DuckDuckGo is set to launch a desktop web browser that promises more privacy, speed, and functionality among other peculiar features. Company CEO Gabriel Weinberg said the speed and simplicity for which the DuckDuckGo mobile app is notable can be expected in the coming desktop version. According to him, the desktop browser will redefine users’ experience.
“Like we’ve done on mobile, DuckDuckGo for desktop will redefine user expectations of everyday online privacy,” Weinberg said. “No complicated settings, no misleading warnings, no ‘levels’ of privacy protection – just robust privacy protection that works by default, across search, browsing, email, and more. It’s not a ‘privacy browser’; it’s an everyday browsing app that respects your privacy because there’s never a bad time to stop companies from spying on your search and browsing history.”
The DuckDuckGo CEO said the coming desktop browser is significantly faster than Google – but that can only be proven when it is launched and users attest to it. The company however made it clear that the browser will not run on Chromium – just like Chrome, Brave, Edge, and Vivaldi among others do. It will rather utilize the rendering engine in use by its current operating system, meaning that it will be Edge Chromium on Windows and WebKit on macOS.
Analysts said DuckDuckGo will not quickly patch security vulnerabilities like Chrome and Edge do, and will utilize its own engine to meet users’ security needs.
The company did not give a specific time-frame to launch the desktop browser, but it is likely next year since their company Twitter feeds said “we can’t wait for what’s to come in 2022.” With Google’s Chrome, Microsoft’s Edge, and Mozilla Firefox among others, having DuckDuckGo will be a great to the browser choices that avid internet desktop users can use.
Weinberg said DuckDuckGo’s mobile app for smartphones takes the lead in major markets, and the company removed tracking pixels in messages from as part of its free email forwarding service in July, a development that many users claim is highly beneficial.
