Honest First Impressions with Arc Browser

Everyone seems to be talking about Arc Browser lately. Enough is enough. It's time I roll up my sleeves, boot up my laptop, and install this thing to understand what all the hype is about. The most important question: is it just hype? These are my first impressions. No one's asked me or paid me for these thoughts.

[@Madeline_Reed]

I genuinely thought this channel had 100k+ subscribers based on the content quality and genuine usefulness. Amazing work - glad to be along for the journey!

[@CarlosArthur]

He has a LOT of experience in front of a camera :) he does some AMAZING Tutorials for webflow and super funny as well :)

[@chillearth2024]

Same, a bunch of channels with less subs have popped up on my home screen, i guess youtube algorithm changed!

[@elvisdias5094]

lol same

[@TheToobNube]

Arc has notably made my life better, more manageable, less hectic. I can’t imagine working/browsing without them

[@hplahpla1]

thank you, that's what we were designing for

[@fun_g]

s a m e

[@ParasAryan]

lmao Paid Comments

[@TheToobNube]

@@ParasAryan What do you mean?

[@schultzeworks]

@@ParasAryan Who paid you to write that? And, can I be compensated for this post?

[@saifleonardotariqquraishi5188]

My Arc lives in permanent full screen with the sidebar hidden

[@saifleonardotariqquraishi5188]

CMD+S to quick toggle it, btw

[@hplahpla1]

amazing. I'm glad you like our minimalist design

[@izzearl]

EXACTLY so much better

[@Abdullah-zl9ub]

wouldnt Safari have the same UI when it’s on full mode as well??

[@freemanm_]

I really love the little arc feature. So when you open a link in an email or something it will open a small popup browser window instead of creating a new tab. Perfect for quickly viewing something

[@ozzyphantom]

There’s been a lot of good comments so far but one of the things I appreciate the most is every update they give you a well-written summary of what they’ve changed/added/fixed and they put out videos on their KZbin channel with explanations of why they’re doing what they’re doing. They even have the devs working on specific features explain what they’re up to! they really make you feel like you’re playing a role in making the internet fun to use again.

[@madisonl]

Man you're gonna love it. One simple thing I love is automatic picture-in-picture when you leave tab with a KZbin video playing.

[@hplahpla1]

works with google meet too if you're into that. we recently added chat in the pip for google meet as well.

[@Cody_Franklin]

I switched to Arc a few months ago and while my first few weeks felt weird, I’ve never looked back.

[@mcguirebrannon]

Looking forward to using it this week!

[@hplahpla1]

thank you, much appreciated!

[@tanyabodrova9947]

Thanks for doing your videos straight to camera, no music, no edits, no annoying wooshing noises Just smart, crisp content. It's very refreshing.

[@tspmcfarlane]

Really enjoyed your honest and raw style here, especially because you still presented so confidently and eloquently. Subscribed. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on Arc going forward.

[@EyeOnSciFiPod]

Arc is now my main browser. It makes my professional and personal life much more organized. There are so many thoughtful, practical features it has that has made my browsing experience more enjoyable - especially the way you can have different "spaces" (profiles) with different settings and tabs assigned to each.

[@NabilBoutaleb]

Man are you in for a treat. The design decisions keep wowing time and time and time again.

[@ericonca]

Some helpful shortcuts: cmd-S to show/hide sidebar cmd-shiftD to show/hide toolbar

[@NN010]

I didn't know about that toolbar shortcut until reading this comment! Thanks for the tip!

[@corvacopia]

(Or ctrl instead of command for Windows users)

[@szymonwolowicz]

Hey man, just want to say a huge thank you for teaching me webflow in the most amazing way possible! Really enjoy your teaching style. I went through the whole webflow university thanks to you.

[@amirelgaili]

i like how this turned into a lowkey webflow tutorial midway lol.

