Arc Browser

As an avowed gadget geek, one thing I’ve enjoyed about moving on from my role at Upstart has been the freedom to install whatever tools I want on my laptop, without having to negotiate with IT and InfoSec folks (you guys know I love you, but it’s true…) . I know I could have done this earlier with a personal laptop, but who wants to manage multiple laptops?!?! So, I’ve been playing with some new toys recently and there is one I want to share — the Arc Browser. I spend most of my time on my computer in the browser, so I was excited to see someone come out with a truly fresh take on how it should work. Here are my favorite features:

• Side Tab Bar. Like most people, I find that my screen often has more horizontal space than I need — but I’m always scrolling vertically. Moving the tab bar to the side of the window, vs the top, opens up more screen real estate for what I’m doing.
• Hide the Tab Bar. You can also hide the tab bar with a quick CMD-S key stroke — freeing up even more space, and helping you (or at least me) stay focused on what you’re doing.
• Limited “Chrome”. This was one of the killer features of Chrome on its release (and how it got its name). They just got ride of so much of the stuff around the browser to focus on what you were doing. Arc takes this to the next level (you can even remove the URL bar by default!). Having more space for my web apps/sites is really nice.
• Spaces. This is probably the biggest departure in terms of regular use compared to other browser. Spaces are basically areas where you can have a set up of different open tabs and Bookmarks/Favorites (or Pinned Tabs, as Arc calls them). I found this incredibly useful. I’ve never been a huge fan of just leaving open tons of tabs to get to later. However, I do see the value of being able to leave open a few tabs for a project I might be working on. Now, I make that a space. This means I can leave all my open tabs, and even Pin a few tabs I know I will always need when working on this project. But when I switch to a different space, they all vanish and don’t clutter up my window. I have a General space with email, calendar, and a bunch of favorites. I have a news/reading space with Feedly and Pocket Pinned and open tabs for anything I was in the middle of but haven’t finished. I also have specific spaces for different projects I’m working on. I think of each as a context — and I can arrange my Space for that context — and then just leave it when I switch contexts. I have loved the workflow this feature has enabled!
• Preview Links. When you have a link in an email (or anywhere else, really), clicking it opens in a little preview sub-window without leaving your tab. If it’s a quick thing to read/finish, you just close it and you’re right back where you started. If it might take longer, you can fully open it (into any Space) and leave it there for later. Surprisingly saves a good amount of time.

• Chrome Extensions. This isn’t a reason to switch from Chrome, but it’s awesome to know that I can get all of my favorite Chrome extensions here — 1Password, Pocket ,etc
• Video Mini Player If you’re watching a video and switch to a new tab, the video will pop out in a mini-player and just keep going. I find this incredibly useful in a number of contexts. Very smart execution here.

If you do most of your work in browser and are curious about any of the above, I recommend you give it a try. I’ve really enjoyed the experience of switching to Arc, and honestly I’m just glad to see some real innovation around the browser that acknowledges how much time we all spend in it and tries to make that time a little bit more pleasant and efficient.