The Best Web Browser

Chris Titus Tech
17 Oct 202310:17

Summary

TLDRThe speaker enthusiastically recommends Thorium, a fast, privacy-focused browser that outperforms Brave and ungoogled Chromium. Highlighting its hardware acceleration, compatibility across operating systems, and a clean interface without unnecessary bloat, the script praises Thorium's development and open-source nature. The user's switch from Brave to Thorium is justified by its performance improvements, privacy features, and customization options, including a Material Design theme. The video aims to raise awareness and support for this lesser-known but highly effective browser.

Takeaways

  • 🌟 The speaker has found a new favorite browser called 'Thorium', which they consider the fastest browser on Earth.
  • πŸ”„ Thorium is highly compatible with various operating systems, including Windows, Mac, and Linux, and even supports Windows 7.
  • πŸ› οΈ The browser features hardware acceleration and enhanced privacy and security settings, boasting an 8-38% performance improvement over vanilla Chromium.
  • πŸ“¦ Thorium is designed to be less bloated than Google Chrome, offering the speed of Chrome without the extra features that some users find unnecessary.
  • πŸ’» The speaker has transitioned from using Brave to Thorium, due to dissatisfaction with Brave's bloat and unwanted features.
  • πŸ”§ Thorium offers a variety of patches and customization options, including live captioning, a vaa API for performance, and a range of privacy settings.
  • 🌐 The browser's website provides easy access to download options for different platforms, including Linux images, Windows releases, and more.
  • 🎨 Thorium includes a Material Dark theme and supports auto dark/light theming, which the speaker highly recommends.
  • 🚫 The browser has built-in features to disable autoplay and includes a memory saver, which helps in managing system resources efficiently.
  • πŸ” Thorium supports multiple search engines, allowing users to switch away from Google if they prefer.
  • πŸ”— The browser is open-source, with its development led by a single developer who has received contributions from a small community.

Q & A

  • What browser is being discussed in the script?

    -The script discusses Thorium, a browser that is being praised for its speed, privacy, and security features.

  • Why did the speaker switch from Brave to Thorium?

    -The speaker switched from Brave to Thorium because they found Brave to be bloated and filled with unwanted features like crypto garbage, and they were looking for a faster and more privacy-focused browser.

  • What is special about Thorium's performance compared to other browsers?

    -Thorium boasts an 8 to 38% performance improvement over vanilla Chromium, and it is optimized for speed, loading content quickly on YouTube and other platforms, regardless of the operating system.

  • Does Thorium support older operating systems like Windows 7?

    -Yes, Thorium supports Windows 7, which is considered quite old and is not typically supported by many modern browsers.

  • What kind of hardware acceleration does Thorium offer?

    -The script mentions that Thorium has a lot of hardware acceleration, which contributes to its fast performance, but does not go into specific details about the type of acceleration.

  • What are some of the privacy and security features of Thorium?

    -Thorium includes a lot of privacy and security settings, such as 'do not track' options, and it has patches for hardware compatibility and memory saving, which contribute to its overall security.

  • How does the speaker describe the user interface of Thorium?

    -The speaker appreciates the user interface of Thorium, mentioning the inclusion of a dark mode, the Materia Dark theme, and auto theming features that adapt to the user's preferences.

  • What is the speaker's opinion on the website for downloading Thorium?

    -The speaker notes that the website for downloading Thorium is not well-orchestrated but still functional, offering various download options for different operating systems.

  • What is the speaker's stance on using Google as a search engine within Thorium?

    -The speaker admits to still using Google as a search engine within Thorium because it provides the best results, despite the availability of other search engines like Duck Duck Go and Brave search.

  • What actions has the speaker taken to support the Thorium project?

    -The speaker has financially supported the Thorium project by sending $100 via PayPal and has made a video to raise awareness and encourage others to try the browser.

  • What is the speaker's final recommendation for users of Chromium-based browsers?

    -The speaker highly recommends trying Thorium for those who are Chromium users, as it offers a great balance of speed, privacy, and features, and is the best Chromium-based browser they have found.

