4 ms·

Zen browser is exactly this. It has a growing ecosystem of “Zen mods” and has a great Arc-like out-of-box experience. https://zen-browser.app/ https://zen-brow

by osener 2y ago

Zen browser is exactly this. It has a growing ecosystem of “Zen mods” and has a great Arc-like out-of-box experience. https://zen-browser.app/ https://zen-browser.app/

eikenberry 2y ago
Does Zen plan on taking payments at some point? Key part of the idea is paid development.
- keerthiko 2y ago
  they have a ko-fi and a patreon, with about a 1000 "subscribers" across both at <unknown> amounts at the moment. it's not exactly enough to promise indefinite support, but tbh i don't really much reason to have that faith from products i've paid for but are closed-source either.
  - InsideOutSanta 2y ago
    The project's main owner said that the income from the project is enough for him to make it his main job after he finishes university.
Semaphor 2y ago
After a short time with it, I find it kinda funny. Back then, power users were up in arms about things like the omnibar, and chrome removing more and more parts of the actual URL. And here is a browser marketed at power users that goes beyond that, showing only a small fraction. There doesn’t even seem to be a Zen mod that restores a real usable URL bar. For me, I manipulate URLs every day, both for work and private usage. Zen disqualified itself for my type of power usage very quickly, giving me a feeling of being on a small mobile device instead of a desktop PC.
- cosmic_cheese 2y ago
  There’s an option under Settings > Look and Feel for a full length URL bar.
  - cevn 2y ago
    Perfect.. the real hacks always in the comments!
  - Semaphor 2y ago
    I had checked there before, just checked again, and I still only see an option for a smallish bar with the two floating options. Where there exactly?
    - cosmic_cheese 2y ago
      Settings → Look and Feel → Multiple Toolbars or Collapsed Toolbar as shown in the screenshot[0]. [0]: https://i.ibb.co/BVmkmkLC/Screenshot-2025-03-15-at-12-34-26-PM.png https://i.ibb.co/BVmkmkLC/Screenshot-2025-03-15-at-12-34-26-...
      - Semaphor 2y ago
        Thanks. Wow, that is very much not clear
- curun1r 2y ago
  > I manipulate URLs every day, both for work and private usage Zen/Arc are actually much better for this use case, albeit after an adjustment period for people who’ve become accustomed to the way Firefox/Chrome do it. The idea is that URLs are out of your way when you don’t need them and front-and-center when you do. Instead of simply focusing on the URL bar when you CMD+L or CMD+T, it brings up a modal dialog in the center of the screen where you’re free to do everything you can do in a normal location bar and more. It’s modeled after the command palette design in code editors or application launchers. So, for example, not only can you edit URLs, but you can search for commands instead of hunting for them in the browser’s menus. As an example, I’d never memorize the keyboard shortcut to take a whole-page screenshot because I don’t use it enough. But the other day I needed it, so I typed “CMD+L, screen” and it was the second result. Task completed in under 2 sec. It took a few days to get used to, but now I never want to go back to the sort of location bar that Chrome and Firefox use. It just takes up space that I’d rather devote to the sites I’m visiting. Even the tab pane is easily toggled to get out of my way when I don’t care about it, which is especially useful when I’m tiling websites. I’ve developed a fondness for keeping documentation open in one panel alongside the website I’m developing, which means recapturing the width I lose from the tab pane is valuable. I highly recommend pushing through the awkward phase where you’re sure you’re going to hate this browser design. Because once you get past it, you’ll wonder how you ever thought the old way could be better.
  - Semaphor 2y ago
    > it brings up a modal dialog in the center of the screen Incredibly tiny modal dialog. I just tried checked one, and it fit 65 characters. Compared to firefox right now, after 112 characters the URL bar is slightly over halfway filled.
    - chupasaurus 2y ago
      Fits 212 characters on mine.
      - Semaphor 2y ago
        Yup, as I was told in another comment, it requires changing to "Multiple Toolbars or Collapsed Toolbar" instead of changing the URL bar setting, which is not exactly obvious. Posted from Zen for now ;)
- wintermutestwin 2y ago
  Manual URL editing is unbelievably painful on mobile and all the kids only use their phones these days - I guess this includes all the cool kid engineers making browsers.
  - progmetaldev 2y ago
    This is extremely true, especially when holding backspace and when you hold it a bit too long, the speed increases! Trying to remove query parameters, such as used for Google Analytics tracking, can be extremely frustrating.
    - ImPostingOnHN 2y ago
      try control + backspace

by osener 2y ago

Zen browser is exactly this. It has a growing ecosystem of “Zen mods” and has a great Arc-like out-of-box experience. https://zen-browser.app/ https://zen-browser.app/

eikenberry 2y ago

Does Zen plan on taking payments at some point? Key part of the idea is paid development.

