I already use Firefox for browsing normally, but I have to test on a Chromium based browser too. One soft requirement is that it should be installable with Flatpak on Linux.
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I don’t like Google trackers.
Does vanilla Chromium have Google trackers?
Yes. https://www.chromium.org/Home/chromium-privacy/
But not nearly as many tracking mechanisms as Chrome, because it lacks API keys for some services. By default, it will still send the URL of every page you visit to Google, though. At least that’s my understanding, reading their privacy policy.
But it also doesn’t update itself, doesn’t seem to have a working Mac build (the one on their website doesn’t launch), and doesn’t sync (which I can live without, but end-to-end encrypted sync is nice).
Thanks!
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Yeah, this is a contender. No Windows build and no sync are the downsides, but neither is a deal breaker, since I’m only testing with it, and I code on Linux and Mac.
If you’re using Windows, Edge is an option. You already have the Microsoft telemetry watching you regardless of using Edge, so you might as well use it if you need chrome for testing or a specific website.
I try as hard as I can to never boot into Windows. The only time I ever do is to build a Windows version of one of my desktop apps.
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You don’t want google tracking you while you test your website? Why not?
I just saw someone on Mastodon saying they replaced Chrome with Vivaldi, so maybe that?
Vivaldi is pretty good. It’s my second choice of browser after Firefox
There’s Thorium… which is basically “The same thing but with lots of tweaks”.
I think there’s no good option. Your best bet is probably to run chrome in some sort of temporary vm so there’s nothing worth tracking. Maybe there’s a docker image with chrome ?
if you use Windows and want to have Chrome, why not just use Edge? It’s just conveniently therr, you need nothing to install.
It works with everything that “needs” chrome.
edit: one comment gave me the idea you use Windows but now I’m not sure in it. if not, then sry, ignore this comment :)
I don’t use Windows much, but Edge is available on Mac and Linux. I’m just not a fan of all the “features” they put in it. I’m looking for more of a clean browser experience, if you get what I mean.
I think you can’t go more clean than Chromium. Pretty sure all browsers based on Chromium has some extra features, since those are the only differences in them. Vivaldi, Brave, Maxthon etc…, the same engine in different car, with different extras.
this is why I usually recommend people to use Edge if they really want Chrome, since on Windows, it’s already there. But yeah, on Linux, I wouldn’t really tell anyone to apt install edge.
Why not use Chromium then?
I really like Vivaldi for sites that dont like to play well with Firefox.
I’ve just been using Edge when Firefox wont open a site. It’s installed by default and it’s just Chrome under the hood so it works. Plus, after Google’s new hostility to ad blocking I refuse to use any Chrome based browser as my default so one is as good as the other to me. They’re all just a temporary tool until I go back to using the only real web browser that I can, Mozilla Firefox.
Edge isn’t installed by default on any of the computers I use, and I’m not a huge fan of all the junk they put in it.
Also I just downloaded it on Mac and it’s a .pkg file, so that really sets off alarm bells.
It’s Chrome, it’ll be loaded with trash no matter what. There’s no clean version of garbage that you can install.
100% truth.
Does the DDG browser report back to Google?
No, they report to Bing. It caused a stink when “discovered” by the media, but it is part of their licensing agreement with Microsoft to use Bing results.
Their search is fine, but don’t use their browser.
I would assume not, but isn’t that a mobile only browser?
They have a Mac version and a Windows beta, but I don’t think there’s one for Linux available yet.
I didn’t know that! Awesome! I hope there’s a Linux version soon, then I’ll probably switch to it.
Maybe I’m out of the loop, but what did Brave do?
Their latest thing that pushed me to look for a new testing browser is installing a system wide VPN on your computer without your consent.
Tempest browser is basically Brave but without the Crypto stuff. It’s still in beta atm so take that as you will.
I just discovered Thorium the other day.
I’ve been using it for a few months now and it’s great. Firefox is my main browser but a chromium based one is good to have. Wonder why it asks for my password every now and then but think it’s likely auto update stuff.
Now this looks promising! The list of improvements and patches looks really nice.
