New Update DuckDuckGo Privacy Browser for Desktop (Mac / Windows)

silversurfer

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DuckDuckGo, the company best known for its privacy-focused search engine of the same name, is working on a desktop browser that should bring the same focus on avoiding being tracked to your entire web experience. In a post on its blog, DuckDuckGo CEO Gabriel Weinberg offers a glimpse at what the upcoming browser will look like and notes that we can expect it to perform the same way its browsing app does on mobile.

Weinberg explains that the desktop browser will offer “robust privacy protection” by default, without you having to toggle on any hidden security settings. Like the mobile app, the desktop equivalent will come with the same “Fire” button that instantly erases all of your browsing history, stored data, and tabs in one click. It’s also built around “OS-provided rendering engines” — like it is on mobile — which Weinberg says will create a neater interface and get rid of any clutter that comes with mainstream browsers. He also claims that early tests of the browser indicate that it’s “significantly faster” than Google Chrome.

“macOS and Windows both now offer website rendering APIs (WebView/WebView2) that any application can use to render a website. That’s what we’ve used to build our app on desktop,” Allison Johnson, the senior communications manager at DuckDuckGo, explained in a statement to The Verge.
“Instead, we’re building the desktop app from the ground up around the OS-provided rendering APIs. This means that anything beyond website rendering (e.g., tabs & bookmark management, navigation controls, passwords etc.) we have to build ourselves.” In other words, on Windows, the browser will use Edge / Chromium rendering, and the same goes for Safari / Webkit on macOS. Johnson also noted that this isn’t the same as forking, which would mean that the browser is built off of one that already exists.
The browser is currently in a closed beta test on macOS, but a tweet from Weinberg hints that DuckDuckGo is getting it ready for Windows as well. There’s no word on when the desktop browser will become publicly available.
 

Gandalf_The_Grey

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What engine does the DuckDuckGo desktop browser use?

The announcement on the brand's website says that it is not forking Chromium or others (Firefox's Gecko), and instead will rely on the API for the OS-provided rendering engines. That is quite cryptic, isn't it? Allison Johnson, Senior Communications Manager at DuckDuckGo, gave a statement to The Verge. The message reads as follows, “macOS and Windows both now offer website rendering APIs (WebView/WebView2) that any application can use to render a website. That’s what we’ve used to build our app on desktop."

So, the DuckDuckGo browser will be based on the WebView2 engine, which is used in Microsoft Edge. Similarly, it will use Safari's Webkit rendering engine on Apple's macOS. How's this different from a fork?


DuckDuckGo's browser is built from scratch, to discard the clutter from the OS-provided application. This also means everything else in the browser, such as tabs, bookmark management, navigation controls, passwords, are being re-built.
“macOS and Windows both now offer website rendering APIs (WebView/WebView2) that any application can use to render a website. That’s what we’ve used to build our app on desktop,” Allison Johnson, the senior communications manager at DuckDuckGo, explained in a statement to The Verge.

“Instead, we’re building the desktop app from the ground up around the OS-provided rendering APIs. This means that anything beyond website rendering (e.g., tabs & bookmark management, navigation controls, passwords etc.) we have to build ourselves.” In other words, on Windows, the browser will use Edge / Chromium rendering, and the same goes for Safari / Webkit on macOS. Johnson also noted that this isn’t the same as forking, which would mean that the browser is built off of one that already exists.
 

shmu26

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It is going to be really tough to build a non-Chromium browser that works well with all major sites, unless they have a billion dollar budget that can compete with Google and Microsoft.
Even Firefox is struggling. As much as I love Firefox, it doesn't always deliver in critical situations, like displaying the info I need on the website of an airline that I already bought a ticket from.
 

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DuckDuckGo browser for Mac is now available in beta (via waitlist)​

What engine does DuckDuckGo for Mac use?

It is not a fork of Chromium. The engine under the hood uses Apple Safari's Webkit renderer. DuckDuckGo claims that its browser, which it built from scratch using just the WKWebView API, is faster than Chrome in some graphics performance, and that it uses 60% less data blocking trackers before they load.

DuckDuckGo for Mac does not support extensions yet. The announcement says that the most popular browser extensions are ad-blockers and password managers, and the company says that the app's baked-in features will cater to these requirements. The source code for the browser is not available yet, it will be made open source after the beta period.
 

MuzzMelbourne

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Data privacy company DuckDuckGo has released its super secure web browser in beta for Mac — finally. The move comes years after the company released its browser for iOS and Android in 2018, and adds to their growing suite of digital privacy tools for everyday consumers.
 
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enaph

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It is not ready for public release for sure.
Lacks many basic options (like some customization or extensions support) but has an option to set it up as default browser...
For sure it's way faster than any other browser but I guess that once more features and extensions are available it won't be the case anymore. Schermafbeelding 2022-04-14 om 20.20.28.png

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DuckDuckGo is rolling out its web browsing app for Mac users as an open beta test. Designed for privacy, the app was announced back in April as a closed beta, but is now available for all Mac users to try before its official public launch.

The desktop browser includes the same built-in protections we’ve seen already featured in DuckDuckGo’s mobile apps, combining DuckDuckGo’s search engine, defenses against third-party tracking, cookie pop-up protection, and its popular one-click data clearing ‘Fire Button.’
 

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DuckDuckGo apps and extensions are now blocking Google Sign-in pop-ups on all its apps and browser extensions, removing what it perceives as an annoyance and a privacy risk for its users.

