DuckDuckGo Announces Its Own Desktop Web Browser

DuckDuckGo has gradually positioned itself as one of the most used search engines on the Internet, beyond simply being the most popular among those that respect users’ privacy.

This has encouraged those responsible for embarking on other projects beyond the service for which it is known, so recently, it has been learned of the existence of a web browser for the desktop.

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In case it is not clear, DuckDuckGo has announced plans to offer a web browser for the desktop because, for Android, there is already such an application based on Chromium. However, it seems that he will take a very different approach this time.

Instead of reverting to Chromium as a base, DuckDuckGo’s desktop web browser will use the operating system’s rendering engine offered by default. This means that macOS will use the Safari WebKit, while in Windows, it will rely on the Chromium-based Microsoft Edge Blink.

The approach chosen by those in charge of the search engine is reminiscent of the forced situation around browsers for iOS, which all have to use the WebKit used by Safari in an unintended way, with no room for any alternative. Even Firefox uses the Safari WebKit imposed by Apple instead of Quantum / Gecko, although in the case of DuckDuckGo, we remember, it is a voluntary decision.

The downside of the approach chosen by DuckDuckGo is that it dramatically reduces the chances of seeing a version for Linux since the “officiality” of Firefox in that system is something de facto and not de jure as it depends on the decision of those in charge of each one. of the distributions. In other words, Firefox is thereby habit and trajectory, but it can be replaced by any other.

At the feature level, DuckDuckGo has said that its next desktop web browser will offer “privacy protection that will work by default for search, browsing, email, and more” – not surprisingly from where it comes from. That means that it will be in charge of blocking third-party trackers, it will force the use of encryption to reinforce security and privacy, and it will also have a switch that will allow you to close all tabs and clean personal data with a single click. The company has also announced that it will be faster than Chrome.

For DuckDuckGo to start projects or support a privacy movement is nothing new. The company has already developed several tools and services to protect the privacy and has joined with Brave and Vivaldi against the imposition of FLoC, a mechanism driven by Google to stop using third-party cookies, but in exchange for giving the giant more power. And dominance over people’s digital lives.

DuckDuckGo’s desktop web browser is currently in closed beta, so we’ll probably see it made available to the public in the next few weeks.