Outlines

00:00

🌟 Discovering Thorium: The Fastest Browser

The speaker introduces Thorium, a new browser they've discovered after years of searching. They express excitement about its performance, stating it's the fastest browser they've used, with impressive speed on YouTube and across different operating systems including Mac, Windows, and Linux. The browser supports even older systems like Windows 7. The speaker was previously unsatisfied with Brave due to its bloat and unwanted features, and they found Thorium to be a superior alternative with hardware acceleration and enhanced privacy and security. It offers performance improvements over vanilla Chromium, and unlike Chrome, it doesn't come with unnecessary bloat. The speaker also mentions the browser's creator's attention to detail and the availability of the browser for various platforms.

05:00

πŸ› οΈ Customization and Performance Patches in Thorium

The speaker delves into the customization options and performance patches that Thorium offers. They mention the browser's creator's work on live captioning and the use of the Vaa API to enhance performance. The speaker also discusses their personal experience with other browsers like Vivaldi and Brave on different operating systems, highlighting Thorium's superior performance and compatibility. They list several patches that the creator has implemented, focusing on hardware compatibility, privacy settings, and UI features like tab saving and memory management. The speaker notes the lower memory usage of Thorium compared to other Chromium-based browsers and appreciates the inclusion of features like dark mode and auto-theming, as well as the option to disable autoplay, which is rare among browsers.

10:01

πŸ“± Thorium's Open Source Commitment and Future Prospects

The speaker emphasizes Thorium's open-source nature and the creator's extensive work on the browser, including patches for Android, though there's no specific mention of an Android version. They discuss their support for the project by donating and creating a video to raise awareness. The speaker encourages others to try Thorium, especially Chromium users, and compares it favorably to other browsers like Edge and Brave. They express concern for the project's sustainability and hope for more contributions, whether financial or through code, to ensure Thorium's evolution and improvement. The speaker concludes by expressing their full-time commitment to using Thorium as their primary browser and their excitement for its future development.

Mindmap

Keywords

πŸ’‘Thorium

Thorium is the name of the new browser that the speaker is highly praising in the video. It is described as being incredibly fast and efficient, regardless of the operating system it is used on. The term 'Thorium' is used as a proper noun to refer to this specific browser project, which the speaker has found to be superior to other browsers they have tried, such as Brave and Ungoogled Chromium.

πŸ’‘Brave

Brave is a web browser that the speaker had previously used but was not fully satisfied with due to what they perceived as bloat and unwanted features related to cryptocurrency. In the context of the video, Brave serves as a point of comparison to highlight the superior performance and features of Thorium.

πŸ’‘Ungoogled Chromium

Ungoogled Chromium is a modified version of the Chromium browser from which Google-specific components have been removed. The speaker mentions considering a switch to this browser before discovering Thorium. It represents an alternative to mainstream browsers that prioritize privacy but lacks some performance enhancements that Thorium offers.

πŸ’‘Hardware acceleration

Hardware acceleration refers to the process of offloading computation tasks to a device's hardware, such as a graphics processing unit (GPU), to improve performance. In the video, the speaker praises Thorium for its implementation of hardware acceleration, which contributes to the browser's speed and efficiency.

πŸ’‘Privacy and security

Privacy and security are key features that the speaker appreciates in Thorium, indicating that the browser has been designed with user privacy and data protection in mind. The script mentions 'do not track' settings and other privacy enhancements that are built into Thorium, distinguishing it from other browsers that may not prioritize these aspects as much.

πŸ’‘Performance improvement

The term 'performance improvement' is used to describe the increased efficiency and speed that Thorium offers over other browsers. The speaker cites statistics of an 8 to 38% improvement over vanilla Chromium, emphasizing that Thorium is not only faster but also more optimized than even Google Chrome itself.

πŸ’‘Bloat

Bloat refers to the unnecessary features or code that can slow down software and make it less efficient. The speaker uses this term to criticize other browsers like Brave and Google Chrome for having too many additional features that are not needed, making them slower compared to the streamlined Thorium browser.

πŸ’‘Extensions

Extensions are additional software components that extend the functionality of a web browser. The speaker mentions managing their extensions in Thorium, indicating that the browser supports customization through these add-ons, which is a feature appreciated by many users looking to tailor their browsing experience.

πŸ’‘Dark mode

Dark mode is a user interface mode that applies a dark color scheme to reduce eye strain and improve battery life on certain devices. The speaker praises Thorium for its dark mode patches and the Materia Dark theme, showing that the browser offers visual customization options that enhance the user experience.