[@angel24lovej]

I love ARC and haven’t gone back to Chrome since. You mentioned about different profiles (one with a tie, and another one without) then Arc is so much better for this kind of scenario. And why is the water level in the glass the same, you’re a true speaker 🤩

[@MichaelAllanFrancisSheaver]

One of the major selling points of Arc is that it was written in Swift, which is why it looks, feels and behaves so well! The really wonderful thing is that Chrome extensions install and run flawlessly. This has ben my daily driver since I got accepted into the beta release.

[@thinkingcitizen]

when did you first hear of Arc ??

[@XionicalXionical]

As a programmer, Swift is not great.

[@electricz3045]

​@@XionicalXionicalAs a Backend Engineer, I agree

[@donutello_]

@@XionicalXionicalas an end user, swift is awesome

[@innerinsights224]

Subscribers: Do you use Arc browser? McGuire: Hold my beer.

[@urban-pixel]

Iv been using Arc for 2days now! And i got to tell you! NO MORE CLUTTER! Loving the Spaces features + the MAX features!

[@sarmadstudio1562]

Been using this for few months now, and didn't looked back to chrome. The switch between work and personal and side projects profiles; is so helpful. It'll be a lovely experience. Do give it a shot. :)

[@tomas_petrus]

I love Arc. I'm a die-hard Apple fan boy and have tried switching back to Safari multiple times, but every single time I come right back to Arc within 3 days because it just feels much more intuitive and reliable.

[@Gnart_]

Love this form of review, straight to the point. I will definitely be trying this browser out.

[@RezaulKarimArif]

oh hi... that's the Webflow guy

[@littleharry7977]

Man your videos are great you deserve like 1 million subscribers mate!

[@BryceDriesenga]

Peek is one of my favorite features. Shift + click any link to open that link in a modal overlay above your current site. It's also enabled by default on favorites/pinned tabs for links outside of that domain (e.g. links in emails automatically open in peek). Really helps reduce the context switching and feels like a much faster way to browse through emails

[@MindfulProgramming]

oh nice, I forgot about the Peek shortcut. one I just discovered is Option/Alt + Click, which opens a link into a Split View.

[@evaiscoolest]

Great video, great review, great production, great everything

[@JimmyCeeTV]

Definitely give it more time. It's very feature rich. Great for categorizing workspaces, fave apps, pinned apps, folders, it even cleans up and archives content really nicely. Its the chrome engine under the hood and all your chrome extentions work. I havent looked back or gone back fo chrome for several months now. Put raycast on your must try app list next.

[@davdfranzen]

Yes, Raycast is the best 🤩

[@funghi14]

using all the Arc Max features makes it even better, i absolutly fell in love with this browser and am soo hyped for when it releases to PC and android so i can use it everywhere.

[@whoputthatsaladonmyplate]

Looking forward to the 1 week update. Fun video

[@lil_danny]

something that i really enjoy is under the themes settings, not only do you have access to save your own themes for websites to redesign their colours, fonts etc without needing extensions, but you can even just "zap" elements of websites that you never see yourself using. don't like the shorts showing up in youtube? just zap it. don't want to see the prime button on twitch? just zap it. hate seeing people's usernames on reddit? just zap it. it generally feels magical being able to make websites feel like your own.

[@ubiquitousable]

i’d say definitely try out the easel functionality and also the small arc. While small arc does not make you all that productive, still it’s a nice thing to have. Easels though, why didn’t anybody else do that before? Finally, get more into spaces and traffic control ;) loved the presentation

[@tomislav5689]

This was a great first impression/review. But where's the follow-up video?

[@not_bruhhm]

I think you'd love the Peek feature. A pretty minor feature that improved the way I browse.

[@amirelgaili]

Arc is great. I hope they continue to grow and get better. Sick video btw. I didn't know you have a channel. I just thought you were a Webflow NPC.

[@uchegeorge5522]

Everyone has that smile when launching Arc for the first time!

[@Jamesjearey]

The better touch three swipe tip is excellent - good tip to submit, and high likelihood of tbc making native. For mobile their flagship is arc search. I've made it main ios browser, it's a different approach to how we traditionally use mobile browsing which I love, they didn't just replicate desktop experience. The "browse for me" function is my main go to as in the context that is how I use mobile. Not perfect, but better than the established ios browsers.

