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  • Writer's pictureSohrab Hamza

Why I cannot use switch to another browser.

Chrome is what I use. I cannot use anything else and I'm not proud of it. I've tried countless times to swtich browsers with no luck. I keep coming back to chrome. It's pretty hard to explain but here is what I can put into words.


Firefox: Why I cannot use it

Firefox is the most attractive of browsers when the thought of switching comes to my mind. It's supposed to be faster, more secure and more private. But there are some major reason why I can't switch.

  • No trackpad gestures. This is a major one. Trackpad gestures allow you to quickly go back and forth through history while using a laptop. Just swipe right with two fingers and you go back and swipe left with two fingers to go left. I'm still not sure why firefox does not have this. It only recently got zoom with no levels. (trackpad zoom which is not clamped to levels)

  • Downloads: Doesn't open up a new tab with all your downloads but intead opens up a whole new window with an outdated design.

  • Tab to search websites: This is another major feature present in chrome which I've gotten used to. Type a website name and if that site includes a search function, 7 times out of 10 (this means that it works with ~70% of websites not 70% of times with a particular website) it allows you to press tab and search inside the website. This is a major time saver. I'm not sure if such a feature exists in firefox, but I haven't found it. Firefox does have search engines but they are not nearly as fast.

Nitpicks

Stuff that is only slightly annoying.

  • Autoplay on tabs being blocked. Chrome does it too but it does it in a slightly more elegand way in my opinion. Scenario(chrome): You open youtube, pick out multiple videos and open them in new tabs. Then you close tab one, the video plays automatically (all the others are not playing) and you can just hang back and watch the video. Meanwhile in firefox, when autoplay is blocked, the video does not play automatically when you switch to that tab and instead you have to manually resume it. While both implementations have thier pros and cons, I feel like chromes implementation shows its cons way fewer times than firefox. But I'm sure I could get used to either with time. Also the ability to choose would definately be better.

  • I like to fidget. I like pressing random buttons when playing videos. (most commonly alt) I hate that firefox shows a tab on the top when you press it.

  • Slightly slower when an extension is your new tab page.

  • Chrome's search suggestion sometimes include answers to your questions (try asking a currency conversion question or a calculation). This is a terrific feature and cannot be replicated by firefox.


What Firefox does better

I shall not talk about the privacy and security advantages as everyone has done that and you probably know that already.

  • The different theme is refreshing and I honestly really like it.

  • Firefox's themes are actually much better than chrome's offerings.

  • I really like the sideview thing firefox has where you can open a mobile version of a site on the side of your original tab. Even though I have never used it (due to only using firefox for a short time) but I do see myself finding it useful in some cases.

Aside from this, both browsers are extremely similar.


Edge: Why I cannot use it

Edge is chrome but missing a few features. My main reason why I don't use it is that the trackpad gestures don't feel as good as chrome's implementation. To be fair I haven't used edge a lot recently so I cannot dive deeper into nitpicks like I did with firefox but I presume that there aren't very many as (again) its just chrome with some features missing.


What Edge does better

Aside from being preinstalled on windows, there is pretty much no positive for using edge instead of chrome (or anything else). Edge used to be leaner but being based on chromium has not taken that away.


Other Browsers

Other browsers include brave, opera and vivaldi. Off of the top of my head, I cannot remember any others. Safari cannot be included as I niether own a mac nor an iPhone.

Brave has the same shortcommings as edge but is slightly more appealing due to its other features. I hate its adblocker as its just plain bad.

I don't trust opera and again its just chrome with some spywarey features and a different coat of paint.

Vivaldi is just weird. Didn't like it.


Chrome's Ecosystem

This is the main reason and the most most important. Scenario 1: You get a new computer/reset your old one. You download chrome, log in and boom, you're logged into all google services at once.

Scenario 2: You get a new android device/reset your old one. You log into your google account and boom, you have a fully signed in browser with all your saved passwords for easy access.

With any other browser, there is essentially an added step where you have to (Scenario 1) log into that browser then your google account or (Scenario 2) download a new browser, log in and then log into google.

Chrome automatically saves your passwords and they work on all apps on your android device, not just your browser. You can send pages to and from your computer and mobile device. You can even copy text to your other device.


Now you see my dilemma. Even though some browsers have very appealing features, chrome has major advantages over all other browser that are very hard to overlook and nigh impossible to ignore/live without.

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