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Digital Trends
2 hours ago
- Digital Trends
Do web browsers on the Apple Watch make sense?
'It's a solution for people to reduce their dependence on their phones.' That's what Australian developer Jonathon Lau told me in an interaction about building web experiences for the Apple Watch. We were discussing the Ant Browser, a freemium browser he made specifically for the Apple Watch. But why? Recommended Videos Well, for starters, Apple doesn't offer a native web browser for its smartwatch. To access the web on an Apple Watch, you must tap on a web link that appears within an app, such as the Messages or Mail clients. Alright, so Ant Browser is a solution to a visible gap, one that Apple is yet to address. Should you, though? That's a million-dollar question and depends squarely on just how much you want to stay away from your phone. Remember the dumb phone trend, which has spawned a whole category of minimalist phones? But there's more to Ant Browser than meets the eye. It's a full-fledged browser. It comes with a built-in reader mode with adjustable font sizes. It can display images without crushing them to death or destroying the layout of the web page. 'It displays more images than Apple's built-in web browser and the competition,' Jonathan chimed in. It's not a full-fledged replacement for the phone. Instead, Ant serves more like a stop-gap solution where the screen on your wrist can handle the quick fact search, score check, or recipe look-up. There's also a companion phone app where bookmarks from your wrist are arranged and synced. Now, the whole concept of web browsing on the Apple Watch sounds more like a formula for screen size frustrations and limitations than realistically solving a problem. How is the experience? I love it. For me, Ant Browser solves a legitimate problem, and without too many functional frustrations. I read. A lot. And this browser helps me catch up on the news stories without breaking the reading experience. Oh, and did I tell you there's a lovely reading mode that feels just like the one in Safari? Yeah, that too. For quick access, I have set up my favorite websites as bookmarks, so that they appear right on the home screen and tap away from opening. It's easier to add bookmarks on in the companion phone app, but you can add a fresh one while browsing a website on the watch itself. There's not much in terms of browsing controls, and that's a smart move because of the screen space constraints. You get forward, back, refresh, reading mode, and bookmark as the core controls. That's just about it. On a thoughtful note, if you don't want to lose a few hairs trying to type a name or sentence on the Apple Watch keyboard, you can do so directly in the mobile app. The phone's keyboard launches automatically, and whatever you type syncs in real-time on the smartwatch's screen. As far as websites go, they open fine. If you disable JavaScript (there's a dedicated option for that), it might help with viewing some of the webpage elements that might appear broken. Your mileage will vary depending on the kind of websites you visit. In my case, the browsing experience was smooth. Pages looked straight and well formatted without any undue cropping, and images looked fine, too. A majority of news and sports websites I checked out regularly loaded without any issues, and across the entirety of the screen. There are no jarring black lines or stuttering. You can choose to scroll up or down with your finger, or simply rotate the crown on the side. The only struggle was embedded videos. But then, you don't really want to watch YouTube videos on a watch, do you? There were some websites that loaded poorly, but these are mostly legacy pages that are either not maintained or have a shoddy backend. Across sports, news media, pop culture, and science outlets, I never came across a web page that didn't work. On a few occasions, the images went blank, but a refresh fixed it. In a rare few cases, the pictures didn't load at all. For me, Ant browser exceeded my expectations with a minimalist yet polished experience that delivers what it set out to fix. Lau told me that his favorite part of using the Ant browser is checking his Gmail inbox. I wanted to try X, but refrained because it would beat the whole point of paying for a smartwatch browser, as I wanted to disengage myself from mindless web surfing on a phone's screen. Yeah, you have to pay for browsing on this one. You can use it for free, but the number of daily searches is limited. Thankfully, there's no subscription system involved here. You can just pay a token $5 fee and enjoy unlimited browsing. It's worth it, at least for my usage patterns. Who is it for? There is a subset of people who will definitely find some utility. As a journalist, Google Search and Chrome account for nearly 30% of my screen time activity for looking up news, followed by X for the same exercise. It's not feasible for me to whip out my phone every now and then. Part of me dreads the onslaught of notifications, and the risk of spiraling into a social media doomscrolling session is always there. I am wary of my screen obligations, and I have tried a handful of digital solutions to cut down on the harmful interactions. As per a recent study courtesy of the University of Alberta and Georgetown University, cutting down on screen time can actually work better than antidepressants. The findings hinged on cutting down on internet access, which is enabled directly by the phone. What if the Apple Watch can intercept some of those internet yearnings? This is the niche Ant browser is targeting, aside from the obvious convenience aspect. If you are grappling with the proverbial addiction or losing yourself after unlocking the phone, this app is worth giving a shot. From an accessibility perspective, the app lets you adjust the text size in reader mode, which is neat. The app's creator tells me that a text-speech system is on the horizon, and I'm looking forward to it. I installed the app on my Apple Watch with hopes of cutting down on my internet usage. Or to put it in more realistic terms, browse it on a small screen that is barely good enough for the 'interstitial' internet search, rather than the full-blown internet browsing experience that needs a phone or a laptop. I achieved the objective, even if it meant keeping the watch on my work table rather than perched atop my wrist, and the phone away from my sight. At the end of the day, it's a winning formula.
