88 Macworld • April 2020FEATURE
there’s a ‘standard’ for web browsers, Chrome is
it. On the plus side, you get a powerful and flexible
browser that, due to its popularity, is likely to be
supported by whatever web app or service you care
to use. If you use your Mac alongside non-Apple
platforms such as Android or Windows, you can
sync bookmarks and history between them with
your Google account.
Chrome is available for iPhone and iPad as
well, though like all browsers on those platforms,
it uses Apple’s own WebKit rendering engine.
Still, you can use it to take advantage of synced
bookmarks and tight integration with services such
as Google Search or Translate.
If there’s a downside, it’s that Chrome isn’t very
privacy-focused. Google wants to suck up your data
and use it to make better services and personalize
ads – if you want better privacy, you’ll have to run
extensions that block scripts and web tracking.
Chrome is often derided for being a bit of a resource
hog and not as battery-efficient on MacBooks, too.- Firefox
Firefox is one of the oldest browsers still kicking
around and has experienced something of a
resurgence lately thanks rapid updates and a
renewed focus on improving speed and reliability.
Recent updates have improved battery life
on Mac laptops (often a sore spot for non-Safari
browsers). Firefox is also greatly concerned about
privacy – it’s got pretty good built-in tracker
blocking, and it’s password syncing relies on