Last winter I started using Arc as my main browser. It’s not well known and has a small market share, but I think it’s worth paying attention to because they are small and nimble. 

What we see here may be rolled out elsewhere to browsers that can’t move as quickly in case they alienate their loyal users. In fact some of these features we are seeing in the latest Safari update using Apple Intelligence (more on that soon). 

Launched in 2022, Arc was built by ex-Chrome, Tesla, Medium, Slack, and other executives to “build a better way to use the Internet.” There’s a feature, which you have to look for, that allows you to “boost” Web sites. 

What’s a boost you ask? Great question:

Here are the areas of a Web page that you can customise:

• Colour scheme.

• Fonts and case.

• Size. 

• Contrast/brightness/saturation.  

• “Zap” sections you don’t like.

Take a look at this screen recording I did on The Times in the UK. 

Click here to see how I changed the Times of London Web site on the left to my own version on the right.  

As a news organisations, we should note the following:

• A high degree of consumer personalisation.

• The fact that these are persistent changes. There are no resets on refresh so a consumer can literally change the fundamentals of a Web site design.  

• Users can share their “boost” so friends can have the same experience.

Discussion with the Product & Tech Initiative advisory council about the overwhelming feedback had two main strains:

Firstly, we’re going to have to declutter our Web sites, otherwise users will do it themselves. And then if we give a good experience, it’s likely the vast majority of people will use the default settings and not take the time and energy to make small teaks. Besides, the ones who do are likely to be highly engaged in the first place, so maybe we shouldn’t actively discourage it.

So this is your friendly call to action to review clutter on your site and remember products primary mission: to reclaim the consumer experience. 

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