πŸ’‘Auto dark theming

Auto dark theming is a feature that allows a browser to automatically switch to a dark theme based on the user's system settings or time of day. The speaker notes that Thorium has this feature, which is important for users who want a consistent look across their digital devices and applications.

πŸ’‘Open source

Open source refers to software whose source code is available to the public, allowing anyone to view, modify, and distribute the software. The speaker emphasizes that Thorium is open source, which is a significant aspect of its appeal, as it promotes transparency, community involvement, and collaborative development.

Highlights

Discovery of the perfect browser named Thorium, which offers a fast and efficient browsing experience.

Thorium's cross-platform compatibility, including support for Windows 7.

The browser's hardware acceleration and privacy/security features.

Performance improvement claims of 8-38% over vanilla Chromium.

Comparison with Brave browser, highlighting Thorium's lack of bloat and crypto-related features.

The availability of Thorium for different operating systems including Linux, Windows, and Mac.

The browser's minimalistic and efficient UI design, with a focus on user experience.

Inclusion of a variety of search engines, offering alternatives to Google.

Integration of dark mode and auto theming features for better user interface adaptability.

Memory usage optimization, providing a leaner browsing experience.

The browser's open-source nature and community contributions.

Support for Android with mentions of bromite, though no confirmation of Thorium's Android version.

The user's personal endorsement and financial support for the project.

A call to action for others to contribute to the project, either financially or through code.

Comparison with other Chromium-based browsers, positioning Thorium as superior.

The potential impact of the project's continuation and improvement on the browser market.

Final endorsement of Thorium as the new default browser for the user.

Transcripts

play00:01

after years of searching I have found

play00:04

the perfect browser thorium I'm not

play00:08

going to just drag this out I want to

play00:11

show you how awesome this browser is I

play00:14

finally kick Brave to the curb and

play00:16

there's just so much to go over here so

play00:19

let's get into it because this browser

play00:21

oh it holds up to its name when I look

play00:25

at it the fastest browser on Earth yeah

play00:29

is it fast like you go to YouTube and

play00:31

you start loading up your stuff it just

play00:34

it does its job and it does it well no

play00:37

matter the operating system you're on if

play00:39

you're on Mac if you're on Windows if

play00:42

you're on Linux this thing works this

play00:45

guy is so insane with a lot of how AG

play00:48

agnostic he is he even supports Windows

play00:51

7 the guy's a little bit of a nut but I

play00:53

love him to death because this browser

play00:56

is finally my new home I've been

play00:57

searching for some time people know I've

play00:59

not been happy with brave but it just

play01:02

kind of eh it did enough but man it was

play01:05

it bloated there's just a whole bunch of

play01:07

crypto garbage and other stuff that I

play01:09

just didn't like and then I thought

play01:11

about moving to ungoogled chromium and

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that's when I found this project let's

play01:16

get into what it is because there's a

play01:18

lot of Hardware acceleration that's been

play01:20

put in here there's a lot of privacy and

play01:21

security things that have been in here

play01:23

as well it touts anywhere between an 8

play01:25

and a 38% performance improvement over

play01:28

vanilla chromium now that's it's not

play01:30

Chrome I'm talking about chromium over

play01:32

vanilla Chrome this percentage is quite

play01:34

a bit higher because Chrome comes

play01:36

bloated with a whole bunch of stuff but

play01:38

you know some of the drawbacks of

play01:40

chromium are that it just doesn't have

play01:43

that acceleration you need it you want

play01:46

it you want that fast feeling that's why

play01:48

people still use Chrome a lot of times

play01:50

instead of chromium because they strip

play01:53

out some of those features well thorium

play01:55

adds all those features back and does a

play01:57

better job than Google does with chrome

play02:00

because there's not all that extra bloat

play02:02

everywhere so let's get into some of the

play02:04

different things the website's not well

play02:06

orchestrated by the way if you're

play02:07

looking to get it you can click on

play02:09

whatever one you're looking to

play02:12

do

play02:14

and he even has like a little thing he

play02:16

actually still uses Windows 7 big weirdo

play02:19

uh but you still have this right here

play02:22

where you can download your Linux images

play02:24

right here if you want to do app image

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RPMs for like Fedora Souza Deb for Deb

