10 features I’d love to see in Arc Browser
The Browser Company has shifted its focus towards a new product, but there's still a lot of room for improvement and innovation in Arc.
A few weeks ago, The Browser Company announced that they had abandoned the development of the much anticipated 2.0 iteration of their beloved Arc browser, in favor of a brand new product aimed at a more massive crowd that found Arc too confusing or unncessary to adopt. However, they were clear in that the Arc we know and love is not going anywhere and it will continue getting updates. So here are a few ideas1:
1. Trojan horse spin-off features
Disaggregate Arc features (such as Easels or Shared Folders) into separate apps or extensions that create a spread-out Arc ecosystem that better populates the OS it runs on.
I think breaking up some Arc functionalities into sort of gimmicky standalone apps would also be a good growth strategy because you wouldn't have the baggage of only being a browser and having to compete in such a hard market. These other derivative apps could serve as trojan horses into the BCNY ecosystem. For example I could see Easels being its own app. You could even launch a package of Chrome Extensions as Arc trojan horses, that would be wild. The Shared Tabs/Folders/SplitViews feature would make a great cross-platform extension that I’m sure would drive Arc adoption. The Archive feature I suggest in point 8 could also be its own app.
Or packing out important webapps as standalone electron-esque apps with offline functionalities but within Arc’s sandbox. Nate Parrott's experiments with interactive Mac dock icons are awesome and could also fit into this Arc ecosystem dynamic, but I’m just yapping at this point.
2. Multiplayer experiences
Deploy multiplayer experiences to make the internet feel less isolated.
The short-lived here.fm had a bunch of really cool ideas for interactive videocalls.
Imagine ArcPlay -> sort of like Apple’s SharePlay but built into Arc - Lets you work together on a shared live Split View with other Arc users.
- Save Shared Tabs or Shared Spaces with a specific contact
3. Messaging and Contacts integration
Deep Beeper integration for handling all chats easily.
Ability to pin chats directly in the lower part of the sidebar, and when you click on them they pop out and follow you around the internet! Facebook Home-esque lol.
4. Social Media integration and regulation
Deep Openvibe or Croissant integration - so we don’t have 3 separate tabs for 3 different hellish timelines.
Built-in toggle to hide all social media feeds.
I love this little website that allows me to watch any YouTube video without all the distractions. https://michael.team/yt/
I’d love and input-only (upload) mode for Letterboxd, YouTube, IG, Goodreads, TikTok, etc
5. Focus mode
Something like the great Leech-block extension but simpler and integrated directly.
6. RSS integration
I started using RSS this year and it’s been a game-changer. Having a dedicated Space that functions as an RSS reader would be interesting. I picture each content source as a tab folder that automathically updates when there’s new stuff.
7. Fediverse and Crypto
I kinda have no idea what Arc could do in those spaces but it would be cool.
8. Archive
Something like Raindrop built directly into Arc’s tab archive system but more tangible and actionable (beyond accumulating links, extracting the valuable stuff from them and put it in the right places, where it’s useful) would be fantastic. I’d also put an eye on what Sublime and Capacities are doing. Something like that but with robust offline functionalities would be a true game-changer.
9. API-for-everything
Josh mentioned this idea in the podcast and it sounds awesome. They could also develop a partnership for a deep integration with Zapier because their technology is very aligned with this API-for-everything concept and your whole get-things-done approach (busy work, save a thousand clicks) for the internet.
10. Manage local files inside Arc
How can Arc contribute to bring back a sense of ownership over our beloved media?
Music: integrate streaming services, online radios, Genius, Rateyourmusic, local files, physical collection, and local shows.
Movies: integrate streaming services, Letterboxd, local files, physical collection and local theaters.
Books: integrate Goodreads, ebooks, physical collection, local public library.
This article is part of a series focused on The Browser Company of New York:
The Browser Company's philosophical product conundrums — the inherent tensions in building an ambitious new browser that lowkey wants to make people spend less time using computers ⎯ as seen by someone who was raised by the internet but is a little sick of it.
10 features I’d love to see in "Arc 2.0" — or whatever BCNY’s new product is gonna be called!
notes on The Browser Company's Communications — they're extremely good overall but I still have Thoughts®
questions about The Browser Company of New York — more focused on business-y stuff.
Some of these may also be applicable for their new product, I’m very curious about how much synergy or overlap there’s gonna be between Arc and The New Thing.