Talking about browsers on Mac, iPad and iPhone

Software
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As my MacBook Air (2018) can no longer upgrade to the latest OS while security and Safari updates will remain until next year, I am exploring other browsers: DuckDuckGo, Firefox and Brave, as well as researching information online.

  • Of them, Firefox can support as old as macOS 10.12, while DuckDuckGo is 11 and Brave 12.
  • While most users said Brave is the fastest, from my case when it is true, Firefox is the smoothest especially on Google Maps (zoom in out). The three browsers are faster than Safari on my Mac.
  • EFF’s Cover Your Tracks claimed Brave has randomised fingerprints but when I tested more and more times, I found it unreliable. And when you tested with other similar websites, you will find the result is different.
  • Brave’s built-in ad blocking is already great, with some values for me like Brave Search and playlists (except Mac). The search is not bad, and doesn’t have as many trackers as DuckDuckGo (seen on Brave and uBlock Origin on Firefox: something like 1 vs 20+).
  • I can add Brave Search to my Firefox.
  • The strict protection setting on Firefox mobile is able to block some advertisements, although there are ads on YouTube and Reddit. Or use Firefox Focus.
  • Both Firefox and Brave consume much less battery than Safari on my iPhone.
  • During testing I think I can delete DuckDuckGo.
  • Business or moral practice is something I can only search online. But people must have different sayings on these browsers, especially bad things endlessly, from something unrelated like the CEO’s stance on sexuality, to TOS, to what they did in the past, Firefox’s main revenue from Google…
  • Of the app size, Brave has 600MB while Firefox has 400MB, and DuckDuckGo is more lightweight (I forgot the size). I can’t get why Brave is big.
  • I think both browsers have their own ways to be financially sustainable, and it’s inevitable for them to look for the sources of revenue, especially Brave Search.
  • One thing that is worth noticing is the playlist which was released a year or two ago, which is iOS only but they still didn’t extend to Android and desktop as they promised.

I don’t have any conclusion on which browser is the best, or there will not be any answers. Even though I can get an answer in the end, things will change. That’s said, these three browsers including Safari are all great products. Not perfect but shouldn’t be too dangerous to use.

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Good information – thanks.

I wish the mobile browsers would run uBlock Origin.

I currently have Firefox and Safari on my iPhone.

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They can run the Lite version now:

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If you’re concern is privacy and security you might take a look at https://librewolf.net which is a fork of Firefox. That’s become my default on Linux and it is available for macOS. Another worth checking is https://mullvad.net/ which is also well rated in terms of privacy and security.

I’m running Linux on a 2012 Mac Mini as my daily driver and the performance is fantastic. Bonus, it’s a current distribution that gets security updates. Perhaps something to consider in the future.

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It sounds like privacy is a significant factor for you, so I’d suggest checking out the comments on the browsers on Privacy Guides. Personally, I use Firefox on macOS as a reasonable balance between privacy, security, usability and company ethics. I’ve changed the default search engine to be startpage.

Whilst they definitely have their niche I’d be hesitant of using too esoteric a browser (even if you change the User-Agent) as there is benefit to not sticking out with an unusual browser fingerprint.

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What Linux distribution are you using?

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I started with Mint on the Mini but moved to Trisquel and the KDE desktop environment. Nothing wrong with Mint and I’m still running that on a 2018 Lenovo ThinkPad I bought on eBay. Both were easy to install and have performed great on the older hardware. A real pleasure to use!

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After the thread posted on September 2025, I even tried Orion (v1 official released) and Chrome because I think a certain level of privacy is fine while I don’t aim for the perfect (and there is no browsers perfect).

Chrome works really fine on my Mac much better than Safari, which is now very slow and consumes much more battery than any browser including Chrome! The only thing is the app size as big as 1GB I have no idea why.

Every browser company has its own controversies, but Brave gave me an impression that they tried to do something quietly, and tended to compare them with other privacy-oriented companies. Not only the marketing on their website, but also the number shown on their trackers blocked: e.g. 38 on DuckDuckGo search vs 6 on Google Search.

Orion should be the best alternative to my Safari, not to mention they want to support old devices as old as macOS v10.13. However this browser is new, and they try to accomplish many things like supporting both Firefox and Chrome extensions. I will keep it but at this moment I don’t want to spend much time on testing it.

Firefox’s controversies are usually like money sources mainly from Google, changes in terms which created disputes… with their long history and the practices are just not ideal. While Brave may provide the best one in terms of privacy, it doesn’t mean Firefox is bad. They now have strict enhanced tricky protection, and the AI kill switch will be coming on 24 February. Split view is coming. So far everything works fine. YouTube’s layout is a little bit different compared to other browsers but usable. Most importantly I find I don’t like Safari and Orion’s tab design. Chrome and Firefox are better.

Firefox have long supported old devices. Now with v10.15 or later, or ESR on older versions.

On iOS I can accept the limitations, and Strict Enhanced Tracking Protection can block most of the ads. But I think I will keep using Safari on iPhone and iPad. (I don’t like the UI on Orion, even though they want to make it like Safari).

I don’t care which browser engine they are using. I care if it works.

In short, I will keep Firefox and Orion on my Mac.

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Hey. Thank you for your views on the matter. I was using Safari since 2011 as my main browser but with Tahoe I made the switch to Firefox. But I’m not overly happy with it. Not because of the newest discussions and controversies but it feels slow sometimes. It just doesn’t feel native and it is slow sometimes. It has its quirks and its settings are so… confusing.
I have yet to try Orion and I want to give Helium a try.
I also thought about trying Vivaldi but it is a resource hog as much as I have read…

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What makes you switch from Safari? Is it related to Tahoe?

I hope Orion can be successful but from I have read some users can have a lot of issues especially when the browser tries to support both Firefox and Chrome extensions even on iOS, and OSs as old as possible. No one knows if Orion is economically sustainable and can be less buggy so I will give it time to see. Keeping two browsers is fine.

These days I find myself using Firefox on iOS more. I won’t say the experience is great but can’t be too bad compared to Safari. I can just accept it. But Safari has lots of handy features like copying URL (tab screen only) with the title of the website which is useful for note taking.

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Safari got so ugly since Tahoe. I mean, it’s my personal opinion, I never liked bubbly designs but it just feels so wrong, bubble tabs. It looks like a weired fruit ninja skin. I get it on iOS but on Mac it looks really horrible to me. And having just a 13" Macbook Air I always wanted vertical tabs which Firefox really does well.
I’m trying Orion right now and I’m experiencing my first bugs. It has a lot of problems with the Bitwarden plugin it seems. Having a hard time with my password right now. And on iOS it sometimes blocks ads, sometimes not.
Did you try Helium?

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I heard Helium but didn’t try. I don’t mind Chromium but the oldest macOS version it is supporting is 12 (will be 13 this summer). I think I will have two years to use them.

Looks like Helium will be much better Orion due to it’s simplicity by making it more private.