play02:30

in and zip for just the regular old

play02:32

binary then you have your windows

play02:34

releases if you just click on Windows

play02:36

most people this is what you're going to

play02:37

be using you just have a little mini

play02:39

installer you run that and it will go

play02:42

well on your windows boxes as I have it

play02:44

on my inside windows box the sink in

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here is also very good and I've cleared

play02:50

it out imported all my stuff from Brave

play02:52

which took a century but this whole past

play02:54

week I've just been tinkering with this

play02:57

now that I've told you what it's all

play02:59

about what are the patches that he's

play03:00

doing because there's a lot of stuff in

play03:02

here that kind of makes it amazing so I

play03:06

already told you about some of the other

play03:07

stuff but he's done a lot of extra work

play03:10

here whether it's live captioning all

play03:13

these other things these are actually

play03:14

made by him he's put a lot of

play03:16

development into it vaa API also I I

play03:20

believe that in speeds up a lot of the

play03:22

performance I've tried a lot of

play03:23

different browsers on here like I I like

play03:27

personally like Vivaldi on Windows but

play03:28

Vivaldi on Linux kind of feel sluggish

play03:31

and not all that good and I actually

play03:33

ended up switching off a valdi to go to

play03:35

brave because of that because on when I

play03:37

was in Linux I was like ah this just

play03:39

isn't quite the same it doesn't feel

play03:41

right and brave did a decent job with

play03:43

their Linux iteration and windows but

play03:46

this just does a lot better you can see

play03:48

all the different patches that he's done

play03:50

a lot of Hardware compatibility here

play03:52

adding a lot of do not track and privacy

play03:54

and security settings in here as well

play03:57

gosh just oh it just keeps getting

play03:59

better the more you read on the patch

play04:01

system he adds in a bunch of search

play04:04

engines like there's Duck Duck Go Brave

play04:06

search all these other ones if you want

play04:08

to switch off the official Google one I

play04:10

I'm not going to lie to you I still use

play04:11

Google it still gives me the best

play04:13

results

play04:14

is I mean but who uses search engines

play04:17

anymore everyone's just typing in the

play04:18

chat GPT and then you get back down into

play04:22

here there's some really good ones

play04:23

towards the bottom of the patches

play04:25

there's some really good UI features as

play04:28

far as tab saving there's also like a

play04:30

memory saver as I was kind of loading it

play04:33

up and configuring it exactly how I have

play04:35

my old browser configured I noticed the

play04:39

memory wasn't eating up nearly as much

play04:41

when I was over here and I was like

play04:43

doing a Neo fetch usually this is like

play04:45

well into the 3000s or 4000s with a

play04:49

chromium based browser this one's under

play04:51

three which I thought was pretty good

play04:53

compared to like how much crap I have

play04:55

loaded I understand this could be a lot

play04:57

lighter but I wanted it configured the

play05:00

way I like to use my browser he also

play05:02

added in a lot of dark mode patches and

play05:04

I actually encourage people to use his

play05:06

Materia Dark theme as well uh that's in

play05:10

the actual thorium uh actually if you

play05:12

look over here I believe you can click

play05:14

right here thorium theme I like this

play05:17

material design theme for this so if you

play05:19

want to copy my design exactly I'm using

play05:21

the thorium thing and I don't think very

play05:24

many people know about this project

play05:26

that's the thing that kind of blows my

play05:27

mind because this is a great project and

play05:30

I'm using that theme and then also he

play05:33

does a lot of Auto dark and Auto uh

play05:37

theming so if it if a website detects

play05:40

hey are you on auto light or dark theme

play05:42

a lot of times that doesn't work in

play05:43

Linux and windows you get a little bit

play05:45

higher performance but I've noticed more

play05:48

often than not it does get it right you

play05:50

also have disabled autoplay which I

play05:52

don't think I've seen many browsers with

play05:54

that and all this is just baked right

play05:57

into it a lot of my extensions if we

play05:59

look look at extensity this is kind of

play06:01

what I have loaded up at the time being

play06:03

I'm probably going to Coal this down or

play06:05

disable some stuff like I don't really

play06:06

use that offline my RSS I disable and

play06:10

enable depending when I'm building out

play06:12

my RSS feeds and then I'm just trying

play06:14

out some other extensions in here like I

play06:16

don't probably need secure shell and it

