DuckDuckGo's private browser for Mac enters public beta

DuckDuckGo for Mac

DuckDuckGo announced that its private browsing app for the Mac is entering into public beta, and it comes with plenty of privacy protections.

The browser has built-in privacy protections that the company says go much further than a standard incognito mode. They include a private YouTube player, adblocking, and a password manager.

Users can import bookmarks and passwords from other browsers and password managers. The browser is available for download at the DuckDuckGo site.

DuckDuckGo Mac browser features

Duck Player: A private YouTube player that protects users from targeted ads, cookies, and recommended videos. It can be always-on so that YouTube links from anywhere open in Duck Player, or users can opt-in on individual videos.
Password management: An integration with open source app Bitwarden offers another choice on top of the company's built-in password manager. The app is also compatible with 1Password's new universal autofill.
Handling cookies: The browser automatically chooses the most private option on many more sites.
Blocking advertising: Not only does DuckDuckGo for Mac block ads, it cleans up the whitespace they leave behind for a cleaner look as users browse the web.

The private browser also uses Smarter Encryption technology that safeguards browsing and automatically upgrades certain unencrypted websites.

DuckDuckGo continuously maintains a list of sites that support encryption. When a user tries to go to an unencrypted website that the company knows does support encryption, the browser automatically upgrades the connection to use the encrypted version.

DuckDuckGo for Mac integrates with the password manager from Bitwarden

The app also lets users activate DuckDuckGo Email Protection on the desktop. It protects an email inbox with email tracker blocking and private "@duck.com" addresses.

Similar to Apple's privacy service called Hide My Email, DuckDuckGo's version will let people create unlimited unique email addresses on the fly, without needing to switch email providers or apps.

What's next for DuckDuckGo

Users will soon be able to sync DuckDuckGo bookmarks and passwords across devices. The company plans to add more built-in features that offer native alternatives to popular browser extensions.

Before DuckDuckGo for Mac exits the public beta, the company will make it open source, exposing the source code so anyone can check to see if there are flaws. It's also a way to ensure the legitimacy of DuckDuckGo's privacy claims.

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9 Comments

22july2013

said about 1 year ago

Youtube's ads are getting denser and denser. I remember a few years ago when they added a second ad to most ad breaks, and now they are occasionally forcing people to watch three ads in one ad break. And a huge percentage of those ads are at least 15-seconds (and longer, if you don't press SKIP ADS.) So 15 seconds times three ads is 45 seconds of ads, just to watch the first five minutes of a video. In my opinion they've hit the threshold of commercial TV ads (if you don't press on SKIP ADS.) And since ads are tailored for each user, that makes the business much more profitable than commercial TV. That gives me a few options:

Stop watching Youtube
Start using DuckDuckGo's browser
Start paying for "Youtube Premium" for less ads
Write software to click on SKIP ADS (I won't say if I've already done this.)

deanbar

said about 1 year ago

For many years I’ve been using start.com (previously known as “ixquick.com”), which is just as private but gives you the top search/searches in the first line or two, without dozens and dozens of similar but different results like duckduckgo.

I’ve found it to be the most efficient search engine out there.

badmonk

said about 1 year ago

22july2013 said:

Youtube's ads are getting denser and denser. I remember a few years ago when they added a second ad to most ad breaks, and now they are occasionally forcing people to watch three ads in one ad break. And a huge percentage of those ads are at least 15-seconds (and longer, if you don't press SKIP ADS.) So 15 seconds times three ads is 45 seconds of ads, just to watch the first five minutes of a video. In my opinion they've hit the threshold of commercial TV ads (if you don't press on SKIP ADS.) And since ads are tailored for each user, that makes the business much more profitable than commercial TV. That gives me a few options:
Stop watching Youtube
Start using DuckDuckGo's browser
Start paying for "Youtube Premium" for less ads
Write software to click on SKIP ADS (I won't say if I've already done this.)
Great point July. People bitch about the Apple-Android App Store Duopoly but what about the monopoly of internet video streaming that is YouTube?

We don’t have any options in this regard beyond shelling out for Premium but the advertisement burden of YouTube has gotten intolerable.

neoncat

said about 1 year ago

22july2013 said:

Youtube's ads are getting denser and denser. I remember a few years ago when they added a second ad to most ad breaks, and now they are occasionally forcing people to watch three ads in one ad break. And a huge percentage of those ads are at least 15-seconds (and longer, if you don't press SKIP ADS.) So 15 seconds times three ads is 45 seconds of ads, just to watch the first five minutes of a video. In my opinion they've hit the threshold of commercial TV ads (if you don't press on SKIP ADS.) And since ads are tailored for each user, that makes the business much more profitable than commercial TV. That gives me a few options:
Stop watching Youtube
Start using DuckDuckGo's browser
Start paying for "Youtube Premium" for less ads
Write software to click on SKIP ADS (I won't say if I've already done this.)

Not lobbying one way or another, everyone needs to decide what's in their budget and what their priorities are, but I've found YouTube Premium to be my most essential "media" subscription and it would be the last one I would consider dropping. I watch a lot of YouTube, for reference, learning and entertainment, and Premium succeeds in removing every single annoyance or limitation while still allowing you to indirectly support content creators (although, direct support via Patreon, etc. is always better, of course). Plus you get YouTube Music as part of the package, which even if you already have Spotify or Apple Music or whatever is different enough in how it works (particularly in how it can pull from YouTube music content) makes it an interesting value-add.

rob53

said about 1 year ago

neoncat said:

22july2013 said:

Youtube's ads are getting denser and denser. I remember a few years ago when they added a second ad to most ad breaks, and now they are occasionally forcing people to watch three ads in one ad break. And a huge percentage of those ads are at least 15-seconds (and longer, if you don't press SKIP ADS.) So 15 seconds times three ads is 45 seconds of ads, just to watch the first five minutes of a video. In my opinion they've hit the threshold of commercial TV ads (if you don't press on SKIP ADS.) And since ads are tailored for each user, that makes the business much more profitable than commercial TV. That gives me a few options:
Stop watching Youtube
Start using DuckDuckGo's browser
Start paying for "Youtube Premium" for less ads
Write software to click on SKIP ADS (I won't say if I've already done this.)

Not lobbying one way or another, everyone needs to decide what's in their budget and what their priorities are, but I've found YouTube Premium to be my most essential "media" subscription and it would be the last one I would consider dropping. I watch a lot of YouTube, for reference, learning and entertainment, and Premium succeeds in removing every single annoyance or limitation while still allowing you to indirectly support content creators (although, direct support via Patreon, etc. is always better, of course). Plus you get YouTube Music as part of the package, which even if you already have Spotify or Apple Music or whatever is different enough in how it works (particularly in how it can pull from YouTube music content) makes it an interesting value-add.

I don't want youtube music, just no ads. They used to have a $4/mo no-ad subscription but that went away a few years ago. It's now $12/mo for premium and a ridiculous $65/mo for youtube TV plus more for extra sports and movie channels. Crazy thing is Comcast costs less for more channels.