Android Authority
23-06-2025
- Android Authority
I tried Arc browser's smarter sibling so you don't have to — but you might want to
Karandeep Singh / Android Authority No other browser developer is making as much of a buzz in the tech community as The Browser Company, the makers of Arc. While Arc was one of the most offbeat web browsers I've used (and stuck to!) in a long time, it didn't garner the widespread appeal the company had hoped for. That's why it has now switched gears to Dia — a web browser built from the ground up around generative AI. It integrates deep into your workflow, intelligently talks to your open tabs, and has contextual awareness like no other. Dia is currently in beta for Mac. I went hands-on with the browser to find out what exactly is new — and whether it's tempting enough for one to switch away from Google Chrome. Would you consider switching to Dia? 0 votes Already using it NaN % Thinking about it NaN % I'm happy with Chrome NaN % No, don't need more AI in my browser NaN % Arc vs Dia: Battle of the AI browser sisters Karandeep Singh / Android Authority At first glance, you'll notice that Dia differs from Arc in one key way. Instead of trying to look different and disrupt users' muscle memory around browser tabs (which is perhaps what the company thinks held Arc back), Dia looks much more like a regular browser. It's easier on the senses and doesn't overwhelm you with a radically different interface. With Dia, everything is where you expect it to be. The search bar is at the top, as are your tabs and settings. And while Arc integrated its AI features subtly — and at times, superficially — Dia takes a more upfront approach. The search bar is entirely AI-powered, and a chatbot sits on the side with uncannily detailed contextual awareness of what you're browsing — and not just on the current tab. Beyond the super mundane Most AI features in browsers show up as sidebars with chatbots or as writing assistants to help you make the AI writing more human. Dia has those too — but that's the least interesting part of it. YouTube video summary Multi-tab contextual awareness What really stands out is Dia's understanding of on-screen content, which goes beyond just text and images. It was able to summarize a 40-minute-long video interview of Sam Altman using a single prompt — something Gemini refuses to do if you paste a video link on its site. What impressed me most was how fast it worked: the summary came in under five seconds! Sure, it's using closed captions rather than truly 'watching' the video — but it's still pretty handy. Dia's smarts get even better with multi-tab queries. You can select multiple tabs, and Dia will use them to answer your questions. I found this useful when comparing hotel options for an upcoming trip or deciding which mouse to buy for my laptop. The results, however, were hit or miss. Sometimes it pulled in unnecessary information from the web, and I had to clarify that I wanted answers based only on the selected tabs. A minor and easily fixable hiccup that's passable for a beta. Dia running a Skill Dia's Skills page But the highlight feature is something called Skills, tucked quietly into a corner of the browser. It was hard to find at first, but I'm glad I did. I just wish Dia made Skills a bit more proactive, like triggering them automatically following set actions instead of requiring me to run them manually each time Skills is a simple automation system that uses natural language — no coding or complex linking required. You just give the shortcut a name, describe what you want it to do when evoked, and Dia takes care of the rest. The first Skill I created pulled news summaries from my preferred sites and gave me a daily update. What usually takes me half an hour each morning was done in 30 seconds flat. You can get more complex, too, by automating daily email digests, auto-filling forms, summarizing your Twitter feed to create an annoying tweet thread of your own, building itineraries from open tabs, and more. I just wish Dia made Skills a bit more proactive, like triggering the daily digest action automatically when I open Gmail during a set time every day instead of requiring me to run the skill each time manually. There is such a thing as too much AI Site translation in the sidebar Dia's privacy disclaimer AI in Dia is often helpful and even impressive. But at times, it overcomplicates simple tasks or feels intrusive. For instance, surely someone at The Browser Company must've realized that asking a chatbot to translate a webpage is slower and