DuckDuckGo will launch a seriously private browser for Macs

by Jonny Evans · December 22, 2021

Keeping you private soon on Mac as well as iPad and iPhone

Excellent privacy-focused search engine and web browser marks the somewhat muted 2021 festive season with excellent news: It is developing a supremely private browser for the Mac.

Privacy simplified

Company CEO and Founder Gabriel Weinberg revealed the plan. The browser, available now in closed beta, will offer the same privacy and speed as the existing mobile app.

Built natively for Mac, DuckDuckGo for desktop will provide robust privacy protection across search, browsing, email, and more. These built-in protections should prevent companies from spying on your search and browsing history.

“With our clean and simple interface combined with the beloved Fire Button from our mobile app, DuckDuckGo for desktop will be ready to become your new everyday browsing app. Compared to Chrome, the DuckDuckGo app for desktop is cleaner, way more private, and early tests have found it significantly faster too,” the company says.

DuckDuckGo took a moment to discuss its much-improved search facility.

DuckDuckGo HQ is a unique space

Search has improved a lot

This now offers lots of additional features. These include translations, instant answers, revamped definitions, weather information, advanced search, and more. “If you tried our search engine a few years ago, but could only go part-time then, you should really give us another shot in 2022,” Weinberg writes.

The browser was among the first to use Apple Maps for geographical data.

The company also introduced a few stats:

It has served 150 million downloads of its all-in-one privacy apps and extensions since 2018.
DuckDuckGo now averages over 100 million private searches a day.
Our 27 million Americans (9%) use DuckDuckGo.

Finally, it revealed that DuckDuckGo is now the most downloaded browsing app on Android in its major markets. It is the second most downloaded app after Chrome on iOS. (I must confess, I don’t understand why iOS users choose to make it easy for Google to track them by using Chrome, but perhaps that’s just me).