It’s 2024, the year when generative AI chatbots search the web for us and provide answers that are essentially condensed versions of information located on various web pages. The approach is convenient and saves us the hassle of visiting multiple ad and tracking websites to find the details we need.
Yes, a wall of information isn’t the most pleasant way to find answers, especially when these AI-generated summaries could come from hallucinated misinformation or come from junk sites. Fortunately, Google’s Bard and Microsoft’s Copilot now provide quotes, but tests have shown that these concise answers are still not perfect.
That’s where Arc Search comes in. A new app from the folks at Browser Company, this app is as barebones as a mobile web browser can get. It also tries to pull off an AI-assisted web digest trick like Bard or Copilot, but to its credit, it presents this web content in a far more cost-effective, reliable, and aesthetically pleasing way.
Facilitating knowledge discovery
In the simplest terms, Arc Search crawls the web for information, shortlists six websites, checks and extracts useful content, and then presents it as a custom website. This website has the answer you’re looking for at the very top, like the title before a long Star Wars sign-off letter.
But that’s where Arc Search goes a step further and elevates the whole experience. Remember those school science projects where you would go all out with neat bullet points, colorful headings, a carousel of images, important bullet points and more?
Well, the custom website that Arc Search builds for you is just that, translated to your phone screen. All of this comes to life thanks to a feature called Browse for Me. As the name makes abundantly clear, the browser searches the web for answers, saves you the hassle of going back and forth from websites, and then presents them in an organized format.
While it does exist, Arc Search goes above and beyond context and pushes more relevant information to save you the hassle of subsequent queries. It’s kind of like those pre-written search templates that appear below the search box when you start typing your query. Except that in this case, those possible follow-up or related searches are answered directly on the AI-generated website.
So if you search for something like “Who discovered radium,” the browser’s custom web page will also provide more related details such as the date of discovery, whether the venture won significant awards, brief biographical details about the scientists, a little information about radium, its industrial application and more.
But the presentation format, which is more like little bits of knowledge instead of massive paragraphs, makes scrolling and absorbing information on the screen far less intimidating. The design of this knowledge page is familiar if you’ve used Arc for the desktop, which is good news.
A wonderful acquaintance
One of the prominent software products that generated a lot of attention last year was the Arc browser. Despite being limited to the macOS platform, it has won a legion of followers – myself included – primarily due to its sheer adaptability, fresh interpretation of the browsing flow, and outstanding design.
Yet at the same time, Arc Search retains that signature iOS feel that would make you believe this app was developed by Apple. Take, for example, the tab switcher, which looks identical to the app multitasking view on the iPhone. Even the tiny swipe-up menu dashboard borrows the Control Center aesthetic.
Another UX-focused benefit that many smartphone users overlook is ease of accessibility. In Arc Search, all controls and buttons are arranged along the bottom edge of the screen. At no point during browsing will you feel the need to stretch out your thumb to touch an item on the screen. Not unless you’re trying to access another active task visible in the dynamic island at the top.
There are a few tricks worth appreciating. These benefits include the native ability to block ads, cookie banners, and trackers. These are enabled by default, and the distraction-free web browsing experience is really nice. If you value an uncluttered web surfing experience without annoying pop-ups and eye-sore banners, you should set Arc Search as the default browser on your iPhone.
Several casualties
By itself, Arc Search isn’t a bad browser, assuming you’re a minimalist and not a power user. At this point, the app seems to have purposely sacrificed functionality and minimalism. In the name of basic controls, you only get star marking, find on page, read mode and share.
Furthermore, you cannot save or bookmark a custom website created after a “Browse for Me” session. The only option is to extend the automatic archiving system to 30 days. Likewise, you can’t enable reading mode for this view or even share it.
This is because the custom website created by the app is just a website in name. It is a temporary arrangement of text and media assets without a unique shareable URL. The only way to share this website is as a screenshot or scrolling screenshot.
Other notable absent features are the ability to create saved or reading lists, switch search engines, a native password manager, incognito browsing, switch desktop modes, and direct media downloads, to name a few. Also, you can’t access your browsing history, which is a significant drawback.
You can only erase the entire board without the ability to adjust the erasure duration. However, there is a somewhat similar feature on the table called Archiving Inactive Tabs, lifted straight from the desktop client. The range varies between 12 hours to 30 days for automatic deletion of inactive cards. However, there is no option available to permanently pause this automatic archiving system.
I also want to lament the lack of sync features, especially those that can connect to the Arc desktop browser. Similarly, I also miss the seamless transfer of activity that you can enjoy with Chrome or Safari on different devices connected to the same Apple or Google account.
Try a fresh vision
Will any of the aforementioned missing web browser features arrive with a future update? I’m not sure. Should Browser Company add them? Well, that depends on their original vision for Arc Search. With Arc Search, Browser Company has clearly set out to create a simple browser that does its main job as cleanly as possible. On that front, the team achieved beyond expectations.
But at the same time, this browser targets an audience that predominantly runs a web browser on their phone to get quick answers from Google search or to visit a website of their choice. On this parameter, Arc Search’s fluidity truly shines, while its familiarity with the underlying iOS layout is a bonus.
However, if you want to take advantage of all the cross-device syncing offered by a full browser with a deep investment in Apple’s or Google’s ecosystem, Arc Search won’t satisfy your demanding workflow.
But regardless of all the little tricks it can perform, Arc Search becomes the most refined product of its kind. It’s refreshingly fast, fluid, familiar and practically cost effective all at the same time. Trust me when I say this: the convenience of this browser quickly grows on you.
It’s just a shame that this beautiful app is exclusive to the iPhone, and we have no idea when—or if—it will grace the Android ecosystem.
You can download Arc Search on iOS today.
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