Safari Or Firefox For Mac

Safari and Firefox are two of the last major browsers that don't use Google’s Chromium rendering engine. Safari is using Webkit while Firefox has opted for the Gecko engine. With each iteration of macOS, Apple has improved the default browsing experience on Mac.

The majority is inclined to use Safari on macOS as the browser also comes by default (which you can’t change though), and the user can smoothly carry-forward browsing data between the devices.

Firefox is emphasizing on the rapid development of the browser to lure users and take the lead from the rivals.

For me it's Firefox quantum 66.0 due to speed and up to date extensions however battery wise safari is still better. I personally use them both. Safary when I'm on battery and Firefox when plugged in. Also it seems safari extensions aren't update as often as Firefox or Chrome.
Safari and Firefox are Browsers. To switch between them all you would need to do is choose the relevant Window. Open Safari and then Open Firefox, and simply click on either of them to change. You can also use the keyboard: command + tab to move between open windows.

In this post, we are going to compare the Safari browser to Firefox on Mac. Unlike iOS, the battleground is even here for both the contenders as the system lets you change the default browser.

The comparison will be based on UI, features, themes, news integration, password management, and more. Let’s start with the cross-platform availability.

Firefox on macOS has a far better selection of extensions. This isn’t going to change unless Apple stops making developers pay $100/year to release extensions for Safari. On iOS I use Safari because load times are way better than Firefox, but I keep the Firefox app on my phone so I can send links to Firefox on my Mac from the share sheet.

Cross-Platform Availability

As its case with every Apple software, the Safari browser is only available on iOS and Mac. While in Firefox’s case, you can access the browser everywhere. It’s available on iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, and even Linux.

Download Firefox for Mac

User Interface and Theme

Safari is sticking to the trusted interface design for navigation. It hasn’t changed much in years. The default page shows the favorites tabs, frequently visited websites, and Siri's suggestion under it.

The extensions (more on that later), history, reading list, and share menu are at the top. I would advise you to master keyboard shortcuts to quickly access and navigate available in the Safari browser. It also supports the system-wide dark theme introduced in macOS Mojave.

Firefox has gone through some interface changes, and I found it slightly better looking than Safari browser. It displays the default search engine, top sites, and highlights. Highlights is a useful addition.

It’s a combination of recently visited pages, bookmarks, downloads, and saved articles to Pocket service. You can customize that from the Settings menu.

Firefox has a different take on the theming engine. Go to Preferences > Extensions & Themes > Themes select from the various available options. Firefox also offers the ability to custom create the theme from scratch.

The added changes apply to the search bar, tabs bar, and settings menu.

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Microsoft Edge vs Safari: What's Best on iOS

Features

A browser experience isn’t just limited to loading and reading a webpage. Nowadays, users demand a rich experience with added functions. Safari offers a clean looking reading mode that strips away the unnecessary elements from a webpage such as ads, social integration, and comments.

It’s customizable too. You can change the font style, size, and background color of the reading mode.

Safari enjoys a seamless integration between iOS and macOS. Tap on the tab switcher, and the browser shows the tab opened on your iPhone. Similarly, when you are browsing on iOS, the handoff function will let you carry-forward the same webpage on macOS.

You can also use the default Spotlight Search (Command + Space shortcut) and start typing the webpage name and it will show the suggestions from the Safari history. I use it frequently to visit a webpage without opening the browser. The functionality is not available for third-party browsers.

Firefox also offers a syncing capability, but it’s hidden in the Options menu. Go to Options > Library > Synced Tabs and that's where you will see the opened Firefox tabs on iPhone or Android. Yes, it works with Android too.

Firefox’s reading mode is a step ahead of Safari. Not only it offers a way to change font size and style, but it also lets you save an article directly to Pocket and read it load for you.

The browser also provides a capable built-in screenshot tool to clip and save the web information on Mac.

Firefox recently introduced advanced privacy protection options with live data and charts. The browser displays the numbers of trackers and cookies blocked during the browsing time. Tap on the shield icon in the search bar and have a peace of mind.

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What Is the Difference Between Bookmarks and Favorites in Safari

Search Engine

Both the browsers offer Google as the default search engine out of the box. In Safari, you can change it via going into Preferences > Search and choose from Bing, Yahoo, or DuckDuckGo.

Firefox once again edges out Safari here. In Firefox, the user doesn’t need to go to settings to search using a different engine. When you start typing a keyword in the search bar, it displays the available search engine options at the bottom. You can search using Bing, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, Twitter, and Wikipedia.

Extensions

In terms of extension support, Safari falls behind Firefox. The extension list is limited, and you will have a hard time searching for an extension for every need. Go to Safari > Safari Extensions and install it from the list.

