First impressions with Arc Browser

Created: 2023-05-31 20:57

• It's still on invite-only. The video review I just watched shared the 10,000 invite MKBHD invite link which still worked as of 2023-05-31.
• The welcome screen: wow, impressive translucent window with a morphing shape. Clearly a modern UX/UI.
• You have to create an account right of the bat but it's quick.
• There's a few customization step before getting to use Arc, but they're simple and you can skip them.
• Adding extensions is super easy—it just works like Chrome.
• Having all the tabs in the sidebar on the left is a bit unsettling at first. It feels like you're not really using tabs.
• Opening a new tab: I love the experience! Up until now 100% of the time. I would go into the address bar of an existing tab, enter the url or a search and hit ⌘+⏎, which would open it in a new tab. While this works, it leaves what you typed in the address bar of the existing tab, which can be frustrating. Since I'm command palette nerd—I use Raycast, and a major part of the program I use have a command palette, e.g. Notion, VS Code, Fork—I just love that opening a tab starts with a command palette invocation.
  • Also, you always open new tabs by default. How many times have you wanted to open an URL in a new tab and forgot to hit ⌘+⏎ and got your current tab replaced?
• Tab split view: omg, I've been yearning for this feature for ages. Super useful when you're writing a blog post and want to search some reference. Sure, you can open two browser windows and put them side by side, but when you can do it directly in the same window it just feel more natural and convenient. I don't get why no other browser offered this feature previously. There were a few Chrome extensions that could do it but it would always feel out of place, with a bad UI. Arc handles natively beautifully.
  • I wish there was a horizontal split ability.
• The overall UI is gorgeous, with beautiful colors and hovering effects.
• Peek preview window: this is also super useful. Didn't hear about this feature until I stumbled upon it. When you're in Gmail, if you click a link, it doesn't open a tab. It opens a preview popup, which you can quickly interact with, then close. This enables rapid action taking without switching contexts, love it. For example, I received an email with a link to manage notification settings. I clicked the link, and it opened in the peek window. I was able to log in, quickly edit my email notification setting, then close the peek window without ever leaving Gmail. That's really perfect for when you click on an unsubscribe link, so you don't have another opened tab just for this.
• It's silly but with Arc's UI, browsing doesn't feel like browsing, it feels like using apps. No URL or tab bar make the window being all about the website, and as a result it's more immersive.