keerthiko 2y ago
they have a ko-fi and a patreon, with about a 1000 "subscribers" across both at <unknown> amounts at the moment. it's not exactly enough to promise indefinite support, but tbh i don't really much reason to have that faith from products i've paid for but are closed-source either.
- InsideOutSanta 2y ago
  The project's main owner said that the income from the project is enough for him to make it his main job after he finishes university.

Semaphor 2y ago

After a short time with it, I find it kinda funny. Back then, power users were up in arms about things like the omnibar, and chrome removing more and more parts of the actual URL. And here is a browser marketed at power users that goes beyond that, showing only a small fraction. There doesn’t even seem to be a Zen mod that restores a real usable URL bar. For me, I manipulate URLs every day, both for work and private usage. Zen disqualified itself for my type of power usage very quickly, giving me a feeling of being on a small mobile device instead of a desktop PC.

cosmic_cheese 2y ago
There’s an option under Settings > Look and Feel for a full length URL bar.
- cevn 2y ago
  Perfect.. the real hacks always in the comments!
- Semaphor 2y ago
  I had checked there before, just checked again, and I still only see an option for a smallish bar with the two floating options. Where there exactly?
  - cosmic_cheese 2y ago
    Settings → Look and Feel → Multiple Toolbars or Collapsed Toolbar as shown in the screenshot[0]. [0]: https://i.ibb.co/BVmkmkLC/Screenshot-2025-03-15-at-12-34-26-PM.png https://i.ibb.co/BVmkmkLC/Screenshot-2025-03-15-at-12-34-26-...
    - Semaphor 2y ago
      Thanks. Wow, that is very much not clear
curun1r 2y ago
> I manipulate URLs every day, both for work and private usage Zen/Arc are actually much better for this use case, albeit after an adjustment period for people who’ve become accustomed to the way Firefox/Chrome do it. The idea is that URLs are out of your way when you don’t need them and front-and-center when you do. Instead of simply focusing on the URL bar when you CMD+L or CMD+T, it brings up a modal dialog in the center of the screen where you’re free to do everything you can do in a normal location bar and more. It’s modeled after the command palette design in code editors or application launchers. So, for example, not only can you edit URLs, but you can search for commands instead of hunting for them in the browser’s menus. As an example, I’d never memorize the keyboard shortcut to take a whole-page screenshot because I don’t use it enough. But the other day I needed it, so I typed “CMD+L, screen” and it was the second result. Task completed in under 2 sec. It took a few days to get used to, but now I never want to go back to the sort of location bar that Chrome and Firefox use. It just takes up space that I’d rather devote to the sites I’m visiting. Even the tab pane is easily toggled to get out of my way when I don’t care about it, which is especially useful when I’m tiling websites. I’ve developed a fondness for keeping documentation open in one panel alongside the website I’m developing, which means recapturing the width I lose from the tab pane is valuable. I highly recommend pushing through the awkward phase where you’re sure you’re going to hate this browser design. Because once you get past it, you’ll wonder how you ever thought the old way could be better.
- Semaphor 2y ago
  > it brings up a modal dialog in the center of the screen Incredibly tiny modal dialog. I just tried checked one, and it fit 65 characters. Compared to firefox right now, after 112 characters the URL bar is slightly over halfway filled.
  - chupasaurus 2y ago
    Fits 212 characters on mine.
    - Semaphor 2y ago
      Yup, as I was told in another comment, it requires changing to "Multiple Toolbars or Collapsed Toolbar" instead of changing the URL bar setting, which is not exactly obvious. Posted from Zen for now ;)
wintermutestwin 2y ago
Manual URL editing is unbelievably painful on mobile and all the kids only use their phones these days - I guess this includes all the cool kid engineers making browsers.
- progmetaldev 2y ago
  This is extremely true, especially when holding backspace and when you hold it a bit too long, the speed increases! Trying to remove query parameters, such as used for Google Analytics tracking, can be extremely frustrating.
  - ImPostingOnHN 2y ago
    try control + backspace