.

Yes. Vivaldi has one that can be invoked with F2, by default.

I think the parent is asking whether there is an extension for Alfred/Safari can search tabs in Chromium/Firefox. Not an Alfred like UI in Chromium/Firefox.

Re: Launch HN: SigmaOS (YC S21) – A MacOS web browser designed for faster work

#120

Post by mythz »

It looks like the primary redeeming tab groups feature could've been implemented as a browser extension which I personally still wouldn't use as I don't see that it adds any value over my current natural setup of having my "tab groups" basically grouped across across multiple browser windows and virtual desktops. So all sites I frequent are already open and I just use the OS shortcuts for opening the preferred browser window and CTRL+NUM to navigate tabs which IMO beats twiddling with a permanent sidebar that takes up valuable real-estate.

It seems like what sets this browser apart is it wanting to charge $15/mo for a platform restricted browser with a tiny featureset and no extensions? Even free, it'd be hard to justify why anyone would choose to use it over other indie browsers like Vivaldi and its history of constantly shipping novel features.

To justify charging any $$ would require providing some kind of premium hosting service like a secure VPN, but even that should be no more than $5/mo. $15 /mo would be more than I'm paying for any software, even more than my JetBrains All Products Pack subscription (with continuity discount) for which I'm currently making use of 11 of their best-in-class products - Unfortunately I don't see anything here to justify anywhere near $15 /mo. Although I really can't see myself ever paying a subscription to use a browser so I'm definitely not the target market.

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