The idea that you can’t have the same Internet you like and need, but with more privacy, is a lie. Privacy is not something you simply require in specific situations or in partial amounts. Privacy is prioritized at DuckDuckGo.
For instance, our mobile apps make privacy the default, so that you can search privately, block trackers, secure your website (by upgrading to HTTPS), and safeguard your emails without having to fiddle with any settings or learn the ins and outs of the technology.
Over 150 million people have downloaded them since their 2018 debut, and we’ve heard that you want the same “privacy, simple” experience on your desktops and laptops.
Thus, we are pleased to announce today the release of DuckDuckGo for Mac in beta, with DuckDuckGo for Windows to follow soon. DuckDuckGo for Mac, like our mobile version, is an all-in-one privacy solution for regular browsing that doesn’t require any finicky configuration. Also, we have some brand new features that we think you’ll really enjoy.
Introducing DuckDuckGo for Mac
When you use an app made with privacy in mind, not only will you experience less intrusive tracking, but you will also be able to browse the web more quickly and with fewer annoying interruptions, such as cookie consent prompts that plague other browsers. What you must know is as follows:
- DuckDuckGo for Mac gives you privacy by default.
With just one download, you may gain free access to our secret search engine, a powerful tracker blocker, *new* cookie pop-up protection on roughly half of the sites (with that percentage expanding dramatically throughout beta), the Fire Button (one-click data wiping), email protection, and much more. There are no convoluted options for adjusting privacy; simply straightforward, always-on protection.
- DuckDuckGo for Mac is really fast!
You’ll enjoy lightning-fast performance since it uses your computer’s native page rendering engine (the same one Safari uses) and blocks trackers before they load (unlike every other major browser). Using the Motion Mark 1.2. benchmark, we’ve already proven to have better graphics performance than Chrome, and now, thanks to our success in thwarting trackers, DuckDuckGo consumes roughly 60% less data than Chrome.
- DuckDuckGo for Mac is built for security.
More of your traffic will go through the secure (HTTPS) version of a website thanks to our integrated Smarter Encryption, and your exposure to potentially malicious third-party scripts will be reduced because of our tracker filtering.
In addition, we’ve made it so that the app’s data, including your history, bookmarks, and passwords, are never transmitted to or kept on DuckDuckGo’s servers.
Instead of using “Incognito mode” (which isn’t private!) DuckDuckGo for Mac can be used as your default browser for improved privacy and security. We offer all the standard browser capabilities, such as the ability to store passwords, tabs, bookmarks, and more, and we also have some great privacy features that you’ll appreciate.
Are you sick of being bombarded by cookie consent pop-ups? DuckDuckGo for Mac not only deletes cookies automatically from numerous sites, but it also adjusts your settings to accept fewer cookies and protect your privacy.
With our privacy feed, you can identify who has been trying to follow you, erase data from previously visited sites, and return to them without leaving a digital footprint.
Facebook uses embedded content to circumvent tracker blocks. In such cases, we prevent this material from loading by default but provide you the option to view it if you so choose.
Read More: How Can I Download the Picasso App? What Are the Characteristics of It?
Join the private waitlist.
Joining the exclusive waitlist is the only way to gain access to the DuckDuckGo for Mac beta. New people are being added to the waitlist as you read this sentence, so the sooner you sign up, the sooner you’ll be able to receive it. Though, we ask for your patience. We’ll send out invitations in waves and use user input to refine the app.
In order to sign up, you won’t have to reveal any private information. Instead, you will hold your spot in line using a device-specific date and time, and we’ll let you know when it’s time to join.
How to get on the exclusive waiting list:
1. Get the DuckDuckGo app today! (or update to the latest version)
2. DuckDuckGo for Desktop can be accessed via Settings (in the “More from DuckDuckGo” section).
3. A private waitlist can be joined by clicking the button labeled “Join the Private Wait
4. Your app will notify you when you have been given an invite code. From the alert, you can access an invite code and a download website that can be accessed from your computer.
Please use only Apple computers. The Windows update is coming soon – join us on Twitter for news and announcements.
Feedback on the new app is much appreciated. Select “Send Feedback” from the window’s settings menu (found in the upper right corner) to provide input and report problems.
It’s important to keep in mind that DuckDuckGo for Mac is currently in beta and hence not accessible in the Mac App Store. However, our DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials Safari Extension is available in the Mac App Store.
Beta & Beyond.
Since DuckDuckGo for Mac is currently in development, the user experience may change in the future.
You may have noticed, for instance, that we do not now allow extensions. Password managers and ad blockers are among the most downloaded extensions. So, we put these capabilities right into our software, which offers the benefits of privacy, security, speed, and simplicity.
We’re looking into ways to expand extension capabilities without jeopardizing these foundational aspects, but in the meanwhile, we’re sure that the capabilities already baked into our product will suffice.
Blocking Creepy Ads
While our built-in tracker blocker isn’t technically an “ad blocker,” it does prevent the majority of annoying advertisements from showing. Let me elaborate. To prevent intrusive advertisements, we employ our best-in-class tracker data set to eliminate tracking cookies. If you use an ad blocker to avoid malicious advertisements and tracking, DuckDuckGo for Mac is a great alternative.
Password Manager
You can keep using the same set of login information across different browsers. You may import your credentials from other browsers and password managers like 1Password and LastPass into our built-in password manager. We are working on integrating password management into our mobile apps and hope to provide secure syncing of passwords and bookmarks for a unified experience across devices.
Protecting your privacy really is that simple.
Our goal at DuckDuckGo is to demonstrate how easy it is to respect people’s privacy online. DuckDuckGo for Mac is a huge step in the right direction, and we appreciate you taking the time to help us make it even better.
We know that in order to do this, we need to create apps that are a joy to use and provide as comprehensive privacy protection as possible, whether you’re on your phone, at your desk, in a hammock, or somewhere even nicer than a hammock.
Read More: Step-By-Step Guide to Setting up Live Net Tv on Your Fire Tv Stick!
If you’re still reading you probably want a peek under the hood!
There’s more to DuckDuckGo for Mac than meets the eye; the way it was developed is also noteworthy. There are two main components to a standard browser: the rendering engine, which is responsible for converting web code into the websites you actually see, and the surrounding and supporting interface, which includes features like bookmarks, tabs, settings, password management, tracker blocking, etc.
Forking has become the de facto standard for creating new browsers during the past decade. Developers duplicate (“fork”) a browser like Chrome (officially the project they fork is called Chromium) – and start with both the rendering engine and all the parts that surround it. Then they construct new stuff on top of it (and/or delete/change some of the Chromium code) to create the new browser.
Chromium has not been forked by DuckDuckGo for Mac (or anything else). We use the built-in macOS rendering engine instead, which was developed by Apple and is also used by Safari.
It seems to reason that, as our browser is based on the macOS rendering engine, it will be most at home on the Mac (the same as Safari). This does not require any “forking” of code; rather, it is accomplished by invoking a macOS-supplied application programming interface.
Every other aspect of this project is being built from the ground up. DuckDuckGo’s engineers wrote the code from scratch, prioritizing user anonymity, data integrity, and ease of use. What this implies for you is a more up-to-date look and feel, as well as a quicker loading time, because we have removed the unnecessary code and design that has been collected in browsers over the years.
Like our iOS and Android apps, our Mac software will be open source after the beta period, and many of our in-app privacy features are now publicly available.
We are approaching Windows in a very similar fashion (more on that later this year). We hope to expand our support to include Linux in the future, but right now we’re concentrating on Mac and Windows. If you’d like to hear about our newest product releases and how we’re working to make “Privacy, simplified” a reality, be sure to follow us on Twitter.