clunkier than just clicking a button that instantly switches the language on-page. And while it's nice to have AI help with everything under the sun, it's hard to ignore the privacy implications. Such deep AI integration requires sending your queries and relevant data to the cloud. Dia's makers say they anonymize the data and delete it from their own and partners' servers within a fixed timeframe. But considering Arc was almost suffered in a data breach, verbal reassurances alone may not be enough to earn user trust. AI in Dia is often helpful and even impressive. But at times, it overcomplicates simple tasks or feels intrusive. The AI novelty in browsers is a long game And no, Dia isn't the first to play it. Dia has a lot going for it — smart features, handy automations, and clever multi-tab integrations that could tempt users to switch. But guess who's getting the same features? Google Chrome. Karandeep Singh / Android Authority The same Chrome that millions already use. With Gemini integration, Google is bringing a near-identical set of AI tools to its browser, but in a better form. The tiny, floating Gemini window looks cleaner than Dia's full-length side panel. And with upcoming support for multi-tab context and Gemini Live for real-time chat with the AI, Chrome might soon feel like a more versatile and intuitive assistant that's omnipresent. It ultimately comes down to one question: who do you trust with your personal data? Google or The Browser Company? Once Chrome has the same feature set, it'll be hard to convince people heavily invested in the Google browser to switch. Dia will need a stronger story to tell; otherwise, Chrome will maintain its dominance, especially with how aggressively Google is innovating with AI lately. If you're platform-agnostic, it ultimately comes down to one question: who do you trust with your personal data? Google or The Browser Company?
Gizmodo
18-06-2025
- Gizmodo
Download Chromium (free) for Windows, macOS, Android, APK and Linux
While Chromium is not a standalone web browser, it offers a clean, open, and customizable base for creating and testing one, which makes it a perfect choice if you're a developer or researcher of modern web technologies. As an open-source project from Google, it's completely transparent, and you can check its code and all the details on the Chromium project repository. You can use it to build a customized browser that isn't linked to any corporation, so you have complete control over how it uses user data. Many browsers use Chromium as a base since it supports modern web standards, and you can be sure that it will be able to render even the most complex applications quickly and reliably. This browser project is powered by V8 JavaScript and Blink rendering engines that are known for their reliable performance. Since it doesn't include any proprietary modules, with Chromium, you have no background tracking, collection of telemetry data, or automatic synchronization with commercial services, for example, from Google. You can keep every piece of data that Chromium collects locally unless you explicitly integrate it into a different service. Because of these features, you can find Chromium as the basis for many privacy-focused web browsers that are not related to Google. You can download the Chromium codebase and compile it to run on various platforms like Windows, macOS, Linux, BSD, or mobile operating systems. It follows the industry standard of write once, deploy anywhere, and adjusting it to different systems will only require making minimal adjustments. Chromium also has a multi-process architecture, meaning that each tab you open is isolated into its own sandbox and process, improving the performance and stability of the browser you build. With Chromium, you don't get automatic updates in the background, which can be a major benefit if you need to work in a highly controlled or secure environment. You can review each update manually and then decide whether to apply it. Chromium also doesn't include a built-in sync for user accounts or bookmarks, support for Flash, media codecs, or DRM (Widevine), which enables streaming services like Netflix, so keep that in mind when working on your custom solution. It's a project more targeted at developers, as it gives you access to tools like page inspection, memory and network monitoring, JavaScript debugging, and performance profiling out of the box. All of those are crucial when you need to test a website, create a web app, or develop browser extensions and review them in real-world conditions.
