Arc

The stagnation in the browser market is not just about the market shares, which have not changed in the last years, but also about the lack of innovation in the field, mostly due to the business model of the major players.

Here to bring change and innovation in many ways, Arc provides an alternative to the major web browsers, one that dares to overhaul the fundamentals of how we navigate on the Internet and how we use a web browser.

Having Chromium as its backbone, Arc brings to the table remarkable tab management tools, as well as other impressive features, such as link preview, automatic picture-in-picture and support for multiple profiles.

Focusing on a clean, clutter-free browsing experience, Arc features a minimalistic interface whose design surprised me, especially since the tabs are not at their regular place and the tab bar is practically missing. Instead, a vertical tab bar is used, which definitely caught my attention. All the tabs are neatly organized in the left sidebar, making navigation through tabs much more intuitive.

If you are like me and prefer leaving tabs opened instead of using bookmarks, Arc’s tab management model might be exactly the productivity trick you need. Its smart folder structure enables you to organize tabs in three categories: pinned tabs, favorite tabs and today’s tabs.

The tabs you pin are the ones you want to keep opened, while favorite tabs are saved for quick access. On the other hand, today’s tabs are automatically sent to the tab archive if not used in the last 24 hours.

Profiles and Spaces are two other ingenious features in Arc. While Spaces allow you to group tabs easier and enhance productivity, user Profiles enable you to create tailored browsing experiences and separate work and personal workspaces, each with customizable looks, settings, bookmarks and extensions. It only takes a click or a swipe to switch between profiles, directly from the main window, without navigating through menus.

Intelligent link preview allows you to avoid getting distracted while browsing. Links are opened in an overlay window and not actually loaded, nor in the current tab nor in a separate one, unless you choose so. Alternatively, you can open links in split view, meaning you can explore multiple tabs at once.

Arc is not just another productivity browser, a Chrome copycat, as I first thought. Instead, it delivers innovative approaches to tab management and, I might say, the entire working environment of a browser.

Based on Chromium, it guarantees reliability, stability and compatibility with Chrome’s extensions, while adding a zero data collection and privacy-oriented policy to the mix. And thanks to the state-of-the-art tab management and navigation features, it delivers an enjoyable experience and turns a regular web explorer into a customizable browsing environment.