[@JoAss50]

It takes a bit of getting used to but it is great once you do. Think about your different browser uses to set up spaces (e.g. projects, urgent). Explore the AI features. Learn the specific shortcuts (command + S). And don't forget to enjoy the experience. The product just feels great.

[@mcguirebrannon]

Thanks for the guidance! Will do. So far, I'm getting the sense that it's made by people who really care about what they're building. There are wonderful little finishes and optimizations almost everywhere.

[@MubarakMarafa]

100%. When they launched they offered an onboarding call for the first couple thousand people who joined (I can’t remember exactly how many). I took the offer and had a great chat with one of their product managers. Insane customer care and such brilliantly designed product. The mobile app Arc Search is also amazing. Not as robust as the desktop but the pinch to search ai summary of a page is amazing and the “browse for me” search feature blows my mind.

[@hplahpla1]

Tweet or Thread at us too works.

[@jpholecka-ps]

Thanks, I’m going to give it a test. With screens getting wider, the side bar makes more and more sense.

[@hplahpla1]

I actually use it on a vertical screen but with a horizontal split. For those ultra wide monitors, I'm also trying to see if we can increase max split limits

[@hplahpla1]

He is correct. We did not sponsor him. I do love to watch what people's first "date" impressions are with Arc

[@vidit6808]

Great video! You mentioned in other comments that you switched back. Eagerly looking forward to the update. Maybe you could share a short tldr for it :)

[@Gordanyeung]

i love the 5:35 moment XD , in mac, you can use cmd+s to hide/show the bar, enjoy!

[@5hrsbefore1998]

I started using it a couple nights ago and it's been so awesome. Switched from Chrome to Safari a couple years ago. I love Safari but Arc has been an even better experience. I really hate bookmark organization in Safari

[@jamesprentor8433]

Arc should react in the same way that chrome does to webpages as it uses chromium which is also what chrome is based on. So it's mostly just whatever the experience is that's over the top of the pages that will be very different! (also it was great seeing your first impressions, I'm now over and through arc and absolutely love it myself) I find that the syncing tabs are really nice - just being able to pick up from where you left off everywhere (phone, mac, and I'm also on the windows beta - still being really worked up to standard). On some sites I also use the 'boosts' feature to just clean them up, look a little nicer (as some websites just pop a bunch of useless stuff in your face). Then I'll just remove what I don't want and sometimes set a color scheme.

[@RollingTheOC]

I got into the arc windows beta and it's really good

Best way to use Arc is setting it up as a default browser. That's the real way of giving it a try!

[@HaraldHagenaars]

I'm using Arc on a daily basis. I would love to have a cross platform version which I can also use across my devices, including Android.

[@alongcoh]

Ooooh I’m gonna do the same! Will post results in a week!

[@NithinJune]

i use arc for windows and i’m honestly jealous of some of those features that y’all have that we dont

[@MarcinPetruszka]

If you're using Obsidian, or any .md based note workflow, you're going to like the ability to copy link to the current page, formatted in MD with a keyboard shortcut Cmd+Opt+Shift+C. Arc is not just pretty 😉

[@Teddo_888]

Great video

[@peterwolftips]

There's one function I'd like to find in something like this and it is a smart and easy way to clean up my bookmarks I've collected over the past 15 years... I honestly have chills just to look at it and I don't even use 90% of it but I still too afraid to just delete the entire thing because I'm not sure of what I might need one day. Probably a good way to handle this is to save not only the links and your desired location but also the time it's originally added to your browser, so we can preview it on a timeline or something.

[@meritbadges2687]

I am restraining myself but I will say give yourself time to flip through some settings. It does take getting used to, but the only few workflow issues I did have with it I was able to fix pretty quick. Easle, Boosts, and the ai make it hard to let go of.

[@urimaxima]

proud of you for taking the leap haha!

[@ChristianGarcia-mx3rj]

Haha man, you’re never going back I promise😂 Arc is a game changer🔥

[@broLgray]

Command+F - search pages or get an AI summary of any page from the same interface.

