I currently use almost all Apple devices for my personal tech, so Apple’s Safari web browser is pretty much front and center on all my devices. I have no problem with Safari. It’s free, easy to use, and has enough extensions for what I need while surfing the net. It’s provided by Apple, however, so, in keeping with my goal to minimize my reliance on Big Tech, I’m looking for an alternative browser which fits the bill.
Before I look at my options, let’s eliminate a few other choices, also from our Big Tech friends. Google’s Chrome browser, while popular, is most definitely not an option. Neither is Microsoft’s Edge browser, which is now based off the same open source Chromium browser which Chrome comes from, so it gets a double nope from me. Meta and Amazon don’t have browsers, though I wouldn’t use them if they did.
So, what are my options?
- The website Open Source Alternative To recommends the Brave browser. Like Chrome and Edge, Brave is based off the open source Chromium browser. Brave also touts its focus on privacy, which would normally appeal to me. Brave’s founder, however, is Brandon Eich, a former Firefox executive who donated money to California Proposition 8, which attempted to make same sex marriage illegal in the state. The controversy when this was discovered led to Eich’s resignation from Firefox. I won’t support Eich or Brave as a result.
- The TOR browser is an option I almost considered due to their heavy privacy focus, but it is not available on iOS, so I’m not able to use it on phone or tablet.
- The same is true for Chromium, the open source browser upon which Chrome is based, but, again, no iOS option.
- This leads me to my actual choice: Firefox. The browser is open source, and I love the ability to customize the browser via add ons and settings, especially from a privacy standpoint. I’ve used this list of privacy focused extensions to improve browsing experience.
What browsers would you recommend? Put them in the comments.
