Orion Browser for macOS and iOS

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This is a browser I really wish to have discovered sooner, as it implements the ability to install addons from Firefox and Chrome stores on macOS and iOS besides being seemingly faster than Safari.

source for this info: Orion F.A.Q.

Important things to note:

Is Orion open-source?
We’re working on it! We’ve begun with some of our components and intend to open more in the future.
Forking WebKit, porting hundreds of APIs and writing a browser app from scratch has been challenging for our small team. Properly maintaining an open-source project takes time and resources we’re short on at the moment, so if you want to contribute at this time, please consider becoming active on orionfeedback.org.

Is Orion truly safe if it’s not open-source?
The idea that “open-source = trustworthy” only goes so far. For example, the same tech company that offers a popular open-source browser also has the largest ad/tracking network in history, with that browser playing a significant role in it. Another company with a closed-source browser (using WebKit like Orion) is on the forefront of privacy awareness and technologies in its products.

Besides this, Orion is still in public beta: Orion F.A.Q.

What’s the default search engine in Orion?
Our commitment to your privacy means that Orion will ask you to set your favorite search engine on your first use of the address bar. Otherwise, the moment you start typing in the address bar, it would leak your IP address and browser fingerprint to a search engine that you may prefer to avoid.

By basing Orion on Safari’s tech stack, then adding productivity enhancements such as built-in ad-blocking, Orion can provide users with exactly what they need.

What about privacy? Orion is a true zero-telemetry browser, with a powerful built-in ad and tracking blocker. Even with its default settings, Orion offers the highest possible privacy protection on the web.

How fast is Orion?
Orion is as fast or faster than Safari, because while both use the WebKit engine, we streamlined our browser for smoother use. Orion is much faster than non-WebKit browsers like Firefox or Chrome and its derivatives (Edge, Brave, Opera, etc.).

For our power users, Orion has the best closed-tab management of all contemporary browsers. On default settings, Orion will consume 2x-3x less memory than mainstream choices after closing tabs.

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Previous discussion for reference:

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Looking through the discussion, I can see how recommending it on macOS is not the best approach, but I wonder what is the teams stance in recommending it on iOS?

I was using Safari with Adguard but it didn’t block any ads for me even after updating the filter lists.
And as a bonus, it does not seem to collect any sort of data despite being closed-source so replacing Safari with it at least on the iPhone seems to be more private (if not more private, then more tolerable, as at least in my case, Adguard wasn’t working as intended with Safari)

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I can’t reproduce this, since I use Adguard+Safari every day :thinking:

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So I downloaded their Orion browser for iOS and it supports both FF and Chrome extensions?! I was able to install ublock origin easily. (How is this even possible with iOS browsers having to use apples safari backend?) Would their browser also meet recommendation standards?

I’m glad kagi is continuing to raise their bar.

Update: ok while it does run the unlock origin extension it doesn’t run very well in Orion. They do seem to have built in ad blocking and allow custom lists though.

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It’s not open source, which would be a clear downgrade compared to the other browser recommendations and is a minimum requirement.

IIRC, they’ve implemented webextension support which makes a lot of extensions compatible but have focused mainly on uBlock Origin and Bitwarden.

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On macOS yes, but on iOS, open source isn’t a minimum requirement, so technically I don’t see anything that would prevent it for being recommended. Although I don’t really see many benefits for using it over Safari.

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I would say the main advantage of Orion is its developer features, which are unlikely to be of much use on iOS.

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Yeah we like to keep things as close to upstream as possible unless there’s some really great privacy features like Tor browser has.

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Orion also lacks important features that Safari has like support for Lockdown mode which is pretty disappointing. Not really sure what is supposed to differentiate Orion from Safari + a decent content blocker besides visual fluff. Even then Safari is very minimal, so there really isn’t a lot to dislike.

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Also, one of Orion’s biggest selling points for privacy folk would be access to uBO, but uBO Lite is now being developed for Safari.

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Is Complete zero-telemetry browsing not enough to be a recommended browser for privacy-concerns? Seeing brave or firefox but not orion bothers me alot…

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Orion is plain buggy. Every time I’ve made a legitimate attempt at using it as my primary browser, I’ve run into issues almost immediately, like the tab switcher not working, basic extensions like uBlock Origin or 1Password being completely broken, freezes, or their adblocker lists not updating. It’s not a fun experience.

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When was the last time you tried Orion? It was in beta all along and only recently became stable. It works well now for me at least.

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A month ago. Don’t get me wrong I like Kagi and pay for their search engine, but the browser falls short for me

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I recommend using it again. It does work well now.

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Didn’t have two-finger pinch to bring up the tab grid on iOS/iPadOS, last I used it. Trivial for most, but a deal-breaker personally. That action is practically muscle memory for me on the iPad. No browser aside from Safari seems to have it. :cry:

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You can customize gestures. I’m guessing this is possible but I have not tried it personally as I don’t have an iPad.

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I will give it another look in the coming days.

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