[@chansakabwe6956]

For me Arc is about the Easel, Spaces, Folders, and Arc Max!

[@todthesushimonster1256]

You can use control + tab to switch between recent tabs

[@ayoubthegreat]

What is the app you're using to make the graphics of the circles 1-6?

[@omikron1980]

Did you know that you can add plugins/add-ons from most of your favourite browsers ? Ooooh.. and play with boosts a little.. just for fun as a designer!!

[@guitarfriendtim]

My first ugly breakup was Netscape. So much history.

[@mcguirebrannon]

Oh, no. 😪 Do you want to talk about it?

[@hplahpla1]

we all learn from our past

[@ecosse64]

What's the impact on CPU performance if you have a ton of tabs open - could be a kicker if you're on an older machine?

[@SigneiKoch]

Do the wild cards are shown only for search results or for every link that we hover?

[@basnijland]

I love Arc, been using it since the day it became available on Windows. Only gripe with it is that it's SO slow compared to browsers like Thorium

[@robertmihaibaciu]

guys i fell in love with this guy

[@electricz3045]

Sorry to hurt your feelings, but he's straight.

[@crsmoore]

Spaces and Profiles are huge! Definitely delve into that. Also, you should go back and actually turn on the AI features (in the Settings) and dig into that as well. I think you'll be impressed (further). Finally, the default keyboard shortcut for the sidebar hide/reveal is Cmd + S. Very useful. Definitely give us an update video in a week or two! 🙌

[@mcguirebrannon]

Thanks for the tips! I'll turn on AI immediately!

[@crsmoore]

@@mcguirebrannon - Love all your videos man. Appreciate you massively. Thanks for what you do and for being you. 🙌

[@SteveThai]

Did you see the built in Ai page search feature? Very useful.

[@ReubenHochstetler]

How dit the experiment go? I tried it for a few hours but switching between tabs was too difficult with it being in the sidebar. Went back to chrome.

[@rezendefamily]

Have you done the full week video?

[@mcguirebrannon]

Not yet! It’ll be a while. I won’t release something until I’ve given it a fair shot and have something consequential to say. 🙏

[@ImWilliamLi]

my digital minimalism is gonna love this... (another app)

[@mcguirebrannon]

Any other apps you recommend in this spirit?

[@whengrapespop5728]

My favorite feature is being able to make a file structure of sites and whatever else you want. You barely scratched the surface in this video.

[@Xavier-sp5ec]

I keep seeing people comparing Arc's speed to chrome, but Arc actually runs on the same Chromium engine that powers Chrome, so it IS chrome. It's basically a glorified chrome extension that adds to the experience. So yes, of course it's as fast as chrome! It is interesting to think of where the future might takes this though. With Arc taking so many users away from Chrome, will Google eventually just restrict Arc from having access to chromium leaving Arc dead in the water? Or will they join forces to create something even more special?

[@fakeverified]

What do you mean “restrict Arc from having access to Chromium”? Isn’t Chromium open source

[@ParasAryan]

in laymen terms ARC is another fancy chromium browser

[@Xavier-sp5ec]

@@fakeverified you’re right actually. But is anything made my Google ever genuinely open? And also I guess Chrome could just begin implementing the same features in their browser

[@TechnicaX]

I’m in love with Arc. It’s a minamlist dream

[@olliemcmillan]

It is really good. Really good.

[@hplahpla1]

We really really appreciate you saying that! Thanks

[@LNcreative]

The webflow man :o

[@richardhaddadau]

"How come you misspelt browsing?" 😂😂 hilarious.

[@AlexPresa]

Got Arc about a year and a half ago, and I honestly have never opened Chrome since.

