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               Do You Use It? Safari Ranks as Top Mac Web Browser

   Adam Engst

   When we asked last week [1]which Web browsers you use on your Mac, I
   had no doubt that [2]Safari would be at the top of the list. It has
   been one of Apple's most important apps since it shipped with Mac OS X
   10.3 Panther in 2003, and it regularly receives updates that improve
   its performance, features, and security. So, it's not in the slightest
   bit surprising that 87% of TidBITS readers report that they use it.

   More interesting are the next few browsers. I was intrigued to see that
   [3]Firefox (59%) has significantly greater usage levels among TidBITS
   readers than [4]Google Chrome (40%), which is by far the most popular
   browser across all platforms. Chrome's relative lack of usage may
   reflect TidBITS readers putting a greater-than-normal emphasis on
   privacy, as evidenced by the privacy-focused [5]Brave (21%) and
   [6]DuckDuckGo (11%) in fourth and sixth place, respectively. [7]Arc
   almost certainly enjoys its 15% usage share due to my coverage and
   enthusiasm for it, and [8]Microsoft Edge likely squeaks into a 10%
   usage number due to employers requiring it for internal sites and its
   AI integration. The remaining browsers garnered only single-digit
   percentages, and although I regret forgetting them, [9]iCab and
   [10]OmniWeb would likely have fallen into that category as well.

   In retrospect, I'm unsure how illuminating this poll was. It shows with
   broad strokes which browsers TidBITS readers use at least occasionally,
   but most people have a primary browser that they supplement with others
   for specific reasons, most commonly when a website doesn't work
   correctly. My vote, which you can see in the blue bars above, doesn't
   make clear that I primarily use Arc but occasionally use the other
   browsers to test misbehaving websites, log in with a secondary account,
   or document interface elements.

   I considered running another poll to tease out the primary browser
   question, but I didn't want to ask people to vote yet again on
   essentially the same topic. Besides, I have some data about that from
   Google Analytics. When I look at tidbits.com traffic from desktop Web
   browsers for 2023, Safari remains in the lead, generating 48% of page
   views, but Chrome is second with 40%, and Firefox and Edge are tied for
   fourth with 5%. Finally, Opera slips in with 1%. Chromium browsers
   other than Microsoft Edge and Opera identify themselves as Chrome, so
   its 40% includes at least Arc, Brave, and Vivaldi.

   Perhaps the takeaway from this poll is that using multiple browsers is
   common, and you shouldn't shy away from doing so. Pick one that fits
   your working style the best as your default, but if it doesn't meet
   your needs in a particular way, there's no shame in falling back on an
   alternative. If nothing else, Safari is always waiting in your
   Applications folder.

References

   Visible links
   1. https://talk.tidbits.com/t/do-you-use-it-mac-web-browsers/24538?u=ace
   2. https://www.apple.com/safari/
   3. https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/
   4. https://www.google.com/chrome/
   5. https://brave.com/
   6. https://duckduckgo.com/
   7. https://arc.net/
   8. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/edge
   9. https://www.icab.de/
  10. https://www.omnigroup.com/more

   Hidden links:
  11. https://tidbits.com/wp/../uploads/2023/10/DYUI-Mac-browser-results.png

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