More flexible surfing
You don’t have to use Apple’s web browser
Free FROM mozilla.org FEATURES Customisable appearance, extensions, privacy tools, picture in picture
One problem with Safari is that because of its relatively small share of the global browser market, website developers put more effort into making sure the most popular browsers, Chrome and Firefox, work the best. Complex web apps are almost guaranteed to work in them, though of the two, Firefox is more nimble and not owned by a giant corporation. Completely free to use, Firefox is very regularly updated and works and syncs your data – if you want – across your Mac, iOS and even Windows devices.
Fast and friendly
Built on the Gecko browser engine, it’s super snappy at loading and rendering web pages and supports all the latest web technologies as well as featuring deeplevel protection against tracking and fingerprinting, which all runs pretty much automatically and can be tweaked. You can also change the way Firefox looks, and it’s also a favourite for developers of extensions – from downloading videos to blocking content, and more.
While Chrome is also super compatible with pretty much every website, on the Mac it can feel a little sluggish. No such problems for Firefox which blazes away even with lots of tabs open. It’s fully compatible with Google’s online tools and has a wealth of handy features like reader mode, spell check, pin tabs, picture-in-picture video, a builtin password manager and much more.
It’s worth noting that Mozilla is also a non-profit developer, making Firefox a good choice if you’re concerned about intrusive ads and cross-website tracking of your online activities.