You can manage them by going into Preferences > Extensions and integrate them into your browser experience.

Firefox offers a rich collection neatly categorized into different sections. There is an extension for every use scenario.

Password Management

Flawless password management is a key aspect of today’s browser experience. By default, Safari stores all the credentials into iCloud keychain. So the next time, when you try to login to an account, just use the login info from iCloud keychain or tap on the Touch ID to auto-fill details.

Firefox has introduced Firefox Lockwise to save and store every login detail. It’s not full-featured password management but has enough functions to get the job done. As a bonus, the service is also available on Android and iOS.

Download Firefox Lockwise for AndroidDownload Firefox Lockwise for iOS

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Convenience Or Features?

The answer is simple here. If you have an iPhone, then Apple’s tight integration between the Safari browser on iOS and macOS might win you over. Moreover, it has decent extension support, capable password management, and the right number of features to get you started.

Firefox is cross-platform, meaning your data is accessible on every platform. The software also provides a better extension and a theming engine to truly customize the browsing experience.

Next up: Interested about the same comparison on iOS? Read the post below to find the details between Safari and Firefox on iPhone.

The above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.Read NextSafari vs Firefox for iOS: Which Is a Better Browser

Also See#browser #apple

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Top 4 Ways to Fix Mac Desktop Icons Missing or Not Showing

In this post, you’ll learn something about clearing browser cache and cookies. So what are browser cookies? Should I clear cache on Mac? And how to clear cache on Mac? To fix the issues, just scroll down and check the answer.

1. What Are Cookies on Mac?

Browser cookies, or web cookies, are small text files on your computer, which contain data about you and your preference from websites you visit. When you visit a site again, your browser (Safari, Chrome, FireFox, etc.) sends the cookie to the website so that the site recognizes you and what you did on the last visit.

You remember that sometimes when you return to a website, the site shows you the items you checked out last time or it keeps your username? That's because of the cookies.

In short, cookies are files on your Mac to keep the information of what you've done on a website.

2. Is It Okay to Delete Cookies?

It is totally okay to remove cookies from your Mac. But you should know that once cookies are deleted, your browsing history on the specific websites will be deleted so you have to log in the websites again and reset your preference.

For example, if you clear the cookie of a shopping website, your username won't show and the items in your shopping carts will be cleaned. But if you log in the website again or add new items, new cookies will be generated.

3. Quick Way to Remove All Cookies on Mac (Recommended)

If you are using multiple browsers on your Mac, there is a quick way to clear cookies from multiple browsers at once: FonePaw MacMaster. This is an all-in-one cleaner for Mac system and its Privacy feature can help you remove browsers data, including cookies, caches, browsing history, etc.

Firefox Vs Safari Privacy

Step 1 Download and install MacMaster on Mac.

Step 2 Open the cleaner and select Privacy option.

Step 3Click Scan and after scanning, choose a browser, for example, Google Chrome.Tick Cookies and click Clean button to clear Chrome cookies.

Step 4 To clear cookies on Safari, Firefox or others, choose the specific browser and repeat the above step.

If you need to further clean junks on Mac, use MacMaster to clear browser caches, system caches, duplicated files and more.

Bing Vs Safari

4. How to Clear Cookies on Safari

You can follow the steps below to clear Safari's cache and history on Mac:

Step 1 Open Safari on Mac, click Safari > Preference.

Step 2 In the Preference window, choose Privacy > Remove All Website Data and confirm the deletion.

Step 3 To delete cookies from individual sites, for example, to get rid of Amazon, eBay cookies, choose Details to view all cookies on your Mac. Select a site and click Remove.

5. How to Remove Cookies in Google Chrome on Mac

Now, let's see the way to fix how to clear cookies on Mac from Chrome page manually:

Step 1 Launch Google Chrome browser.

Step 2 On the top left corner, click Chrome > Clear browsing data.

Step 3 Check Delete Cookies and other site data and set the time range.

Step 4 Click Clear browsing data to clear cookies in Chrome on Mac.

6. How to Delete Cookies in Firefox on Mac

To fix how to clear cookies on Mac from Firefox webpage without the cleaner app, you can refer to the below steps:

Step 1 On Firefox, choose Clear Recent History.

Step 2 Choose the time range to clear and open Details.

Step 3 Check Cookies and click Clear Now.

7. Cannot Delete Cookies? Here's What to Do

You may find that some cookies can't be deleted. So you have removed all the data from Privacy on Safari, but some cookies just come back after several seconds. So how to get rid of these cookies. Here are some thoughts.

Is Safari Or Firefox Better For Mac

Close Safari and click Finder > Go > Go to Folder.

Copy and paste ~/Library/Safari/Databases and go to this folder.
Delete files in the folder.

Note: Do not delete the folder itself.