If you haven't heard the name Arc, or Browser Company before, you're not at fault. In a nutshell, it's a company that has exquisite taste in design, the boldness to reinvent the boring web browsers on our computers, and harbors even bigger AI-infused ideas.
Honestly, you should try Arc on your Mac to experience its charm. A Windows version is in development, by the way. The same company has now introduced a mobile app called Arc Search. It's as minimalist as a web browser can get, but that's the whole point of it.
Ask it "Who won the last India vs Australia test match" and you will get a summarized answer beautifully presented as bullet points and headings, and not a jarring list of websites that you need to click, scroll, and find your own damn answer.
Arc Search is what you get from the radical idea that a browser, a search engine, and an AI chatbot can actually play nice together to conjure up a blissful web surfing saga for you, instead of elbowing each other in the ribs for a sliver of ad real estate.
All this magic happens within an interface that's as user-friendly as it gets — clean, uncluttered, and remarkably devoid of ads and trackers. Or all the unnecessary mobile web browser features that most humans never bother to click. Truly, a beacon of hope in the chaotic sea of the internet where you often see more ads, auto-play videos, and shitty pop-ups than actual lines of content.
The adventure begins with the good 'ol concept of a search bar. Just type something in, hit the "Browse For Me" button like you've got digital servants at your beck and call, and voilà, Arc Search leaps into action.
It gallivants through the top six sites that vaguely relate to what you might be looking for, scans them with its AI eyes, and whips up a "very readable results page" crafted just for your delicate sensibilities.
The app, in its infinite wisdom, keeps its interface as invisible as possible, docking a tiny toolbar at the bottom of your screen, reminiscent of Safari but without the pesky address bar clutter.
You get a few buttons to fiddle with but not much else to distract you from the pure, unadulterated joy of getting answers from the internet.
For those of us who enjoy a hands-on approach to information gathering and distrust AI's ability to distill the essence of web pages, the "Browse For Me" trick promises to assemble a tailor-made page brimming with key insights, as if by magic, from various corners of the internet.
What you receive is a condensed masterpiece that apparently outshines anything Google Bard or ChatGPT could muster. Arc Search doesn't just regurgitate information; it serves fresh, live web page readings on a silver platter, almost like creating a website filled with all the information you need, in a matter of seconds.
Arc Search prides itself on speed and the art of one-handed web navigation, showcasing which sites were scoured to fetch your info. If curiosity hasn't killed you yet, you're free to explore further into the digital abyss. You might miss features like bookmark syncing, reading lists, and password managers, and more.
But that doesn't seem to be the objective of Browser Company, at least for now. the idea of Arc Search is that it's a browser made to give you relevant information as quickly (and beautifully) as possible, without overwhelming you with a bajillion features and an intimidating web surfing experience.
You can download Arc Search for iPhone here.