Key Takeaways
- Arc browser offers features like Spaces, Easels, Library, and Boosts for a more personalized browsing experience.
- You can easily switch between different tab clusters with Spaces, and gather thoughts with Easels for planning and organization.
- The Library tab in Arc allows quick access to downloaded images and files, enhancing productivity and creative workflow.
I love trying new browsers on my PC for everyday computing, and I’ve used just about every web browser out there, including the new Arc browser that’s currently making rounds on the internet. In fact, I’ve been using the Arc browser for quite some time, and I recently ditched Google Chrome for it on my personal Mac.
I was a bit skeptical about loading up Arc on my MacBook, because, well, a lot of web browsers have come and gone over the last few years claiming to be the ultimate “Chrome replacement.” But none of them have shown the potential to stay long enough on my PC, let alone replace Chrome as my go-to browser. The Arc browser, however, is slightly different, and there’s plenty to like about it. Here are four features that made me ditch and kiss goodbye to Chrome on my main PC.
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4 Spaces
Finding sanity amidst chaos
Spaces in the Arc browser may remind you of Safari’s tab groups or Opera’s Workspaces, but it’s arguably better than both, in my opinion. The Spaces feature on Arc not only lets you group all the related tabs in one place, but also customize each space to make it look and feel different. It almost feels like having multiple profiles within a single account, and it’s great for quickly moving through different clusters of tabs.
I’ve got a few different spaces set up on my Arc browser already, and it’s easily one of my most used features. On top of separating my workspace and personal/gaming tabs, I also use this particular feature to club a bunch of tabs related to a particular topic that I’m currently researching. I also love how easy it is to switch between different spaces with a single swipe. It’s just very intuitive to use, and that’s something I can’t say for a lot of features offered by other web browsers. Notably, you can also customize each space to your liking, and give them custom names, icons, themes, and more.
Adding different colors to your Spaces truly helps in knowing which space you’re in, especially if you got more than a few of them.
3 Easels
Idea-board to plan or gather your thoughts
‘Easels’ is easily one of my favorite features of the Arc browser, and I use it as an extension of Spaces on almost a daily basis to save and gather all my thoughts and ideas for stories. Easels in Arc is essentially just a mood board on which you can save anything from images and videos to text and even drawings. Adding things to Easels is also fairly simple, as it’s mostly just dragging and dropping from various web pages.
What’s interesting about Easels is that it even lets you pin a live and interactive element like a YouTube embed, and play it right there on the Easel board without having to open it on a separate tab. The same goes for live elements like a countdown timer or a live weather forecast, all updating in real-time. I’ve been using Easels as a storyboard to plan a lot of my articles, and it’s honestly become a very useful tool, especially when I’m working on a particularly long feature or detailed pieces. I know I’ve barely scratched the surface of what’s possible with Easels, and I’ll continue to explore its potential, now that I’ve switched to it full-time.
2 Library
Quickly grab what you want
I wasn’t expecting to use this particular feature a lot, but the Library tab in Arc has become a go-to spot for me, mainly to fetch the images I’ve downloaded and saved. Your mileage may vary when it comes to using the Library, but I use it specifically to grab the images I’ve created to go along with my pieces of writing. The ‘Media’ tab within the Library in Arc essentially pulls the images from my MacBook, and it makes it effortless to drop them into my articles or an online editor like Canva.
The Library is also the place where you’ll find the files you’ve downloaded using the Arc browser, along with your Easels, Spaces, and more. It’s all there when you need it, but it also stays out of sight when you don’t, making it a non-intrusive tool.
1 Boosts
Themes for your favorite webpages
Lastly, I’ve got Boosts on the list of my favorite Arc browser features, and this one’s fun. Think of using this particular feature, like applying custom themes to your favorite webpages. There’s literally a theme store called Boost Gallery, and it’s packed with themes created by ‘Browser Company’ and other users for various popular sites like YouTube, Twitter, The New York Times, Spotify, and more.
As someone who loves customizing and tweaking the look and feel of various operating systems and other interfaces, the Boost feature in Arc is right up my alley. It’s honestly just a fun way to customize your browsing experience, which goes beyond just applying a custom theme to the browser’s interface. There’s just something fresh and satisfying about viewing the websites you visit every day, differently.
Other browsers can learn a thing or two from Arc
None of the features I’ve highlighted as my favorite from the Arc is revolutionary, and they’re mostly just a slightly improved version of what’s already out there. It is also built on Chromium, so you can expect all the sites you visit to render properly, just how they do on Chrome. What I thought would just be another web browser with a fresh coat of paint, ended up offering so much more than just a visual flair. I highly recommend trying the Arc browser, at least a secondary browser desktop or laptop, for a few days to see how it fits into your workflow.