Safari and Firefox are two of the last major browsers that don't use Google's Chromium rendering engine. Safari is using Webkit while Firefox has opted for the Gecko engine. With each iteration of macOS, Apple has improved the default browsing experience on Mac.
The majority is inclined to use Safari on macOS as the browser also comes by default (which you can't change though), and the user can smoothly carry-forward browsing data between the devices.
Firefox is emphasizing on the rapid development of the browser to lure users and take the lead from the rivals.
Safari Or Chrome
In this Chrome vs. Safari conflict, we will find out whether Safari has got its variety of users if it is merely a consequence of becoming preinstalled on all Apple apparatus. Within this guide, Colorfy will focus mainly on which divides the two browsers. Most Mac users are browsing the web using either the built-in Safari browser or they have installed Google's Chrome browser. Both browsers have their advantages. Each works well within their own Apple or Google ecosystem. Safari has some clear advantages when it comes to MacBook battery life and privacy. Chrome works better for Google Apps users and those that also have Android or Windows. With Apple optimising Safari for macOS, the company claims significant speed advantages over the likes of Chrome and Firefox, with battery life consumed at a lower rate when streaming video. Most web users need no introduction to the search behemoth's browser, Google. Safari is ranked 4th while Chrome is ranked 10th. The most important reason people chose Safari is: The rendering of the pages and the browser compatibility with.
In this post, we are going to compare the Safari browser to Firefox on Mac. Unlike iOS, the battleground is even here for both the contenders as the system lets you change the default browser.
The comparison will be based on UI, features, themes, news integration, password management, and more. Let's start with the cross-platform availability.
Cross-Platform Availability
As its case with every Apple software, the Safari browser is only available on iOS and Mac. While in Firefox's case, you can access the browser everywhere. It's available on iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, and even Linux.
Download Firefox for MacUser Interface and Theme
Safari is sticking to the trusted interface design for navigation. It hasn't changed much in years. The default page shows the favorites tabs, frequently visited websites, and Siri's suggestion under it.
The extensions (more on that later), history, reading list, and share menu are at the top. I would advise you to master keyboard shortcuts to quickly access and navigate available in the Safari browser. It also supports the system-wide dark theme introduced in macOS Mojave.
Firefox has gone through some interface changes, and I found it slightly better looking than Safari browser. It displays the default search engine, top sites, and highlights. Highlights is a useful addition.
It's a combination of recently visited pages, bookmarks, downloads, and saved articles to Pocket service. You can customize that from the Settings menu.
Firefox has a different take on the theming engine. Go to Preferences > Extensions & Themes > Themes select from the various available options. Firefox also offers the ability to custom create the theme from scratch.
The added changes apply to the search bar, tabs bar, and settings menu.
Features
A browser experience isn't just limited to loading and reading a webpage. Nowadays, users demand a rich experience with added functions. Safari offers a clean looking reading mode that strips away the unnecessary elements from a webpage such as ads, social integration, and comments.
It's customizable too. You can change the font style, size, and background color of the reading mode.
Safari enjoys a seamless integration between iOS and macOS. Tap on the tab switcher, and the browser shows the tab opened on your iPhone. Similarly, when you are browsing on iOS, the handoff function will let you carry-forward the same webpage on macOS.
You can also use the default Spotlight Search (Command + Space shortcut) and start typing the webpage name and it will show the suggestions from the Safari history. I use it frequently to visit a webpage without opening the browser. The functionality is not available for third-party browsers.
Firefox also offers a syncing capability, but it's hidden in the Options menu. Go to Options > Library > Synced Tabs and that's where you will see the opened Firefox tabs on iPhone or Android. Yes, it works with Android too.
Firefox's reading mode is a step ahead of Safari. Not only it offers a way to change font size and style, but it also lets you save an article directly to Pocket and read it load for you.
The browser also provides a capable built-in screenshot tool to clip and save the web information on Mac.
Firefox recently introduced advanced privacy protection options with live data and charts. The browser displays the numbers of trackers and cookies blocked during the browsing time. Tap on the shield icon in the search bar and have a peace of mind.
Also on Guiding Tech What Is the Difference Between Bookmarks and Favorites in Safari Read MoreSearch Engine
Both the browsers offer Google as the default search engine out of the box. In Safari, you can change it via going into Preferences > Search and choose from Bing, Yahoo, or DuckDuckGo.
Firefox once again edges out Safari here. In Firefox, the user doesn't need to go to settings to search using a different engine. When you start typing a keyword in the search bar, it displays the available search engine options at the bottom. You can search using Bing, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, Twitter, and Wikipedia.
Extensions
In terms of extension support, Safari falls behind Firefox. The extension list is limited, and you will have a hard time searching for an extension for every need. Go to Safari > Safari Extensions and install it from the list.
You can manage them by going into Preferences > Extensions and integrate them into your browser experience.
Firefox offers a rich collection neatly categorized into different sections. There is an extension for every use scenario.
Password Management
Flawless password management is a key aspect of today's browser experience. By default, Safari stores all the credentials into iCloud keychain. So the next time, when you try to login to an account, just use the login info from iCloud keychain or tap on the Touch ID to auto-fill details.
Firefox has introduced Firefox Lockwise to save and store every login detail. It's not full-featured password management but has enough functions to get the job done. As a bonus, the service is also available on Android and iOS.
Download Firefox Lockwise for AndroidDownload Firefox Lockwise for iOS Also on Guiding Tech #browser Click here to see our browser articles pageConvenience Or Features?