DuckDuckGo offers a privacy-focused search engine, an email service, mobile apps, and data-protecting browser extensions. A standalone web browser is also in the works, currently in beta and only available for macOS.

The company announced today that all its Chrome, Firefox, Brave, and Microsoft Edge apps and browser extensions will now actively block Google sign-in prompts displayed on sites.

Google offers this single sign-on option on websites to enable users to quickly sign in to new platforms using their Google account for convenience and unified control.

The rest
 

silversurfer

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DuckDuckGo Windows browser enters beta, here's how to sign up for it​

How to sign up for DuckDuckGo Windows browser waitlist

1. Install the DuckDuckGo app on your Android phone or iPhone.

2. Tap on the menu button, and open the Settings page.

3. Scroll down the pop-up until you see an option that says "DuckDuckGo Windows App" Beta. Tap on it.

4. On the next screen, tap the large button that is labeled "Join the Private Waitlist".

That's it. Once you are selected for the beta, the app will display a notification with a download link and a unique invite code.

Join the DuckDuckGo Windows browser waitlist on Android
 

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DuckDuckGo Privacy Browser for Mac (beta)

What's new in v1.39.0​

  • You can now use Find In Page to search within PDFs.
  • We made improvements to tab management so you can drag a single tab window into other windows.
  • We fixed an issue where pasting a URL into address bar would clear its contents.
  • We also fixed a crash that could occur when opening a new tab.
 

silversurfer

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DuckDuckGo Browser – now available for Windows​

Windows users, this one’s for you! Starting today, our desktop browser for Windows is officially in public beta – no invite codes, no waiting list, just a fast, lightweight browser that makes the Internet less creepy and less cluttered. DuckDuckGo for Windows is already equipped with nearly all the privacy protections and everyday features that users know and trust from our iOS, Mac, and Android browsers – and it’s getting closer to parity with those browsers every day. (More info in the “What’s Next” section below.) ‌‌ ‌‌

DuckDuckGo for Windows comes with these best-in-class privacy protections switched on by default, leading to a better everyday user experience. By blocking trackers before they load, for example, our desktop browsers use about 60% less data than Chrome. Switching is easy, too; you can import passwords and bookmarks from another browser or password manager in just a few clicks. ‌‌ ‌‌

Relative to Mac users, Windows users work across a wider variety of hardware and software configurations. During our brief closed beta period, we’ve been gathering testers’ feedback and making improvements to meet as many of those needs as possible, but we haven’t tested every configuration yet, so if you do see any issues, please send feedback!

Extensions and the Windows browser​

The browser doesn’t have extension support yet, but we plan to add it in the future. In the meantime, we’ve built the browser to include features that meet the same needs as the most popular extensions: ad-blocking and secure password management.
  • Secure password management: Our browser includes our own secure and easy-to-use password manager that can automatically remember and fill in login credentials. DuckDuckGo for Windows can now also suggest secure passwords for new logins. This will get even more convenient soon when we roll out private syncing across devices, so you’ll be able to sync your bookmarks and saved passwords between different devices, whether you’re using a DuckDuckGo browser on Windows, iOS, Android, or Mac. ‌‌‌‌
  • Ad blocking: DuckDuckGo for Windows is equipped with our privacy-protecting alternative to ad blockers: the browser blocks invasive trackers before they load, effectively eliminating ads that rely on that creepy tracking. (Because so many ads work that way, you’ll see way fewer ads – if any at all.) We also remove the whitespace left behind by those ads for a clean, distraction-free look without the need for an outside ad blocker.‌‌‌‌ ‌‌‌‌
  • Duck Player, our browser’s more-private way to watch YouTube: This built-in video player protects you from tracking cookies and personalized ads with a distraction-free interface that incorporates YouTube’s strictest privacy settings for embedded video. (In our testing, by blocking the trackers behind personalized ads, Duck Player prevented ads from loading on most videos altogether.) YouTube still logs video views, so it’s not completely anonymous, but none of the videos you watch in Duck Player contribute to your personalized recommendations or your YouTube advertising profile. You can leave the feature always-on, or opt in on individual videos.

Enjoy a better browsing experience on Windows thanks to the DuckDuckGo browser's unique built-in privacy protections:​

  • Duck Player, a YouTube player that lets you watch YouTube videos without privacy-invading ads and keeps video views from impacting your recommendations.‌‌
  • Tracker blocking that goes above and beyond what’s available from Chrome and other browsers. Our 3rd-party Tracker Loading Protection, for example, blocks the hidden trackers from companies like Google and Facebook lurking on other websites before they get a chance to load. ‌‌‌‌
  • Smarter Encryption to ensure that more of the websites you visit and the links you click are encrypted, relative to other browsers.
  • Cookie Pop-up Management, a tool that utomatically selects the most private options available and hides cookie consent pop-ups. ‌‌‌‌
  • The Fire Button, which burns recent browsing data in one click. (There’s also a handy “Fireproof” option for any sites you want to stay logged into.) ‌‌‌‌
  • Email Protection, which can hide your email address with unique @duck.com addresses when signing up for things online.

DuckDuckGo for Windows is available now at duckduckgo.com/windows! Making the switch is easy; new users can import bookmarks and passwords from other browsers and password managers.
 

Stargazer_Steve

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I'm excited to try it!
Edit - Just installed it and it installs through Microsoft store/app installer which I'm not keen on :( It's very fast and snappy though which is nice. UI and interface is nice and minimalistic. Hopefully there will be support for 3rd party extensions in the future
 
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