play06:18

just automatically kind of coals down

play06:21

and I can increase my Extensions by

play06:23

re-enabling with that one but I love

play06:26

this it's so good and I'm using it all

play06:29

all the time now and I'm actually not

play06:31

hating myself for actually using a

play06:32

regular browser but just to show some of

play06:35

these actual improvements as well you

play06:37

have 265 decoding patch already baked in

play06:41

and then you also have a whole bunch of

play06:44

uh different like multi-threading

play06:46

improvements and other things and I do

play06:48

notice a big difference when I'm just

play06:50

flipping around opening tabs removing

play06:53

them kind of going through each one it

play06:55

does it very very seamlessly no matter

play06:58

what system I'm on same performance in

play07:00

Windows same performance in Linux same

play07:02

performance in mac and wow just

play07:05

absolutely love it and he even does some

play07:07

Android patches uh you probably have

play07:09

heard of bromite I I don't know if he

play07:11

has an Android version of this but I

play07:13

want to go ahead and just kind of touch

play07:15

on his GitHub everything's open source

play07:17

with this as well it's not some closed

play07:19

Source browser it's based it does pull

play07:22

in a lot of ungoogled chromium patches

play07:25

but he expands on it drastically so I've

play07:28

gone ahead and paypaled him if you look

play07:30

on the sponsor of this project I went

play07:32

ahead and clicked this link sent him

play07:34

$100 starting off made want to make this

play07:37

video to get more people on this browser

play07:39

because it is very very good and I love

play07:41

the open source nature and the

play07:43

performance of it it's exactly what I've

play07:46

been looking for for years that's not

play07:48

clickbait what at the start it is

play07:50

something I've been actively looking for

play07:52

and I finally found it and I noticed

play07:54

like his patreon here only has like a

play07:56

couple people donating I don't know how

play07:58

many people have donated from pay PayPal

play08:00

Alex if you watch this uh go ahead and

play08:02

add like a GitHub link as well GitHub

play08:05

developers only take 6% I'm sponsoring

play08:07

like zero Linux down here and other open

play08:10

source projects I'm going to get into

play08:12

where I'm redistributing stuff that I

play08:14

get and some of the sponsors I I get on

play08:16

my uh development I really want to help

play08:19

these other open source projects by

play08:21

giving them a little bit more of

play08:23

visibility because this one man I feel

play08:26

like this is one of the best open source

play08:28

projects I've found all year long and I

play08:30

absolutely love it if for whatever

play08:32

reason Alex gets hit by a bus tomorrow

play08:35

somebody could probably Fork this or you

play08:37

know more developers could jump in he's

play08:39

already had you know a couple

play08:41

contributors about nine contributors to

play08:42

it but hopefully if you can't contribute

play08:45

financially maybe you can contribute

play08:47

code and make this project even better

play08:49

because wow it's so darn good so with

play08:53

that I'm going to leave it here try it

play08:56

out I highly encourage you to try this

play09:00

browser it is if you're a chromium

play09:02

person if you're Firefox by all means

play09:04

stay on Firefox Firefox has its own deal

play09:06

with a like privacy script I could

play09:08

probably make another video on that but

play09:10

I've always been kind of a chromium user

play09:12

because I'm tied into Google and I do

play09:14

need some of the stuff but this is just

play09:16

such a great balance and a fantastic by

play09:21

far the best chromium brace browser if

play09:23

this ever project were to go away I'd

play09:25

probably put ungoogled chromium at

play09:27

number two and then uh the others and

play09:31

you know Baldi Brave you know a lot of

play09:34

those I've used in the past and they're

play09:36

not bad they're commercial and they're

play09:39

bloated and they're just uh a lot slower

play09:42

than these other counterparts so thank

play09:44

you Alex from thorium hopefully more

play09:47

people contribute to this project

play09:49

because I really wanted to see it evolve

play09:50

and I'm 100% full-time using this as my

play09:53

Now new browser so I for my whole

play09:56

supportive around it I can't wait to see

play09:58

where the goes but if it just stays

play10:00

where it is and just continues to

play10:02

improve little by little I could see

play10:05

everyone using this because it is so

play10:08

much better than Edge or any other

play10:10

crappy browser that many people are

play10:12

using out there thorium is amazing

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