I’ve been exploring alternatives to Safari and recently gave Arc another shot after initial disappointment. While it has some unique features like Spaces and Boosts, I’m still unsure if it’s efficient or practical long-term. Chrome seems like a solid fallback, but I’d love to hear what browsers other Mac users rely on daily, especially in development or testing workflows.
From my experience, Chrome is hands-down the most reliable for web development. The DevTools are solid, it supports virtually every extension you could need, and the integration with Google services is seamless. It’s fantastic for heavy web apps and gives consistent rendering across platforms.
Experience Insight: I’ve been using Chrome for years. While it’s not the most resource-efficient, I appreciate its dependability for debugging and inspecting real-time changes. For cross-browser testing—especially across different macOS and Chrome versions—I rely on LambdaTest to avoid the hassle of running multiple browsers locally.
Lately, I’ve been leaning towards Brave for its performance and built-in ad-blocking. It runs lighter than Chrome and still supports most Chrome extensions since it’s Chromium-based. If you’re looking for a browser that combines privacy and speed, Brave’s a solid choice.
Experience Insight: I use Brave when I’m in low-power mode or during focused work sessions, as it helps me stay distraction-free. It’s also my go-to for secure browsing. However, when I need to check how Brave handles things differently from Chrome or Edge, LambdaTest is my go-to tool for comparing browser behaviors across platforms.
Arc is a new, productivity-centric browser built on Chromium, but it’s designed for multitasking and focused workflows. It features a vertical tab system, built-in split view, and “Spaces” to organize projects and contexts. I find it really useful for managing documentation, GitHub, and Slack in separate panes.
Experience Insight: It took me a while to fully appreciate Arc. While it’s not my primary browser for coding, I use it daily for managing work-related tasks. For deep testing, I still rely on Chrome, but for cross-browser testing across Chrome, Edge, and Safari, LambdaTest helps me validate my work without the need to install every browser locally.