Zen Browser is the Arc replacement I was looking for

Zen Browser is the Arc replacement I was looking for.

Zen Browser 是我一直在寻找的 Arc 替代品。

Zen rips off all the best bits of Arc, but skips the AI and bloat.

Zen 借鉴了 Arc 的所有精华，但摒弃了人工智能和臃肿的功能。

I know many of you are mourning the loss of the Arc browser, and I get it. It felt like the first app in a long time to really offer a new approach to browser design. Atlassian bought the company last year and shifted its focus to developing Dia, its even more AI-focused browser. And soon enough, Arc will officially be no more, leaving dedicated users in a lurch. But I abandoned Arc quite some time ago for the Zen Browser and haven’t really missed it. If you’re willing to deal with some minor inconveniences, I think you’ll find Zen is the Arc replacement you’re looking for.

我知道你们很多人都在为 Arc 浏览器的消亡而哀悼，我理解这种心情。在很长一段时间里，它似乎是第一个真正为浏览器设计提供新思路的应用程序。Atlassian 公司去年收购了该公司，并将重心转向开发其更加侧重人工智能的浏览器 Dia。很快，Arc 将正式成为历史，让忠实用户陷入困境。但我很久以前就放弃了 Arc，转而使用 Zen Browser，而且并没有真正怀念它。如果你愿意忍受一些小麻烦，我想你会发现 Zen 就是你在寻找的 Arc 替代品。

Zen unabashedly rips off all the best bits of Arc. Visually, they’re almost indistinguishable. It has the launcher-like pinned sites, tab bar on the left, siloed spaces, and mods that let you customize the browser’s UI to your liking. It takes the bits that made Arc’s interface feel fresh, then strips out everything that made it bloated and drove me into the arms of another.

Zen 毫不掩饰地借鉴了 Arc 的所有优点。从视觉上看，它们几乎无法区分。它拥有类似启动器的固定网站、左侧标签栏、独立的空间，以及让你根据喜好自定义浏览器界面的模组。它保留了让 Arc 界面感觉新颖的部分，同时剔除了所有让它变得臃肿并促使我转向其他浏览器的因素。

Most notably, Zen is AI-free. There’s no agent in a sidebar hounding me to let it handle tasks. I’m not worried about Zen training an LLM on my browsing activity. It’s just a web browser.

最值得注意的是，Zen 没有人工智能。侧边栏里没有代理程序缠着我让它处理任务。我不必担心 Zen 会利用我的浏览活动来训练大语言模型。它就是一个纯粹的网页浏览器。

Zen prides itself on its privacy features: “Beautifully designed, privacy-focused, and packed with features. We care about your experience, not your data,” it proudly proclaims. Now, I’m no fool. I know that nothing I do on the internet is really private, but with Arc, it always felt like my data was an integral part of the business plan. That’s not the case with Zen. It’s a free and open-source project that relies on volunteers and donations.

Zen 以其隐私功能为荣：“设计精美，注重隐私，功能丰富。我们关心的是你的体验，而不是你的数据，”它自豪地宣称。当然，我并不傻。我知道我在互联网上所做的一切并非真正私密，但在使用 Arc 时，我总觉得我的数据是其商业计划中不可或缺的一部分。Zen 则不然。它是一个依靠志愿者和捐赠维持的免费开源项目。

In addition to Zen Mods that can do anything from tweak the look of an active tab to overhaul how PiP videos are handled, you can also install Firefox extensions. Yes, you can install Chrome extensions in Arc, but anecdotally, I’ve found that Zen handles extensions better. Both Zen and Arc are different enough from a UI perspective that not all extensions display properly, but Zen offers more workarounds.

除了可以调整活动标签页外观到彻底改变画中画视频处理方式的 Zen 模组外，你还可以安装 Firefox 扩展程序。没错，你可以在 Arc 中安装 Chrome 扩展，但根据我的经验，Zen 对扩展的处理更好。从用户界面角度来看，Zen 和 Arc 的差异足以导致并非所有扩展都能正常显示，但 Zen 提供了更多的变通方法。

Zen also just kind of lets me focus on the task at hand. Links open in “glance” view, which is a temporary pop-over tab, which is really great when you’re doing some window shopping or light research. If I want to open it in a proper tab, it’s just a click away. Zen also has a floating bar that pops up whenever you press Command+T or CTRL+T. From here you can launch a new tab, switch to an existing tab, perform a search from the search engine of your choice, and even trigger an extension.

Zen 还能让我专注于手头的任务。链接会在“一瞥”（glance）视图中打开，这是一个临时的弹出式标签页，当你进行浏览购物或轻量级研究时非常有用。如果我想在正式的标签页中打开它，只需点击一下即可。Zen 还有一个浮动栏，每当你按下 Command+T 或 CTRL+T 时就会弹出。在这里，你可以启动新标签页、切换到现有标签页、使用你选择的搜索引擎进行搜索，甚至触发扩展程序。

Zen isn’t perfect. I love its clean UI and organizational features, but it can’t play DRM-protected video content right now. That means Netflix, Spotify, HBO, Disney+, and more do not work in Zen. The Zen Team is working to obtain a Widevine license from Google. In the meantime, I use Chrome when I want to watch a movie, which is fine. Zen is built on Firefox, and Firefox’s Web MIDI support is lacking. So I have to fire up Chrome semi-regularly anyway.

Zen 并不完美。我喜欢它简洁的界面和组织功能，但它目前无法播放受 DRM 保护的视频内容。这意味着 Netflix、Spotify、HBO、Disney+ 等在 Zen 中无法使用。Zen 团队正在努力从 Google 获取 Widevine 许可。在此期间，我想看电影时会使用 Chrome，这也没什么问题。Zen 基于 Firefox 构建，而 Firefox 的 Web MIDI 支持不足，所以我还是得经常启动 Chrome。

I also miss Arc’s Boosts in some cases, but I’ve learned to accept the web as it is. Zen implemented a similar Boost feature in May, but it’s not super obvious and, if there is an official, easily browsable repository of installable Boosts, I’ve yet to find it. Instead, you have to tweak individual sites’ appearance yourself.

在某些情况下，我也会怀念 Arc 的 Boosts 功能，但我已经学会接受网页原本的样子。Zen 在五月份实现了一个类似的 Boost 功能，但它并不十分显眼，而且如果存在一个官方的、易于浏览的可安装 Boosts 存储库，我还没有找到。相反，你必须自己调整各个网站的外观。

If you tried Zen a long time ago and were turned off by its buggy early builds, rest assured it’s come a long way. Look, if you are all in on Arc’s AI features, Dia is probably more your speed. Personally, I always loved Arc’s interface, but never really dug the vibes. Zen just feels right.

如果你很久以前尝试过 Zen，并因其早期版本漏洞百出而感到失望，请放心，它已经取得了长足的进步。听着，如果你完全沉迷于 Arc 的人工智能功能，Dia 可能更适合你。就我个人而言，我一直很喜欢 Arc 的界面，但从未真正喜欢过它的氛围。Zen 给我的感觉恰到好处。