Apple and Google are always going head to head with each other trying to dominate the tech industry. Both of them are competing on multiple fronts, and today we’re going to talk about browsers. Chrome and Safari are by far the biggest browsers in the market. But which one’s right for you? Previously, Apple users only used Safari, while everyone else was on Chrome’s side. Google changed the game when it launched Chrome for Apple devices. And now, even Apple users wonder if they should switch.
We’ve made the decision easy for you. Here’s a thorough comparison of both browsers. Read on ahead!
Table of contents
Chrome vs. Safari: User Interface
It’s safe to say that both browsers have a very simple user interface which makes them very easy to use. Safari focuses on minimalism and has a very clean interface. It follows the theme of the rest of Apple’s products, to be sleek, simple and easy to navigate through. One might say that Apple went a little overboard with the minimalism on Safari. When you open Safari, your homepage will have a search bar on top and widgets at the bottom showing some of your frequently visited websites. This makes browsing quite straightforward on Safari. But access to your bookmarks is quite limited. You will either have to find them in the control panel. Or you can enable the Bookmarks pane. But the Bookmarks pane is pretty big and intrudes on your web pages.
Chrome also has quite a sleek homepage. You have the navigation page on top with the bookmarks bar right below it. In the middle, there is the infamous Google Search bar and your frequently visited pages underneath. Chrome’s interface design is similar to Safari’s but solves the Bookmarks problem. Chrome’s Bookmark pane is simply a bar that isn’t intrusive at all. This makes Chrome the obvious winner in this category.
Chrome vs. Safari: Performance
One of the most frequently asked questions here is; Which is faster? There’s an ongoing debate about the performance of Safari and Chrome. Both on their native platforms and on Macs.
We used Speedometer 2.0 for our benchmark test. We had Chrome running on an Intel Core i5 CPU and Safari on a MacBook Pro with 16GB of RAM. The results showed 122 runs per minute for Chrome and 113 for Safari. These are great results for both browsers, but Chrome took the lead here. This was a more general test, and ran both browsers on their native platforms. We must also compare the two browsers on Mac to be fair to Apple device users. The latest version of Chrome for Mac, M99, was revealed to be faster than the native browser. Google itself announced that M99 benchmarked 7% faster than Safari on M1 Macs. This settles the debate. Chrome is the faster of the two browsers. But both these results have shown that Safari doesn’t lag behind by much.
Chrome vs. Safari: Privacy
Privacy is a huge concern when it comes to browsing the internet. Nobody wants their personal information to fall in the wrong hands. Hence, internet browsers must have top-notch privacy policies.
Safari is the clear winner in this category. The difference between the two browsers lies in the business models of their parent companies. Apple is largely focused on selling their devices like iPhones and Macbooks. In contrast, Google earns its money from advertising. So Apple doesn’t really have any incentive to collect a lot of user data except in order to improve their products. Google sadly does. The more user data Google collects, the more it can charge for ads. This means, essentially, Google is making money off of your information. Google has gotten into quite a trouble for cookies and immoral data collection. Safari fares much better when it comes to privacy protection.
Safari offers a Privacy Report, which gives a detailed report on how sites and apps collect and use your data. Chrome also offers a similar feature, but it isn’t as thorough. Clearly, Safari takes the lead in privacy protection.
Chrome vs. Safari: Features
The next category we’re going to study here is features. Apple and Google keep adding new features to their browsers to provide users with more functionality. It keeps users satisfied and the competition interesting.
Google Chrome is designed to perform the best on Android and Windows systems. It integrates well into every operating system. This is one of the best plus points of Chrome; it is available on every OS. Cross-platform compatibility allows its users to run Chrome on any device running any OS. Chromecast also enables users to stream anything from their devices straight to their televisions. Google has its own ecosystem of productivity apps. Chrome easily blends into this system and brings all your apps into one place. But that is only if you’re using Google Apps.
If you’re an Apple user, you’ve probably noticed how well-integrated Safari is in the Apple ecosystem. This fusion is on a much deeper level than Chrome’s. But the catch here is that Safari is only available on Apple devices. Unlike Chrome, which is also available on Apple devices. One of our favorite Safari features is the Reader Mode. This feature removes all the distracting clutter from websites and lets you read through the main content. It’s a very handy tool if you’re used to reading blog posts and news on your devices.
Chrome vs. Safari: Extensions
Every browser comes with a ton of built-in features. But for people who want more functionality, these browsers can be quite limited. Hence, they rely on extensions to upgrade their browsers and meet their needs.
Google Chrome is the absolute champion when it comes to extensions. Chrome offers up to 150,000 extensions to upgrade your browser and enhance its functionality. The Chrome Web Store offers a huge library of apps and extensions that add new features to Chrome. This vast library is unparalleled in the web browser market. But there is a catch. Chrome Web Store is more lenient towards third-party publishers. This means not every extension is guaranteed to be safe. Extensions from trusted publishers like Google, Adobe or Zoom will be safe and will protect your data. But much can’t be said for others.
On the other hand, Safari has a very limited library of extensions. This is because Safari announced support for extensions quite late. They’re still in the process of building their library. And come nowhere close to competing with Chrome. That said, Apple has always been stringent with third-party developers, and security is a major concern for them. Although limited, the extensions for Safari are much safer than those for Chrome.
Chrome vs. Safari: Final Verdict
The rift between Apple and Android fans is an ongoing one. Today, we set out to settle one debate that has plagued us for years; Chrome vs. Safari? We compared both browsers on a number of factors that included Interface, Performance, Privacy, Features and Extensions. Except for Privacy, Chrome won in all the categories. So if you’re not that concerned about your data and privacy, Chrome is the right option for you!
Got something to add to this comparison? Let us know in the comments below!
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