Chrome is dominating the browser market since 2012. Maybe you’re thinking “Google is making a good job and having a lot of users because of this, is very natural” and you might be right. Yes, Google Chrome has a lot of features like remote control, casting, and whatnot. But it is not how Google achieved this success but where it is headed is concerning. So why exactly we must stop Chrome?
Risks of Chrome Monopoly
If you ever worked on a project with some web interface you’ve probably encountered some browser-specific issues. Normally the expectation is that the project performs the same and without errors on any of the popular browsers out there. But when a browser is dominating the market it causes people to test and even develop their products only for that browser. Because no manager or developer wants to spend time fixing some non-functionality-breaking bug for only one percent of their users.
So what happens is these situations? Browsers like Firefox are generally left out. Without any fix or development. This eventually is causing more people to switch over and creating a bigger gap.
So what? Why should you stop using Chrome?
Browser developers don’t only develop browser engines but decide what kind of software will be supported or removed. Giving this kind of power to only one privately held company is a risky thing.
Consider Google saying they will not support a specific technology anymore and offering a paid version for a similar service or product. When every user on the internet using a chrome based browser you don’t have any chance do you? As a developer, you must pay the price and switch to Google’s proprietary software or system to keep up with your competitors.
This also will slow down the improvement of the web drastically. Because the only way to make a web technology popular is to ask Google to implement it. If they refuse no user will be able to experience it. So developers won’t spend time experiencing them.
What are the best alternatives to Chrome?
Well, when it comes to the browser you don’t have a lot to choose from. Most of the alternative browsers you can think of (Opera, Edge, Brave) are all are using Blink Engine. I believe the best alternative is Firefox or any other Firefox fork such as WaterFox (Gecko Engine) but if you’re a mac user you can use Safari which uses Webkit engine.