[@MarcinPetruszka]

Same here. There's no going back for me 😁

[@hplahpla1]

thanks for sticking with us even when we're still figuring some stuff out

[@MarcinPetruszka]

@@hplahpla1 it's a pleasure 😁

[@blomshell]

My first thought isn't about user experience, per se. It's about how this browser renders web pages and how QA teams across the globe will have to adjust their testing plans. Basically, not how it renders Webflow during web development, but rather, how your webflow websites look and perform on Arc. I'm curious enough now to take a look. Thanks 😊

[@mcguirebrannon]

This is a great point - definitely going to keep in mind. Ideally, Chromium-based browsers like Arc would react nearly identically to Chrome, but there’s so much to test there.

[@Abdullah-zl9ub]

Should I move to ARC for the UI only? I honestly don’t look Forward to using spaces or AI there. Is it worth the move? Can’t understand why people love it!

[@importsbase]

Arc Browser CEO needs to lawyer up right now because feature theft will soon begin.

[@Keithen]

2 years strong in Arc. I can't go back to anything else.

[@BrentSalamorin]

You didn't even discover the peak feature yet. You woudlve loved that haha

[@unadetantasdisenadoras]

Love you McGuire 🥹❤

[@alexhartan]

What about dev tools and extensions, particularly Finsweet?

[@hplahpla1]

Yes all chrome extensions are available to Arc as well as devtools

[@TacoCat.memesW]

I'm literally watching this on arc

[@finnjacobs]

0:52 now this is humour done right in a video, not pasting some clip from a tv show from 20+ years ago

[@RD-wm3fo]

I loved it !!!!

[@Milupa5]

I wish there was a way to sync my bookmarks across all browsers. It would make the switch much easier in case I have to go back and forth.

[@NiixonJavier]

Can I configure extensions like in Chrome? When I try to use some extensions the put in full screen

[@flyingaviator8158]

Watching this on my ARC browser on Windows. Its still kinda buggy, and importing your book marks dont work. But the design is really smart. It does lack some elements from my old browser (Opera XG) such as integrated messenger but I believe in the project.

[@Manoj_Kumar-26]

That woooah is funnier than his other jokes 😂😂

[@TechnicaX]

Once you hide the sidebar this browsers explodes with goodness

[@kmsppt721]

the AI kit is REALLY good tho, it sounds gimmicky but do give it a shot

[@Yipper64]

For my uses I need something that isnt out of the ordinary for things to just... you know work. I use a lot of extensions, and while these other browsers can *emulate* support for chrome extensions (I mean heck half of them are based on chromium after all) they still encounter issues. And I dont like that, I 100% success rate.

[@seva4241]

The only thing keeping me from switching from microsoft edge, is the tab management. I often have tons of tabs open at once, with edge I can group them with names and colored tabs. Arc doesn't have that. Sure they have the profiles, but idk I just wish there were more options for tab management.

[@user-eb3qm6ds8f]

There are Tab Folders. That might help.

[@Ohbeepgcp]

I moved away from Arc a few months ago due to the lock in. Couldn't export bookmarks for example. Might have been updated since, but the damage is done.

[@hamster216]

I'm trying to work on an independent project to improve some of the current features within Arc, would you be interested in chatting more indepth on the challenges you faced with it and what you wanted to see more of for 15-30 minutes?

[@Corvard555]

The guy doesn't look that old. What kind of stuff he tried to do in the 90s with a browser, I can't even imagine.

[@mcguirebrannon]

In the 90s? All sorts of fun stuff - making interactive animations in Flash when it was still Macromedia, sites in FrontPage, GeoCities - all of it! It was also that weird era of heavily curated browsing. AOL homepage, Yahoo, MSN, Excite. And search was such a weird hit or miss with HotBot, Ask Jeeves, and a billion others I can't remember.

[@FonzB3Ballin]

I started using Arc because of this review lol.

[@Pushons-gg2nw]

your contents are amazing 🤌 after a long time i feel connected to an KZbin channel and goes with my taste. ❤ keep making. watched all ur webflow contents.

[@dieter67]

I just downloaded the Arc Browser for Windows (beta). Methinks I like it. Chrome is so blah, I haven't used it for over a year. Or 2.

[@hplahpla1]

I lost it at brosing 😂

[@Dot-er8hg]

I am watching this video on Arc