The answer is simple here. If you have an iPhone, then Apple's tight integration between the Safari browser on iOS and macOS might win you over. Moreover, it has decent extension support, capable password management, and the right number of features to get you started.
Firefox is cross-platform, meaning your data is accessible on every platform. The software also provides a better extension and a theming engine to truly customize the browsing experience.
Next up: Interested about the same comparison on iOS? Read the post below to find the details between Safari and Firefox on iPhone.
The above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.Read NextSafari vs Firefox for iOS: Which Is a Better BrowserAlso See#browser #apple
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Most Mac users are browsing the web using either the built-in Safari browser or they have installed Google's Chrome browser. Both browsers have their advantages. Each works well within their own Apple or Google ecosystem. Safari has some clear advantages when it comes to MacBook battery life and privacy. Chrome works better for Google Apps users and those that also have Android or Windows devices.Check out Which Browser Is Better On Mac: Safari Or Chrome? at YouTube for closed captioning and more options.
Video Transcript: Hi, this is Gary with MacMost.com. Let's compare Safari and Chrome and figure out which browser is best for the Mac. MacMost is brought to you thanks to its contributors. Join us and get exclusive content at macmost.com/patreon.So Safari is the builtin browser for your Mac. Often I see Mac users go right to Chrome and use that instead. They've heard that it's better, it's faster, that they should be using it instead of Safari. But is that true? Which browser is actually best for you.One of the primary factors is speed. So I did hundreds of comprehensive tests between Safari and Chrome to see which is fastest. No, just kidding! I didn't do any of that. I just looked at a lot of sites that did comparisons over the years. What I found is there is not really much difference. Some sites say Chrome is faster and some actually say Safari is faster. Most of them say they're pretty comparable in speed.Most people agree that Safari has the advantage in privacy. There are a lot of great privacy features and most of them stem from the fact that Apple isn't trying to advertise to you where Goggle is. Goggle makes some of its money through advertising so, of course, it has an interest in collecting information and using information to serve ads to you. Apple doesn't care about that. Safari works in the Apple ecosystem so it's using iCloud to sync things like your passwords, like your bookmarks, and if you're using iPhones, iPads, and Macs then all of that is pretty much automatically synced between your devices. You can even see what Safari tabs are open in other devices. So you can leave our Mac, go to your iPad and then jump right into a tab that you had opened on your Mac.Safari also has something called Reader View. It takes an article that you're viewing and gives it to you without distractions. So just the main text and images. It's great for reading news online. You don't see it in Chrome because of course Goggle has an interest in making sure you view the ads that are there. Rumors are that it's coming to Chrome soon but it's been in Safari since 2010.Safari's biggest advantage is specifically for MacBook users. If you have a Mac with a battery in it most experts agree that Safari is far better for conserving power. As a matter of fact you hear people complain online that their MacBook battery isn't lasting as long as they think it should. A lot of times it boils down to the fact that they're using Chrome and when they switch to Safari they find out their batter lasts a lot longer. Safari is really built for conserving battery power.So, of course, there's the thing that Safari is build for the Mac. It's built by Apple. It's going to be integrated well with the operating system, with iCloud, and the interface is going to be the most Mac-like. Plus, of course, Safari is built in so there's nothing you need to do to get it. Whereas Chrome you would have to download and install Chrome and it's another app you need to keep updated. For Mac users that want to keep it simple you can just use Safari. You've already got it.Chrome also has its advantages. Chrome syncs using the Goggle ecosystem. So this works really well if you're using android devices, tablets, and phones. It also works really well if you have Windows machines because there is no Safari for windows. But there is Chrome for Windows. You can sync your bookmarks from Mac to Windows by using Goggle Chrome. Goggle Chrome is probably the best browser to use if you're using Goggle Docs a lot. So using Goggle Docs, Goggle Sheets, you know all the Goggle apps, then you're probably not going to get a better experience than using them in Chrome. They work fine in Safari but Chrome is probably the winner. I know sometimes they have new features and those new features only work in Chrome since Goggle has control over both the browser and the apps. Chrome updates often. You can see here we're at version 74 currently. There always seems to be new versions of Chrome coming out and this can be good and bad. It's good because new features and fixit's appear quickly. But sometimes bugs can also be introduced. If you like browser extensions then you probably can't beat Chrome. There's a ton of them and it's easier for developers to distribute whereas Apple has tighter control. So this is both good and bad. There's a lot of junk in terms of extensions and Chrome apps and things like that. If you're a developer there are tons of tools for both Safari and Chrome. But Chrome probably has a lot more.Now I'm just looking at Safari and Chrome here because they're the two I see the most. But there are other options including Firefox as well. So my conclusion is that Safari is best in most situations on a Mac especially if you're using a MacBook because you're going to get better battery life if you're using Safari. Safari is also the clear winner if you're concerned about privacy and you want to stay in the Apple ecosystem using iCloud and using all Apple devices.Chrome is the winner in a couple situations. One is if you happen to have an android phone and you use a Mac computer. In that case Chrome will allow you to sync up your browsing between your devices. Also if you use Goggle apps a lot then Chrome is the better solution for using those. A lot of times I will go and use Chrome when I know I have to work for awhile in Goggle Docs or Goggle Sheets. But there's no reason why you can't have both browsers. So a reasonable solution for a lot of people is to use Safari for most things and switch to Chrome for certain situations.Google Chrome Or Safari