Yahoo
15-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
The Browser Company launches its AI-first browser, Dia, in beta
Traditional web tools are facing an existential crisis as AI products and tools increasingly eat up attention — and therefore market share and money — from a wide swathe of products that people have used for years to interact with the internet. At least, that's what The Browser Company seems to think is happening. The company last year decided to stop developing its popular web browser Arc, acknowledging that while Arc was popular among enthusiasts, it never hit scale as it presented too steep a learning curve to reach mass adoption. The startup has since been heads-down on developing a browser that bakes in AI at the heart of the browser. That browser, called Dia, is now available for use in beta, though you'll need an invite to try it out. The Browser Company's CEO Josh Miller has of late acknowledged how people have been using AI tools for all sorts of tasks, and Dia is a reflection of that. By giving users an AI interface within the browser itself, where a majority of work is done these days, the company is hoping to slide into the user flow and give people an easy way to use AI, cutting out the need to visit the sites for tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity and Claude. Up front, Dia presents a straightforward interface. The browser is based on Chromium, the open-source browser project backed by Google, so it has a familiar look and feel. The marquee feature here is the AI smarts, of course. Besides letting you type in website names and search terms, Dia's URL bar acts as the interface for its in-built AI chatbot. The bot can search the web for you, summarize files that you upload, and can automatically switch between chat and search functions. Users can also ask questions about all the tabs they have open, and the bot can even write up a draft based on the contents of those tabs. To set your preferences, all you have to do is talk to the chatbot to customize its tone of voice, style of writing, and settings for coding. Via an opt-in feature called History, you can allow the browser to use seven days of your browsing history as context to answer queries. Another feature called Skills lets you build small snippets of code that act as shortcuts to various settings. For example, you can ask the browser to build a layout for reading, and it'll code something up for you — think Siri shortcuts, but for your browser. Now, we have to note that chatbots in browsers are not a new feature at all. Several browser companies have integrated AI tools into their interfaces — for example, Opera Neon lets users use an AI agent to build mini-applications or complete tasks on their behalf, and Google is also adding AI-powered features to Chrome. The Browser Company says all existing Arc members will get access to Dia immediately, and existing Dia users will be able to send invites to other users. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Forbes
11-06-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Dia Browser Released — With AI That ‘Knows You Like A Friend'
The Browser Company has released Dia, arguably the first web browser to fully embrace AI. Dia is the successor to the short-lived Arc browser, which The Browser company has sidelined to focus on Dia. It's released in beta form today and will be made available to all Arc members, with others having to join a waitlist. While Arc made significant use of AI – building in features such as webpage summaries and previews of links before you've clicked them – Dia is described as an 'AI browser' with an almost exclusive focus on generative AI. Dia can answer questions on open browser tabs The Browser Company Dia's standout feature has similarities to the controversial Recall that is being built into Windows 11. The browser will remember your previous activity, allowing you to ask the AI to give you a summary of what you've been doing that week or even learn your writing style. 'With every tab that you open, it should feel like this AI model is getting more and more personalized to you, such that at the end of a week of browsing, a month of browsing, let alone a year, it's going to know you as well as your closest friends and colleagues," said Josh Miller, CEO of The Browser Company in a video introducing the browser. What's not immediately clear is how The Browser Company will secure that information. Microsoft's Recall became the subject of a security scandal when an early beta was found to be taking screenshots of personal information that could be accessed by hackers or malware. Microsoft fixed the problem before Recall was made available for general release. The Browser Company has released little detail about how it plans to secure the information stored by Dia, other than to say the feature is opt-in. Dia's AI assistant will also be able to read information open in any of your browser tabs. The company claims this solves one of the biggest problems of current AI assistants such as ChatGPT and Gemini, where you must constantly cut and paste information back and forth from the browser. Instead, you'll be able to get the AI to instantly summarize a page or, say, write a response to a Gmail directly in the browser, without having to switch focus. The AI can even scan information stored in multiple tabs. Say, for example, you're buying a new car and have several tabs open with different models you're shortlisting. You'll be able to ask the AI to compare the features of the various cars by asking it to look at all the relevant tabs. The browser is also shipping with what the company calls 'skills'. Default skills included with the browser include Write (which helps you draft passages of text in your own voice) and Code (for help with programming). Skills can also be created to run bespoke tasks. For example, if you didn't want any of the sidebars to show on Facebook, just the main feed, you could ask the AI to make them disappear (this is similar to a feature that was already included in Arc). Skills can also be used to fill web forms with your personal information, for example filling out a job application by pointing the AI to a CV that is published online. While Dia is absolutely betting the farm on AI, other browser makers are certainly embracing it too. Microsoft has built its Copilot assistant into the Edge browser, while Opera has integrated ChatGPT and its own Aria AI into its software. Others remain more skeptical of AI. Vivaldi, for example, has eschewed built-in AI in favor of user privacy, while Firefox maker Mozilla has spoken out against Google's plans to build Gemini into its Chrome browser, arguing that it could harm browser competition. The Browser Company will simply be hoping that the Dia browser makes more of an impact than Arc, which was well received by reviewers, but didn't come close to disrupting the big beasts of the browser business.
