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Relatedly, on most browsers, you cannot choose the search engine you use. They give you a small list. This is an issue for e.g. Kagi or other non-standard sear

Relatedly, on most browsers, you cannot choose the search engine you use. They give you a small list. This is an issue for e.g. Kagi or other non-standard search engine. With safari, edge, and chrome, you can use a janky extension to redirect it - at least on desktop. Edge tends to be the most hostile here - when updated, it automatically switches your search engine to bing search and disables the extension. It is nice enough to tell you that they switched your search engine but no button to switch it back. These practices are obviously monopolistic - using their dominance in one area to limit consumer choice in another. And it is significant because these tools are how we know about the world and communicate. A cambrian explosion of unshitified apps that put the consumer first is due if we can ever get some blanket effective legislation against gatekeeping. This could have huge secondary effects. A less manipulated population is probably a more civil, more effective one. It's something to be hopeful of. If only we could only get it right.

DavideNL 2y ago
> “With safari, edge, and chrome, you can use a janky extension to redirect it - at least on desktop.” In iOS Safari too… it’s janky indeed. Everyone and their grandmother won’t use it… https://apps.apple.com/nl/app/kagi-for-safari/id1622835804?l=en-GB https://apps.apple.com/nl/app/kagi-for-safari/id1622835804?l... There’s also the “xSearch” app, for other / custom search engines: https://apps.apple.com/nl/app/xsearch-for-safari/id1579902068 https://apps.apple.com/nl/app/xsearch-for-safari/id157990206...
Semaphor 2y ago
I thought you meant mobile browsers, but then you talked about desktop, and I got confused. Then I checked Chrome (which I don’t normally use), and there was no option to enter a custom SE. I would have bet money you could enter one there. Was this a recent (~last 5 or so years) change?
- rafram 2y ago
  It’s still possible, just hard to find: https://superuser.com/a/1828601 https://superuser.com/a/1828601
PhilipRoman 2y ago
Not sure if this was inherited from Chrome or their own addition, but Brave lets me use custom search engines, all you need is to give it an url with placeholder for the search term.
jauntywundrkind 2y ago
OpenSearch is a protocol for sharing search engine query-tenplates. You can just list it in your page's link tags, & the browser ought then be able to afford the user the option to add that's search engine. https://github.com/dewitt/opensearch/blob/master/opensearch-1-1-draft-6.md#examples https://github.com/dewitt/opensearch/blob/master/opensearch-... It is alas a bit complicated I'm that this particular spec allows for multiple query-parameters. Where-as most browsers seem to have a single substitution, %s.

DavideNL 2y ago

> “With safari, edge, and chrome, you can use a janky extension to redirect it - at least on desktop.” In iOS Safari too… it’s janky indeed. Everyone and their grandmother won’t use it… https://apps.apple.com/nl/app/kagi-for-safari/id1622835804?l=en-GB https://apps.apple.com/nl/app/kagi-for-safari/id1622835804?l... There’s also the “xSearch” app, for other / custom search engines: https://apps.apple.com/nl/app/xsearch-for-safari/id1579902068 https://apps.apple.com/nl/app/xsearch-for-safari/id157990206...

Semaphor 2y ago

I thought you meant mobile browsers, but then you talked about desktop, and I got confused. Then I checked Chrome (which I don’t normally use), and there was no option to enter a custom SE. I would have bet money you could enter one there. Was this a recent (~last 5 or so years) change?

rafram 2y ago
It’s still possible, just hard to find: https://superuser.com/a/1828601 https://superuser.com/a/1828601

PhilipRoman 2y ago

Not sure if this was inherited from Chrome or their own addition, but Brave lets me use custom search engines, all you need is to give it an url with placeholder for the search term.

jauntywundrkind 2y ago

OpenSearch is a protocol for sharing search engine query-tenplates. You can just list it in your page's link tags, & the browser ought then be able to afford the user the option to add that's search engine. https://github.com/dewitt/opensearch/blob/master/opensearch-1-1-draft-6.md#examples https://github.com/dewitt/opensearch/blob/master/opensearch-... It is alas a bit complicated I'm that this particular spec allows for multiple query-parameters. Where-as most browsers seem to have a single substitution, %s.