At this point, three app-related updates in the last couple of weeks that I think are here to stay:

  1. Arc Browser
  2. Lillihub (for Micro.blog)
  3. Kagi Search

Arc Browser

Available only for macOS at this point, this one is the most complicated, and I’m still getting used to it. Complicated is not fair of a work, let’s say, different. There’s much to say about Arc Browser and how it does things. Many of its features exist in other browsers or in well-known extensions; others are freshly new. Some of the big highlights for me are:

  • Vertical tabs: This just makes sense on your screen once you get used to it
  • Bookmarks/tabs/pinned tabs are essentially the same, the function change on the location in your sidebar. The presentations of those in your workspace is different, helpful, and hard to describe.
  • Boosts: for those familiar with Grease Monkey, this is similar. It allows you to inject CSS and even JavaScript into your bookmarks, so the next time you visit them, they are customized to how you want to use them. Very powerful and very useful.
  • Workspaces & Profiles: when you switch a profile (say personal vs. work), it is like opening a whole new browser in the same one. Different looks, different extensions, different search engine, different profile signed - all available with one “swoosh” of your finger or a keyboard shortcut.

There’s much more to this browser, and I barely scratched the surface. Download it and test it, but do it for a couple of days. It takes some time to get used to.

Lillihub

This is a beta client for Micro.blog, developed by Loura. It’s already my default Micro.blog client. Some of its immediately useful features include:

  • When replying, checkboxes for people in a conversation in Micro.blog. Finally you can choose who to reply to in a thread!
  • Drag and drop for picture posts
  • Renovated Discover section, with a helpful left bar of all the emojis (categories here on Micro.blog), and buttons to Announcements, Challenges, and News.
  • Pinned posts (cached locally) so you can always find that one post you want to get back to
  • Helpful conversation tab, so you can focus on active posts with replies to participate in a discussion.

There’s more, and Loura might still be accepting testers. It’s still rough-looking visually, which is what you’d expect from a beta product, but everything works and works well.

I just started using this Search Engine two days ago, and I’m quickly learning to like it. It just displays information better (better than Duck Duck Go, in my opinion). It draws information from Wikipedia, Reddit, YouTube, and more places you’re likely to click on without logging in. It has filters to a level I’ve seen only in Google so far (for example, the image filter allows you to filter by license, image type, HD/SD, Aspect ratio, etc.)

There are no ads. No sponsored links. That’s because you’re expected to pay for it ($10 a month if you hit the 300 searches limit). At first I thought, “What am I nuts? Pay for search?” But the more I thought about it, the more I realized how often I use search and how it makes sense to pay for a quality service like this if I don’t want ads or Google up my…

I think this one’s quickly becoming a safe bet, unless I find out they somehow do use users' data to sell to data brokers. That wouldn’t surprise me, since the opportunity is just so rewarding and so easy.but I guess we’ll see.

What about you? Thoughts? Suggestions?