The New (Mac) Arc Browser Can Integrate With Obsidian and Streamline Your Workflow

List links to any app, Shortcut, or file in your vault, right next to your bookmarks

Walk, or fly? I’ve made my choice. Image compiled by Author: Mountain photo from scop.io, bird photo from jumpstory.

Arc, a Chrome alternative, is the first browser I’ve used where the learning curve surprised me.

It feels more like an app than a browser, which is, I think, what the developers at The Browser Company intend. The biggest surprise of all was discovering by accident that with the help of Hookmark, you can add links to any app or file on your computer, right alongside your Arc bookmarks!

But first, let’s take a look at a few of the things regular browser-users will notice right away.

Tabs and Bookmarks

What if tabs and bookmarks were actually the same thing? To use Arc successfully you’ll need to get your head around that, because here they’re essentially treated as one concept.

There’s one differentiator: tabs that are persistent (pinned), and those that are temporary. The latter disappear from the list 12 hours after you last visit them, retiring quietly to the browser history. Pinned tabs stay as you left them, and can be reset to the original URL by clicking on the icon next to their name.

In Arc, bookmarks and tabs are neatly organised into groups, or Spaces, that tuck away out of sight until called for. Bookmarks live under the URL bar, in a slide out panel on the left of the screen. This seemed strange until I’d used it enough times to fall in love with the clear expanse of space. Each time I find myself in Safari or Brave these days it feels …busy.