The Apple-Only Arc Browser Finally Arrives on Windows
Arc has been popular amongst Apple users since its first release in April 2022, and nearly 2 years later, it finally launched its Windows browser.
Designed initially for Mac and iOS, the popular browser from The Browser Company has had its Windows version in beta since December 2023.
The impetus for the company behind Arc stemmed from strong demand and the opportunity to tap into the Chrome and Edge user market. This led the company to design a browser that would transform how browsers have been traditionally utilized for the past several years.
“Arc really is just calming and keeps you organized,” Hursh Agrawal, co-founder of The Browser Company, said in an interview with The Verge.
Since their launch, Chrome and Edge users have been accustomed to having their tabs visible up on the top, but Arc promises to be different, providing a more clutter-free experience for users. “It helps you handle your tasks during the day better,” Hursh says.
With a unique interface layout and features like a collapsible sidebar with vertical tabs and bookmarks. There’s also a split view that allows two tabs in a single window, picture-in-picture, and more features that help streamline organization within a browser.
The hope is that Arc manages to emulate the success of Chrome, which witnessed a migration of users from Internet Explorer and Firefox over a decade ago.
“I saw the transition at Google when people went from everybody using Internet Explorer and Firefox to suddenly people using Chrome,” Darin Fisher, software engineer at The Browser Company, said in an interview with The Verge.
The creators not only believe that Arc will fill a gap current popular browsers have, but will also become “the operating system for the internet.”
On top of this, Arc for Windows has been built using Apple’s Swift development language and is open-source. In doing this, The Browser Company also hopes that developers will more easily be able to build Windows-based applications using Swift, possibly creating an easier crossover between the two rival operating systems.
Despite its impressive feature lineup, the browser still needs to upend the strong user market of Chrome. Since its April 30 launch, Arc has been introducing new features every Thursday and resolving bugs and other issues based on user feedback.
“The experience [of Arc on Windows] is good, but it’s not there yet, and we’re going to ship every week to get it to a place where it’s unbelievable,” said Agrawal to The Verge.
Currently, the software is only available to download for Windows 11, with a Windows 10 version slated for later release.
